Using stories effectively

Patricia Kitchen | Change@work

11:51 AM EST, January 25, 2008

Annette Simmons, who has worked with clients such as Microsoft, NASA and the IRS, offers these ideas to help you ease into the storytelling process.

-- Give your curiosity full rein as you listen to people and their stories. That's how you come to appreciate the details. "To be a good storyteller, you must be a good story listener," she says.

-- Look to your own life for material, occasions when you shined, a time "you blew it" or lessons you learned from a mentor. Also look to outside material, books, movies, case studies, current events.

-- Choose stories based on the emotion you hope to elicit in your audience. If you want people to embrace change, "tell a story that ends up in that feeling."

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-- Beware of giving too much information. No story should last more than three minutes.

-- Start your presentation with the story. That helps frame the data to come.