storytelling in presentation

Structure Your Presentation Like a Story

by Nancy Duarte

After studying hundreds of speeches, I’ve found that the most effective presenters use the same techniques as great storytellers: By reminding people of the status quo and then revealing the path to a better way, they set up a conflict that needs to be resolved.

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Presentation Storytelling Examples & Techniques (2024)

Learn techniques for telling a story in a presentation . Get narrative presentation examples and learn to apply storytelling in business presentations .

Joanne Camarce

8 minute read

Short answer

What should a presentation storytelling structure include?

Introduction

Rising Action

Falling Action

Storytelling in business presentations matters (a lot)

Stories convey a deeper meaning, idea, or lesson. They make us feel, experience, identify, and understand.

Most importantly for storytelling in business presentations, telling a story in a presentation makes people more likely to remember the message.

Researchers Dean and Chip Heath found that after a presentation, 63% of attendees could remember the story told by the presenter.

However, only 5% could recall specific statistics from the event.

Because stories allow audiences to visualize and imagine an idea or message, stories also make them better able to make decisions.

In other words, stories bring buyers, stakeholders, and decision-makers to better understand and remember your message. Which in turn enables them to make a decision and increases the chance they’ll act on it.

What is presentation storytelling?

Presentation storytelling is the art of using a narrative structure to convey information instead of dry facts. It delivers a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end that aligns with the presentation's objectives, making the content more relatable and memorable.

Storytelling in business presentations involves 2 complementing aspects: (1) textual presentation narrative, and (2) visual storytelling.

What is a narrative presentation?

A narrative presentation is a style of delivering information where the content is structured as a relatable story. It typically includes characters, a setting, a conflict, and a resolution, and weaves complex ideas, processes, and metrics into the narrative.

What is a visual storytelling presentation?

A visual storytelling presentation tells a story or multiple anecdotes using visual elements like videos, animations, and interactive content.

Modern storytelling presentations apply scrollytelling design which combines visuals and text seamlessly to let readers interact with the presentation as they scroll down the content.

How to use the 4 storytelling archetypes

Storytelling is the art of describing vivid ideas, beliefs, experiences, and life lessons through stories and narratives.

These stories stimulate a listener's imagination as you take them on an emotional journey. There are many ways to tell a story.

These story structures have been shown to work for narrative presentations and corporate storytelling, and they will work for you.

The Hero's Journey: Communicates a transformation from struggle to success

The Story Mountain: Builds tension and anticipation

Story loop: Joins multiple perspectives into a single narrative

In-Media Res: Grabs attention quickly

There are timeless narrative frameworks that have worked for storytellers throughout the ages from the methodologies of old, through Shakespearian plays to Apple commercials.

1) Hero's Journey

The hero's journey narrative archetype involves a hero who goes on a journey and returns as a changed person.

This storytelling template consists of three distinct parts, or "acts," that include a setup, confrontation, and resolution. It makes for a well-structured and engaging narrative.

2) The Mountain

The mountain storytelling structure strategically maps the tension and drama in a story. This archetype is represented visually as a mountain, with each section building to a complex obstacle that characters need to overcome.

Think of the protagonist at the bottom of the mountain. They must climb the mountain to reach their goal (your business goals in this case). They face obstacles along the way, and they must overcome those obstacles before they can reach the top.

3) Story loop

The story loop structure contains stories within another story. However, they aren't standalone stories.

Your first story is the most important. It's the core of your message, and you use the other stories to elaborate or explain your central point.

But you stop some of the way through it, leaving the audience in suspense. Then, you share part of the second story before moving on to the last.

Eventually, in the end, you bring it all together to make one cohesive point. The purpose of this storytelling technique is to provide context, background, or a different perspective to a central narrative.

Types of anecdotes you can use in your story loop presentation

• Customer success stories
• Personal experiences by clients
• Inspirational stories
• Fictional or hypothetical stories
• Historical or factual stories

Here's a short video explaining how to use a story loop:

4) In medias res (begin from the middle)

In medias res is Latin for "in the middle of things." With this storytelling archetype, the narrative begins in the middle of a scene. It skips over the background of the story and gets straight to the action.

