It is finally here! You are invited to come on stage. You have dreaded this moment. Your brain has painted a picture for you of what is likely to happen when you stand to speak in front of an audience. Hands are sweaty. My legs feel weak, Heartbeats racing. You sense the words will not come out of your mouth, and you will pass out. In your mind, the audience can notice your heart almost flying off your chest. Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, is familiar to many people. This scenario is triggered by the brain receiving information through electrical pulses. The message encoded in electrical pulses is the likelihood of things going wrong,when you speak to a large group of people. It plays out all the likely scenarios of what could go wrong. It is okay to feel nervous when doing public speaking. From pitching to business meetings, public speaking dominates our lives. Aside from the challenges of public speaking, getting attention can be challenging. How can you overcome the fear of speaking to a group? How do you build audience engagement?
Time is scarce. There is no scarcity of things that compete for our attention. It takes seconds for an individual to decide whether to trust you with their attention. When anticipation is unmet, tuning out happens. Storytelling can be a tool in communication that earns you the attention of your audience.
Storytelling stimulates the imagination giving a shared experience to connect and engage emotionally.
It holds attention. We are bombarded with information constantly. When information is not clear engagement drops also. People think in stories, talk, and remember stories. We can not understand the world without the illusion of storytelling. We are wired to think, share, and connect in stories. Every aspect of life tells a story, and mastering the art requires exploring the discovery process.
The brain is like a supercomputer that processes information better when it is communicated in stories. Our brains constantly send signals to give meaning to events around us. The neural network activates when we hear stories, triggering that change process.
When unanticipated changes are introduced in public speaking at the right time and amount, it grabs attention. When anticipation is too prolonged, the attention will likely begin slipping away. Let’s imagine the public speaking scenario you were invited to give. You smile at the audience and can count a few smiles. You feel the nerves calming down, and the words start flowing, but after a sentence, you notice your audience’s attention slipping. Quick! It is the time to introduce unanticipated change to your audience.
Introducing unanticipated change is a storytelling strategy. It allows you to introduce at the right time changes to keep the audience’s attention. It fills the information gaps of your audience. When losing the audience’s engagement, a series of unanticipated changes can change the dynamics. As an element of storytelling, the effect of introducing unanticipated change can be stronger than the actual event.
Tips to building unanticipated changes in storytelling
- Understand your audience
- Use engaging visual aids, real-life examples
- Don’t emphasize points, emphasize stories.
- Practice the timing of the story
- Teach your skills to someone else
Businesses can create creative ways of relaying information with storytelling. Many companies process and store a lot of data. Companies like SAP, Microsoft, and BT, have recognized storytelling as a tool for driving customer engagement. The brands use storytelling to communicate with customers and build lasting relationships. Storytelling is the foundation for building brand loyalty. Building storytelling strategies enhances engagement with customers. It creates an environment for employees to feel part of the business.
Build an organizational culture that promotes storytelling.
Professional filmmakers understand how essential storyboards are to making a good movie. Developing a storyboard for your organization is a way to communicate strategy and a storytelling culture. Using visual representation for projects is an effective way to communicate with teams. The storyboard improves storytelling and establishes a systematic story discovery process.
In September 2013, the technology giant SAP hired a Chief Story Officer, Julie Roehm. Her job was to infuse emotion into the data-driven industry, a move that was unprecedented at times for a technology company. SAP understood that customer experience directly correlated to brand loyalty. The sales team needs to introduce stories rather than presenting facts to customers. SAP developed a system for sharing stories of customers’ challenges and documenting solutions. Customer satisfaction increased, and it became easier to offer new products.
Organizational storyboard is a strategic tool that improves customer and employee engagement. It fills the information gap and makes it easier to explain the strategy. Stakeholders can understand the strategy and own it. Whether in delivering a presentation, or communicating to your team, storytelling drives engagement. Storytelling can be an effective tool to steer your audience’s imagination.
- Points/Badges : The use of points and badges provides tangible evidence of accomplishment
- Levels/Quests: Provide missions and goals to be accomplished
- Collaboration/Teamwork: Accomplish a goal working with others
Source: blogs.onlineeducation.touro.edu
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