Presentation Zen [28]
Finding Your Voice
The voice of the storyteller is also important. We pay attention to well-spoken narratives that sound human, that are spoken in a conversational, “human voice.” Why do we pay more attention to conversational speech from a storyteller or presenter? It may be because our brain—not our conscious mind—does not know the difference between listening to (or reading) a conversational narrative and actually being in a conversation with a person. When you are in a conversation with someone you are naturally more engaged because you have an obligation to participate. You are involved. Formal speech and formal writing devoid of any emotion whatsoever is extremely difficult to stay with for more than a few minutes. Your conscious mind has to remind you to “stay awake, this is important!” But someone who speaks in a natural, human, conversational style is far easier to stay engaged with.
Dana Atchley (1941-2000): A Digital Storytelling Pioneer
Dana Atchley was a legend and pioneer in the field of digital storytelling. His clients included Coke, EDS, Adobe, Silicon Graphics, and many others. He even worked with Apple as a charter member of the AppleMasters program. In the ’90s, Atchley was helping senior executives create emotional, compelling talks that used the latest technology to create “digital stories” that connected and appealed to audiences in a more visceral, visual, emotional, and memorable way. If Atchley had not sadly passed away at age 59 in 2000, presentations—even in the world of business—might be far more appropriate, engaging, and effective today. Here’s what Dana Atchley said about digital storytelling:
“…digital storytelling combines the best of two worlds: the ‘new world’ of digitized video, photography and art, and the ‘old world’ of telling stories. This means the ‘old world’ of PowerPoint slides filled with bullet point statements will be replaced by a ‘new world’ of examples via stories, accompanied by evocative images and sounds.”
Here’s what Dan Pink, writing for FastCompany, said about Dana Atchley and his mission in this excerpt from his 1999 article called “What’s Your Story?”
“…[W]hy does communication about business remain so tedious? Most businesspeople describe their dreams and strategies—their stories—just as they’ve been doing it for decades: stiffly, from behind a podium, and maybe with a few slides. Call it ‘Corporate Sominex.’ Digital storytelling is more than a technique. In fact, it’s become something of a movement among both artists and businesspeople.”
This bit from the FastCompany article makes the future of business presentations sound so promising. I get excited reading this and thinking about the possibilities. Yet, since 1999, how much has really changed? Nine years have passed. Some people today are indeed using digital technology in presentations the way Atchley envisioned. But there is such a long, long way to go before we rid the business world of the “corporate Sominex” phenomenon.
Learn more about Dana Winslow Atchley III and his brilliant contributions on the Next Exit Web site: www.nextexit.com
The Process
The problem with slideware applications—PowerPoint, in particular, since it’s been around longer and influenced a generation—is that they have, by default, guided users toward presenting in outline form with subject titles and bullet points grouped under each topic heading. This is similar to the ol’ topic sentence in the high school composition class. Seems logical enough, but it is a structure that makes the delivery of the content utterly forgettable for the audience. Storyboarding can help. If you take the time in this part of the preparation stage and set your ideas up in a logical fashion in storyboard format, you can then visualize the sequential movement of your content narrative and the overall flow and “feel” of the presentation.
Since you have already identified your core message away from the computer, you can now begin to create a storyboard that will