To choose the right type of story for your presentation, consider your audience, the purpose of the presentation, and the emotional impact you want to create.

No matter what narrative structure you choose, include visuals, sensory details, and precise language to bolster your message.

If you want to learn more about this storytelling archetype, check out the video below:

Effective presentation storytelling structure

A well-structured story can engage and persuade your audience, making your corporate presentation much more effective and memorable.

Stories can be applied in any type of business presentation, such as a pitch deck, sales presentation, white paper, report, or business proposal.

A single document can include multiple stories that make up a joint narrative.

5 basic elements of a story structure:

1. Introduction

• Sets a relevant context with background information.
• Introduces the protagonist (business or product) and the current problem or challenge.

2. Rising Action

• Builds tension by detailing the obstacles and complications faced.
• Engages the audience with the steps taken to address the challenge.
• The turning point where the main tension or conflict peaks.
• Highlights the moment of greatest challenge and the decisive action taken.

4. Falling Action

• Shows the aftermath of the climax.
• Begins to lead towards the resolution, detailing the business solution and results of actions taken.

5. Resolution

• Wraps up the story with the outcome of all actions.
• Provides a clear ending, showing how the challenge was overcome and what was learned.

After developing your story structure, be sure to connect it to your core message by creating parallels and reinforcing it with examples.

Most importantly, don’t leave your audience with the realization that they need to take action without offering them an immediate way to act.

Effective storytelling techniques for presentations

The beauty of storytelling is that the possibilities are endless. There are so many ways to tell a story in presentations. It's just a matter of finding the right one for your unique needs and goals.

1) Build your stories around your audience’s pain points

Stories establish connections. But don’t confuse your story with your audience’s story.

Your audience doesn’t care about your story, and they don’t care about your product.

But they will care if they feel you care about them.

Understanding the audience's pain points, values, and opinions can help you weave a story into a narrative that aligns with their interests. It gives you the chance to be part of THEIR story.

Stop talking about yourself. Do this and see engagement blow up, conversions increase, and greater brand loyalty .

2) Establish common ground with your prospects

One effective presentation storytelling technique is to find common ground and share experiences with your audience to establish a connection and make them care about what you say.

These commonalities are what resonate strongest with your target audience.

Common-ground stories tell your audience a satisfied client of yours overcame a particular challenge they are experiencing themselves, and offer the lessons learned while overcoming it.

3) Tell stories that foster peer envy

Peer envy is one of the strongest motivators you can flame in sales presentation storytelling.

Simply put it just means telling the story of a known industry player that achieved remarkable results with the help of your product or service.

A peer envy story should present the initial challenge, the journey to overcome it, and the final enviable outcomes. Yet the reader should feel they can attain similar or better results by following a similar journey.

Here's a fragment of a podcast where Michael Bosworth touches on this very topic:

Business presentation storytelling examples

Here are some examples of famous brands that incorporated personal stories to convey a powerful message in their business presentations.

Zuora sales deck

The Zuora sales deck was aptly named the best sales deck ever . It is truly a best-in-class example of a transformation narrative set within the story mountain framework.

It masterfully narrates the shift to a subscription economy, emphasizing evolving consumer behavior.

And by highlighting the challenges businesses face in this new economy, Zuora positions itself as the essential solution.

The deck's use of data, visuals, and testimonials weaves a compelling story of transformation, urging businesses to adapt and thrive with Zuora or stay behind and decline.

Mign sales deck

Mign’s sales deck highlights the digital shift in musculoskeletal injury recovery, emphasizing the transformation from mass production to personalized care.

Mign applies the hero’s journey story framework and positions itself as the trusted guide in this transformation.

The deck contrasts "winners," who embrace new technologies like additive manufacturing and virtual care, with "losers," traditional manufacturers stuck in outdated processes.

Tinder pitch deck

Tinder's pitch deck effectively narrates the universal challenge of meeting new people and the fear of rejection.

By introducing a hypothetical user named "Matt," Tinder gives the reader a peek into the mind of their target user - an everyday nice guy scared to approach a girl he's interested in.

This concrete personal experience gives life to a basic human need that investors can understand intuitively and even relate to.

