Ever notice how some presenters easily captivate an audience?
Their words create vivid images and stir listener emotions.
What’s their secret?
It’s not just their content; it’s how they deliver it.
If you want to captivate your next audience here’s a valuable tool that will transform two important elements of your storytelling:
Embrace Dialogue Over Narration
To give more power to your story, grab a couple of highlighters and your script.
Review the parts that are narration – describing how a character feels, explaining reactions, or sharing facts.
Ask yourself how you can demonstrate feelings or reactions. Ask how you can transform facts into character dialogue.
Here’s an example. In my script, I have the following scene:
My boss came in to the room with a disgusted look on his face. He sat down, and stared at me for what felt like an eternity. Then he told me we had a problem and explained that evaluation’s for my recent presentations were bad.
These facts are correct. But it’s a boring delivery. With the “marker method,” I mark this in red highlighter as a part where I can transform the verbiage into reactions and silence to recreate the experience. This makes the audience feel like they’re in the scene with me.
Harness The Power Of Pauses
Pauses are the unsung heroes of storytelling. They give your audience time to process information or laugh, build suspense, and emphasize key points.
But how do you remember to use them effectively?
Color code your script to denote where you need to build in silence.
I use a green marker to highlight:
- Key phrases or points I want the audience to think about
- Questions I want the audience to answer in their heads
- Areas where they’ll laugh
When internalizing my newer scripts, every time I see green, I take a breath and pause longer than I will when presenting to an audience. This mentally and physically conditions me to become comfortable with the silence.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Marking your script is just the first step. Practice delivering your story with these annotations. The more you rehearse, the more natural it will feel. Soon, you won’t need the markers because pausing and dialogue will become second nature.
Integrating dialogue and pauses into your storytelling will transform your presentations into memorable audience experiences. Marking your script ensures that your delivery is as engaging as your content.
So grab those markers and start transforming your stories today!
SUPERCHARGE YOUR STORYTELLING SKILLS
By now, you’ve heard about the power of the High Impact Storytelling ABS Toolkit.
But you might be wondering, how does it actually work in practice?
I’m excited to share a video which offers a sneak peek into the toolkit. It offers real-world examples of how these tools will enable you to quickly create your story ideas into meaningful narratives that create a bond with your listeners.
Watch the video and see how easy it is to implement these tools to create your own stories.
CLICK HERE and get ready to elevate your storytelling skills!
Michael’s mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - it’s a learnable skill. Once he discovered this ‘secret’ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the world’s best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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