GIVE EACH AUDIENCE MEMBER A STORY GIFT. (3 ways to story-wrap your “present-ations!”)

GIVE EACH AUDIENCE MEMBER A STORY GIFT. (3 ways to story-wrap your “present-ations!”)

When you form and share an idea, plan to wrap it like a present. Don’t rely on data and research to propel it. 

We like to say your big idea worth spreading should be connecting, colorful, and compelling. “Story-wrap” your present-ation.

For years now, I’ve worked with the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) to produce TED-style KEEN Talks with engineering professors and school deans. 

That may sound as dry as a MIT lecture hall’s chalkboard eraser. But truth be told, the work has proven to be some of my most rewarding and challenging. 

Throughout the triumphs and tribulations of helping engineers... talk, the most impactful tool I’ve found is to “wrap” a talk’s key points in story. 

When story wraps the elements of a bigger message, it engages viewers and deeply penetrates their memories. As McGill University’s pitch expert, Andrew Churchill, Ph.D., observes, “Story-wrapping creates a memory that contains key message features.”

Indeed, the latest brain scan research supports this assertion. We process, recall, and share ideas through story. Data, research findings, and slide decks don’t move ideas (or imaginations). That is story’s domain!

Too often, academics want to emphasize the hard science. “Story is fluffy, a soft skill,” they say. But guess what? Without making that data set relatable and applicable in real life, it isn’t really going to be heard — or absorbed and shared. It will land flat. 

But this doesn’t mean one simply inserts a gripping story to “hook ‘em” in the opening or bring them to their feet for a rousing call to action. A tangential (“close enough”) vignette will fall short. Wrapping your big idea and key points in spot-on, potent story is more involved and nuanced work.

Consider the KEEN Talk delivered by my client, Engineering Professor Glenn Gaudette, Ph.D. (We can grow human heart muscle on spinach leaves). 

Throughout his message, he recalls a lunchtime epiphany with his research assistant eating spinach salads. He moves from vegetable leaf veins to human heart ventricles and open-heart surgery — wrapping the talk in a lunchtime story.  

Story is central to his work. He delivered the talk while heading a Worcester Polytechnic Institute research lab; he’s now the founding chair of Boston College’s new engineering program. And storytelling has been part of his experience on both campuses.

Indeed, my years of experience beyond KEEN’s engineering community also bears this out — even on the TEDx stage. 

After all, perhaps the largest data set ever presented in the history of TED was also story-wrapped — and truly viral in views. Harvard’s Dr. Robert Waldinger heads a 75-year longitudinal study of health and happiness in the lives of men. Did he use a single pie chart in his talk? 

Nope. 

Instead, he shared the data story (hat tip to @Nancy Duarte) of his research by personalizing findings in the context of improving relationships — between individual family members and generations. Tens of millions of views later...

Don’t simply insert a gripping story or three that will grab attention. The story must be central to your message — even born out of your experience. A “close enough” vignette will fall short. Novelty or emotions alone won’t suffice. In fact, your presentation will benefit from a particular form of story. 

You want to wrap your talk with a concentrated TED-style story form. For example, one story form is the well-known “Hero’s Journey.” But for a TED Talk (or other short form presentations like an investors pitch) Joseph Campbell’s 12-step model requires too much from your listener. 

Instead, wrapping your message in a sticky story that leverages brain science. Doing so, brings to bear the most memory-penetrating form of narrative: The STICKY Story.

The best TED Talk speakers use this story form to wrap ideas with stories that engage viewers and deeply penetrate their memories.

Let’s turn to a non-technical talk, well-executed on the TEDx stage. Shawn Achor’s breakaway message (The happy secret to better work) was not engineering-based or born out of longitudinal research data.

But, as you watch Shawn’s talk, note how it is connecting through the childhood experience of nap time misadventures. It is colorful in the details of bunk bed tumbles and sleeping parents.

As he transitions to a workplace-focused central idea, we are compelled to imagine applying his suggestions at the office. Yet long after closing the browser window, we recall his sister’s broken arm and his optimistic (and creative) solution in a crisis moment!

Shawn’s talk is the ultimate in a compact, challenge-shaped story that wraps the big idea as a connecting, colorful, and compelling package.

A story-wrapped idea worth spreading is an audience engagement key that can ensure your dry, dull, and deadening research data sets come alive — regardless of the stage or screen you speak from.

It works for KEENsters and TEDsters; it can work for you.

It can make your presentation a present to your audience!

P.S. To delve deeper into this topic, click to my STICKY Story article.

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DEVIN D. MARKS is known as The TED Talk Whisperer. His Boston-based firm, Hutchinson, Marks + Company, has represented hundreds of TED, TEDx, and TED-style speakers with millions of views. His team helps leaders, just like you, catalyze insights.

You can call Devin at 617-804-6020; or email him by clicking here.  

HOW TO STORY-WRAP YOUR MESSAGE.

Here are 3 ways to story-wrap your research or data:

MAKE IT CONNECTING. Share a story that’s relatable — even bonding! Do you personally know someone who could be impacted by your data? Name her, explain her circumstance, detail a bit of her life or work in ways that allow your audience to think, “Oh yes, I’ve done that.” Story-wrapping should be connecting.

(e.g., “Wow, just like me Gina has children and wants them drinking water instead of soda.” But she also wonders if her historic Detroit home’s faucet water is lead-contaminated.)

MAKE IT COLORFUL. You want the story shared to stand out enough that it sticks in viewer’s minds. A story is shareable when elements of it are vivid and pop! Choose the limited details you share with care and for a singular purpose. A select set of details matter and become quite sticky. Story-wrapping should be colorful. 

(e.g., Gina’s kiddos complain of joint and muscle aches. She thought they were just growing pains until the day when her son wouldn’t get out of bed for Saturday cartoons!)

MAKE IT COMPELLING. You want the stories shared to move viewers to action. Entertainment for its own sake is for Hollywood — not the TED stage. Move the audience to make a doable change. Preachers know this as the “application” of the message: something small, but a win tonight. (Not next week or month. Now!) Story-wrapping should be compelling.

(e.g., That very afternoon, Gina Googled the terms “lead and water pipes.” Within minutes, she was clicking to Amazon.com and ordering test kits for next-day delivery!)

Congrats, you were asked to give a TEDx Talk! 

#BucketList

It is an HONOR to be asked. 

But be wary. A bad talk will follow you like a sloppy tattoo by a drunk prison artist.

(Or three.)

You want a STRONG, affirming, addition to your digital brand — not an embarrassing eyesore.

(And bad can mean everything ranging from a weak delivery to crappy lighting — sometimes both, and more.)

So let’s get your progress towards a TED stage... moving! 

It’s time to find your BIG IDEA worth spreading.

And connect with TED organizers. 

And compel your viewers to action.

It’s time for... The BIG IDEA Mill™ 

Simply put, you need a refined BIG IDEA to connect with your audience and spread a message. The best TED Talk speakers know this. They work doggedly to clarify... 

• The controlling idea. 
• The central theme. 
• The silver bullet. 
• The red thread. 
• The thru-line. 

It takes work to distill your idea into a message that truly captivates and compels. 

Good news! 

The BIG IDEA Mill can be one of your first steps to center stage! Click here to RSVP and get your application rolling. (Next cohort kicks off in June.)

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