Tinder leverages this emotional understanding to make a compelling case for its solution - a platform that eliminates the fear of rejection.

The deck also applied great data storytelling showcasing Tinder's impressive statistics, emphasizing its global reach and popularity among Gen Z.

They also nail the one-liner. Their slogan "It Starts With A Swipe™" encapsulates the simplicity and effectiveness of the app, positioning Tinder as the modern solution to traditional dating challenges.

Brothers Pub restaurant pitch deck

Brothers Pub's pitch deck presents a captivating local business story, emphasizing the need for a fresh, community-focused social pub venue.

The deck tells the story of the owners’ journey, from the initial concept to securing a prime location in Northampton, highlighting their dedication and vision for the future.

The deck outlines the challenges faced by traditional pubs, with 7000 closures in the last decade, and positions Brothers Pub as the innovative solution.

LKE proposal

Legends Kratom Co. (LKE) creates a narrative around the origins and benefits of kratom. By telling the exotic tale of the medicinal tropical evergreen tree and its transformation into a beneficial supplement, the deck creates a vivid backdrop.

They take the reader on their discovery journey to Indonesia to find a supplier for the coveted plant.

This adds authenticity and allure, while their commitment to education and community showcases a heartfelt mission.

Testimonials provide real-world validation, making LKE's story relatable and positioning them as a trusted leader in the supplement industry.

Genius Workshop Event pitch deck

Genius's pitch deck for their storytelling workshop is a masterclass in selling an experience. The deck introduces Gabrielle Dolan's expertise, setting a foundation of trust.

The workshop's structure is presented as a narrative journey, guiding attendees from novice to storyteller.

The deck mixes video, scrollytelling, and vivid language to give rich detail to the experience it promises to provide.

The 90-day follow-up program adds an element of continued growth, while alumni testimonials serve as real-world success stories.

By framing the workshop as a transformative experience, the deck engages and entices potential attendees, showcasing the power of storytelling in action.

Barbie recruitment pitch deck

Barbie's recruitment deck immerses candidates into Barbie's vibrant world. With playful greetings and whimsical descriptions, it sets a creative tone.

The deck focuses on Barbie’s story as a human being (doll in her case), her values, and her experience, instead of focusing on the recruiting company.

The deck lists attributes and responsibilities that align with Barbie's ethos, such as "spreading positivity" and "rocking a pink wardrobe."

Nokia brand guidelines

Nokia's brand guidelines deck uses visual storytelling to effectively communicate the essence of the brand. It lets the visuals tell the story since they speak louder than words.

The deck begins by anchoring the audience in Nokia's mission and values, creating a narrative foundation.

It then unfolds the brand's visual identity, from color schemes to typography, weaving a cohesive story of what Nokia represents.

By providing clear dos and don'ts, Nokia ensures that its brand story remains consistent and impactful across all touchpoints.

This storytelling approach not only educates but also engages, making it easier for stakeholders to internalize and adhere to the guidelines.

nSure one-pager

nSure's one-pager effectively uses visual data storytelling to convey the benefits of their AI fraud protection for digital gift card purchases.

Introducing the challenge of ambiguous transactions, nSure lets the numbers tell the story.

With impressive numbers like their AI solution’s 98% approval rate. They can afford to.

The deck's visuals, combined with endorsements from industry leaders like AXA, make a compelling narrative that instills confidence in nSure's expertise.

Healthy.io proposal

Healthy.io's proposal uses video storytelling with real practitioners who tell the story of their experiences using Healthy.io’s solution.

The video testimonial from a practice nurse adds a personal touch, showing the positive impact on patient care. This brings the user's experience to the front and adds credibility to the proposal’s claims.

The proposal uses a transformation narrative to showcase Healthy.io’s remote kidney screening solution.

They highlight the challenges of legacy ACR testing against their modern home-based test using a smartphone app.

Principles of visual storytelling in business presentations

Storytelling allows you to simplify complex or abstract information and address any objections or resistance. As a result, listeners can better retain and remember the message, which improves the decision-making process.

