How to avoid the data dump and be persuasive

Business presentation is all about persuasion.

I recently worked with a client who had a tough sell. He needed to persuade his leadership team and board to spend a lot more money on a project they’d already sunk a lot of money into. He faced scepticism and hard questions. He had minimal amount of time to get his point across.

His answer: use more data! Rely on the numbers. More graphs. More statistics.

You won’t be surprised that I suggested another approach. Sure, we need the financials and the metrics. But if you want people to change their view or get excited, we need to engage their emotions. We need to think of our audience first, and us, second.

How storytelling persuades

Business presentation is all about persuasion. A company presents itself to a customer to persuade them to buy their product. A project leader presents plans to the management to persuade them that the strategy will work.

But when you use slides laden with bullet-points these aren’t focused on the audience. Instead, they’re supporting the case of the presenter. And audiences know this.

They also know when they aren’t being shown the complete picture – but cherry-picked figures. Audiences are more likely to listen if you take a narrative approach, relying on logic and emotion, while building your case. Make your story come to life, bring in colour.

If you’re talking about a future project you often need to describe the present (where you are) and the future (where you want to be) and shift between the two – all the while showing what’s at stake if you do nothing.

5 reasons to combine storytelling with business presentations 

  1. Storytelling can show the audience qualitative information that cannot be laid out through bullet-points and numbers.   
  2. It can paint a full picture of both the positives and negatives of any business challenges. Not just the good ones. 
  3. Narratives show a complete process of a business strategy. From its inception to the final implementation plans. 
  4. Storytelling appeals to how we think. According to Princeton’s Uri Hasson, ‘By simply telling a story, a person could plant ideas, thoughts and emotions into the listeners’ brains.’ 
  5. Through storytelling, the teller and listener synchronise their mindsets in an extraordinary process called neural coupling. 

Any business presentation’s ultimate goal is to convince the audience. This is why we need to harness the power of words not just numbers.

Photo by Evgeny Atamanenko

10 ways to masterful storytelling

We all know how a well-placed and well-timed anecdote can tell us so much more than stats or facts ever could.

‘Storytelling is fundamentally how we construct identity and a sense of purpose,’ says Mark Strom, author of Lead with Wisdom.

‘Tell a story and people will grasp what you are saying.’

We all know how a well-placed and well-timed anecdote can tell us so much more than stats or facts ever could. While politicians have long had a go at this approach, it was Barack Obama who took the art of narrative campaigning to another level. It’s also a technique that is becoming the go-to in business, leadership, content marketing and social media.

Strom believes it’s not only the telling of stories that’s important, but it’s also about asking ‘grounded questions’. This, he says, leads to people telling more meaningful stories.

I heard Strom speak on this subject some years ago and was impressed by how he brings together his belief in the value of wisdom with his knowledge of philosophy. He describes himself as a ‘storyteller with a PhD in the history of ideas.’ He now helps businesses identify their narratives to affect positive change.

‘We can’t make anything without words,’ says Mark. ‘We all have to become the author of our own world.’

And yes, you can make this approach work for you, too.

Here are 10 ways you can become a master storyteller:

  • Make your story a universal one. This will touch more people.
  • Use emotions. How we respond to people is relational not just intellectual. If someone else feels what you felt, your story will touch them.
  • Be succinct. Don’t waffle.
  • Know the point of your story. Why are you choosing to tell it?
  • Ditto with intention. Intention will help your story resonate better with the listener because this is pure energy focused into your words.
  • Consider your delivery of the story. Allow for suspense and build to a punchline.
  • Listen to other people’s stories. They will inform your own.
  • Your story needs to suit your listener. Be prepared to reshape and adapt an anecdote to make it more appropriate to your audience.
  • Use your imagination. Stories don’t merely come from the mind. Rather, from the heart and soul, past and future, ether and the winds. You might not be able to harness all of these but if you are delivering an important presentation, think beyond the intellect.
  • Lastly, be open to reflecting on the story of your life. How you share your story is up to you. You are, after all, the hero of your own narrative and ultimately, destiny.

So give these tips a whirl and watch the master storyteller in you unfold in no time.