Speaking Sessions
Speaking Sessions
What SIGNIFICANCE Does STORYTELLING Hold in Public Speaking
Unlock the power of storytelling to transform your public speaking. In this episode, you'll learn how personal anecdotes and relatable analogies can make your messages more engaging and memorable. Discover how starting with the end in mind keeps your story on track, and see how everyday experiences—like family road trips or GPS navigation—can simplify complex ideas. We also delve into techniques for breaking down intricate topics, such as IT security, by weaving in relatable stories that connect with your audience. Tune in to elevate your communication skills and make your presentations unforgettable.
NOTABLE QUOTES
"[Storytelling] can [help] connect your message to your audience, as well as being able to connect with the audience because of the message you share." – Philip
"[Storytelling helps] us be able to simplify the idea." – Philip
RESOURCES
Philip
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What significance does storytelling hold in public speaking? Well, there's really two things that storytelling helps when it comes to public speaking, the first one being that you can connect your message to your audience, as well as being able to connect with the audience because of the message you share, so your personal self is connecting, but also the message based on you sharing a story with that will connect with them. The second thing is that it simplifies the ideas that you're trying to share. Now I could just stop right there and I put that pause and emphasize that pause purposely, because that literally could have been my speech for you. I could have simply just shared those two facts with you and been done. But how boring would that have been. Maybe for real, that'd be perfect, because it's 30 seconds, quick and dirty. Boom, you've got information that you can go and take with you. But guess what? Maybe you're ready to take that, maybe you're not. And that's where stories come in and really create this connection with the idea. And that's why I put the emphasis on connection with myself, but then also the idea that I'm sharing, because that story will tie in that information. So let me give you an example of what exactly I mean by this, and this is a very simplified example, but it's one that will make a lot of sense for you.
Speaker 1:So have you ever been on a family road trip where your dad was completely lost? You knew he didn't know where he was going, yet he wouldn't ask for directions. He's a man, he knows where he's going, he doesn't need any help finding directions. Yet he was still lost and y'all had to grin and bear through it. You couldn't complain to dad. Dad just ask somebody. You just had to hope that eventually he found his way to where y'all were trying to go Now, a lot of you. You probably relate it with that situation there that I just shared, and so you were able to connect with me based on that story, because you've probably been in a similar situation, or maybe you're guilty of being that person that didn't ask for the directions and acted like they knew where they were going when they really didn't, and so that's a way you can use a story to connect you with the audience.
Speaker 1:But how do you connect your idea? So another example of this part of connecting your idea using a story is, if I was to say, the best way to craft a speech is beginning with the end in mind. What is that message that you want your audience to have? That's the thing that you need to be thinking about first. So when we think about this, think about a road trip. When you have a GPS and you say I'm going to go on a road trip, you don't simply just go, you put in a destination of where you're going, and the cool thing about the GPS is not only will it tell you when you're going to get there, how many miles, but if you get off path in one way, shape or form, it will reroute you back to that path. And so, by you creating an end goal in mind for your speech not only allows you to be going in a direction and knowing where you're going, but if you start to lose your train of thought or something comes up and sidetracks you a little bit, you can get right back on the path, because you know I'm going to end with telling how to tell stories or why stories are significant in public speaking.
Speaker 1:And so this is the other way that you tie your idea with the audience. You help them understand that using a story, using an analogy, to then further elaborate and explain that idea. Now, these were simple things, but still using that story, if you can, then also. And so that second one where I'm sharing my idea, it's also helping us be able to simplify the idea as well. So this idea and the story is helping us be able to connect the idea with each other, but it's also simplifying that idea as well. Now, of course, if we're going to go do something more complex, stories are going to be even more significant. I could have just simply again told you hey, begin with that in mind, because when you get sidetracked, you're going to be able to get back on the path immediately. But I shared a story, an analogy, with you to be able to help you understand why that was so important. And so if you have a more complex idea that you're going to share, the more story that you can have with that to explain that idea, the better it's going to be.
Speaker 1:So if I was to tell you about my past life where I programmed control systems, and you're probably thinking what in the world is a control system? What I could do is then explain about how, if you go to a water park and you go on any of the rides where there's water pumping through, let's say you're at the yeah water park and you're the, the ride is pushing you through and you're going in and out and all of a sudden there's water, kind of coming back at you. There's a control system behind that. There are controls, knowing, and they do these tests. It's not like they just know exactly what exact speed you're going, so how much pressure to put, but based on tests that they do, and they'll put weight dummies in and everything they can go through and say, okay, if we have this much water at the bottom, so maybe it's an inch, maybe it's three inches of water the average person which, with this average weight, is going to be going this fast. So when they get near the end, we need to have a lot more water or we need to have some water going in the opposite direction. So if you're going down this way, you know going down you need to have water going up towards you to put that resistance, to help you slow down enough, so you don't just simply zoom off to the very end and go into the gravel or the deck, whatever is at the end of that. That's no longer water on that water slide.
Speaker 1:And so these are control systems that are put in place. Essentially, it's parameters or inputs that are put there so that way you don't get stuck or you don't get hurt, or whatever the parameter that we want to put in place at this point. Another example of this would be IT security. You probably had, maybe, sites that you couldn't get into, especially in the corporate world, because of certain reasons, and the reason why is because they one, maybe they don't want you visiting those websites, like Facebook or Instagram, during business hours. But, two, there could be a risk of security because those sites tend to gather information on you, and now, if you're at your place of work, they may be able to somehow get into your computer, so on and so forth. You may download stuff that shouldn't be downloaded, and so that's why those parameters are in place. Again, share two different stories with you about parameters, about control systems, that things are in place to be able to keep things going, to be able to keep you safe, whatever that may be.
Speaker 1:But I use these stories to simplify the idea of IT security, of control systems, to help you understand a little bit more of what those are, and I'm using this as just a basic example.
Speaker 1:Of course, I can go into a lot more detail here, and if you're speaking on stage, you're definitely going to go use stories and get into some more detail on that. But I want to use something that was a little bit more complex and explain that a little or how I would kind of go about explaining that. But when you're explaining these ideas, think of the idea first and then find a story that will relate with that idea to help the audience understand, really break that idea down. So that's how we're using stories on that second part to really simplify these ideas. But storytelling is crucial when it comes to public speaking because it allows you to do the two things that we've been talking about this whole time Connect your idea to the audience, but also connect you as the speaker to the audience. And then, number two, it helps you be able to simplify ideas, especially complex ideas, by utilizing stories.