Here are the main principles that can transform your narrative:

Authenticity

Authentic visuals resonate more with audiences. In an era where people are bombarded with staged and polished images, authentic, candid photos that reflect the reality of your work can make your message stand out and be memorable.

Your visuals should evoke a sensory experience. The goal is to cut through the noise and trigger a stronger emotional response.

For example, you can make the experience more immersive by adding interactive clickable elements, embedding videos, or images that highlight details or visual textures.

Scrollytelling can also play a crucial role here, allowing the story to unfold through interaction, as the audience scrolls through the narrative, engaging them in a multi-sensory journey.

You can see the difference that interactivity makes below. Which presentation would you rather read?

The stories told by your images must be relevant to your audience. Personalized visual storytelling, supported by data to understand what motivates your audience, can turn your story into an experience that resonates deeply.

Every story has characters that fit certain archetypes, such as the caregiver, the explorer, and the creator. Identifying with these archetypes helps your audience connect with the story on a deeper level, making your organization's mission more relatable and memorable.

Make your own storytelling presentation

We've curated an extensive collection of templates to help you achieve effective storytelling for whatever business presentation you need to make.

The business storytelling presentation templates below have been rigorously tested across various devices and refined with insights gleaned from real-world feedback.

They were designed with interactive storytelling at their core. They’ll serve you as handy visual storytelling aids to make your presentations engaging, memorable, and highly converting.

Grab a template!

Why the human brain loves storytelling presentations

According to neuroscientist Uri Hasson , storytelling fosters deep social interactions through brain-to-brain connections.

He found that when we hear stories, our brains mirror each other, helping us understand what the storyteller is feeling.

Called neurocoupling or mirroring, this process occurs across many areas of the brain, including the ones that are responsible for processing and understanding narratives.

So the human brain loves stories. But why?

The short answer is that ‌neural activity in the brain increases when we hear a captivating story. Our brains are made up of neurons, which are nerve cells that send messages throughout the body.

These neurons release neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that transmit signals from nerve cells to target cells.

The most common neurotransmitters in the brain include:

When we hear a story, the neurons in our brain light up with activity. And according to neuroscientists, "neurons that fire together wire together."

This means that as we hear stories, the neurons in our brains are wiring together. As a result, we're more likely to remember the information we receive from a story.

Storytelling also triggers the release of dopamine ("the brain's form of candy") and oxytocin ("the love drug"). In other words, stories make us feel good.

Here's an infographic showing how storytelling affects the brain:

This can influence buying behavior because it helps to create an emotional connection with potential customers or buyers.

Telling a story, instead of making a sales pitch , is less intimidating to an audience.

The company or product you're describing is easier to understand, seems less complex, and provides relevant information in a format that's easy to digest and remember.

As a result, the buyer can relate to the product or service and will eventually want to purchase it.

Joanne Camarce grows and strategizes B2B marketing and PR efforts @ codeless.io . She loves slaying outreach campaigns and connecting with brands like G2, Wordstream, Process Street, and others. When she's not wearing her marketing hat, you'll find Joanne admiring Japanese music and art or just being a dog mom.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas The Power of Storytelling in Presentations: A Guide to Captivate Your Audience.

The Power of Storytelling in Presentations: A Guide to Captivate Your Audience.

Presentations happen daily in corporate meeting rooms, hybrid sessions, fully remote summits, seminars, and weekly check-ins. What was once referred to as “Death by PowerPoint” has become “This could have been an email.”

In a survey about the current work state, 91% of workers admitted that they daydream during meetings . They’re creating stories in their minds because they’re not concentrating on the meeting or the presentation on their screen. 

Nobody wants meetings that go nowhere; aim for efficiency and less time wasted. Mindful communication and some good old storytelling techniques are the best ways to reach that goal. On the other hand, stories present a different point of view on how to tell a story to an audience and disclose large chunks of data without losing the audience’s interest.

Research by the Journal of Neuroscience (2019) discusses the importance of using storytelling in business presentations to disclose information to the public in a more accessible format. Our brains are wired to process stories more effectively than raw data or facts. When we hear a story, our brains release oxytocin, a hormone associated with empathy and trust, which helps us connect emotionally with the speaker and the content. Hence, the importance of curating the script to deliver your story to the audience as stories have the power to inspire, worry, heal, and even to attract a negative impact, as suggested by the American Psychological Association .

You can harness this phenomenon in your presentations regardless of their scope. In this guide, we share storytelling techniques you might not have thought of and reinforce the classics with new ideas. This article is for weekly report presenters, sales agents presenting to clients daily, and anyone looking to improve their PowerPoint storytelling training skills. 

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Using Storytelling in Presentations

Understanding the audience and tailoring the story to their interests and needs, data storytelling, storytelling structures for crafting a compelling story for a corporate presentation, practical techniques to improve storytelling in presentations, how storytelling enhances the effectiveness of the presentation.

• The Power of Visual Metaphors and your Stories

Strategies For Overcoming Storytelling Challenges in a Corporate Setting

The power of storytelling.

Communication through storytelling is the intersection between informing, connecting, and persuading. Stories have been the foundation of human connection since the beginning of human history. Before the advent of written language, history was shared through spoken storytelling. Then came books, plays, movies, and storytelling modalities that united people through communication.

Findings demonstrate that storytelling is essential for presenting innovative ideas and gaining interest and support from others. In any scenario, from academic to corporate, when people are engaged with a story, they are more likely to pay attention, ask questions, and participate in the presentation. This engagement can lead to better outcomes for the presenter and the audience.

Storytelling breaks the ice through empathy and relatability. Short, rapid-fire associations help overcome communication obstacles and connect the speaker to the audience, especially when the presenter doesn’t know the audience personally. 

Imagine that you’re about to present to a college audience of students, scholars, and teachers. Tap into what they can all relate to: the room you’re in, the event you’re all attending, the weather, and create a quick story or comment about it. If you’re a visual storytelling master, tie it into your presentation’s intro.

Stories motivate. It’s what they’re most appreciated for. Stories help people understand complex ideas or data by providing context, relatability, and a structure familiar to the human brain.

Using stories improves the memorability and strength of the message while creating a connection between the speaker and the audience. Practicing storytelling in presentations increases confidence in the speaker and, therefore, the audience. 

Research by Stanford University suggests that people remember stories better than simple facts, and incorporating stories into presentations can lead to better retention. A story also has the potential to turn a presentation into a conversation, opening up the possibilities of communication even further. 

Incorporating Storytelling into Corporate Presentations

The average corporate worker is involved in presentations at least twice a week. Incorporating storytelling into those presentations, no matter how small, improves efficiency and results. 

But simply telling a random joke isn’t going to cut it; your content has to be tailored to the audience, finding the right balance between story and data and incorporating structures for storytelling slides , and visual, textual, and auditory storytelling techniques. Storytelling techniques span from small touches like quotes, GIFs, or memes to a full-scale story spanning every presentation slide.

Corporate Storytelling is the branch by which we apply storytelling techniques to business environments, which can happen in the format of writing mission & vision statements, presentations, marketing, sales proposals , product design, etc. Its company-wide application ensures that communication is clear across all levels but also reflects on overcoming obstacles with real-life applications of what the corporation is producing. 

Audiences can be vertical or horizontal. Vertical audiences are people with more or less knowledge than you. Horizontal audiences have the same knowledge as you. This distinction matters because it directs your decision-making toward the terminology and story arc you incorporate into a presentation.

For example, the communication is horizontal in a small meeting with your peers where you present a roadmap for a project launch. You can use industry jargon freely because they’ll all understand. Here’s a possible storytelling technique for a roadmap presentation.

• Create avatars for each team member with a funny accessory or cool background. Place each avatar on their tasks and move them along every week when you have check-ins. Make it fun and build a story around it. Your plan succeeds if people are talking about it outside the meeting room.

In a hybrid orientation session with new employees and interns . There’s less room for jokes than in a horizontal team environment. Use storytelling to train and inspire 50+ people in a hybrid setting.

• Open the presentation with real success stories of employees who came into the company and thrived over time. Don’t just show this employee at work doing tasks; also show them in situations where they enjoy themselves and feel a sense of accomplishment. 
• Incorporate dialogue simulations into the presentation. Choose participants randomly and ask them to have a guided conversation about something they might encounter at work. 
• Separate the audience into break-out rooms and ask participants different “what if” questions. Afterward, have a group discussion and create possible user stories from the answers.
• Your storytelling plan succeeded if at least ¾ of the audience participated and there was some laughter and enjoyment during the session.

Presentations to large audiences, like keynote speeches and TED talks, are the easiest to add storytelling techniques to. Communication is typically a combination of vertical and horizontal in these cases. Here are some PowerPoint storytelling training ideas:

• Tell a story that happened to you that ties into the content you’re sharing. Use unifying and stringing techniques to bring the idea from the story to the content and vice versa. 
• Separate the presentation into parts and tell one story per section . Select tales that people can relate to, like overcoming obstacles, reaching goals, and surviving traumas. Everyone can relate to those.

Some scenarios present a particular challenge for presenters: how to implement storytelling if the presentation heavily relies on data? Certainly, text cannot replace factual information, not visual metaphors, so in such cases, we highly recommend you follow a methodology like the one exposed in our article about data storytelling .

A storytelling structure will always help create better presentations by captivating your audience’s attention and engaging them more deeply. Sequential steps build a sense of suspense, transforming mere information into a compelling narrative that resonates. By learning how to structure your presentation like a story , you can effectively convey your message and leave a lasting impact. Here are some of the most effective storytelling techniques tailored to their specific scopes:

SCQA – Situation, Complication, Question, Answer 

The SCQA framework is an essential tool for analytic storytelling in presentations. It’s a practical tool in business communication that audiences relate easily to. As it follows a logical flow to present a situation and the steps to its resolution, it is one of the easiest methodologies for implementing storytelling in presentations. In our detailed case study, we shall expose a step-by-step process for applying this framework.

These are the sections of SCQA:

• Complication

We introduce this case to quickly represent this model: A furniture exporter has found customer complaints regarding the parcel delivery system. Using the SCQA, they can pinpoint the story behind the situation: some third-party vendors don’t use the platform-approved parcel delivery service, which implies an extra charge for the vendors, and opt instead for their own systems. In turn, some orders get lost, and customers cannot retrieve information on the shipping status until it’s delivered.

SCQA offers the advantage of helping presenters to structure complex concepts in a story format, which benefits situations like technical or scientific presentations as jargon can be reduced to easy-to-relate life situations.

Story Mountain

The story mountain or story arch is a literary structure for telling stories. It also works for medium size business presentations. It is a visual metaphor that illustrates the path to transit a mountain, from one point to the other end, and lists key points along the road, as well as the differences in the pace for each stage.

These are the stops in a story mountain:

• Opening: Start by introducing the main characters, the setting, and the context of your story, which, in terms of business situations, reflects the company, product, or service, then the problem your organization intends to address.
• Build-Up: This is the core problem to resolve. It should be disclosed in a manner that builds expectations and drives interest from the audience on which solutions are proposed and how they will work.
• Climax: The Climax can also be interpreted as an inflection point by which a direction change is introduced after an action is taken. This can be represented in the form of speaking about a strategic management shift that led your company into a successful path or an innovative solution later presented as a product or service that solves the core problem.
• Resolution: In this section, we illustrate how the core problem is solved due to the selected solution that arose from the Climax stage. Using testimonials is a great method to validate your authority on the topic and break the barrier between theoretical models and actual solutions. Other alternatives can come from case studies or introducing fact-based data.
• Ending: We conclude the story mountain structure by summarizing the key takeaways on the path to the mountain and highlighting how the organization solved the problem. Implement CTAs in this section, as it is where you should encourage prospective buyers to acquire your product/service. In the case of academic/scientific presentations, list down your contact information for possible collaboration projects.

We can showcase this model with a case like this: A manufacturing company producing paint cans is looking to implement production monitoring software on its shop floor. The aim is to increase efficiency, track real-time production, and better understand error codes.

• Opening: The company acknowledged its production needed more efficient, identifying hidden gems in their production process. They decided it was time to implement production monitoring software to take its production rates to new levels.
• Build-Up: As the company looks for different technology solutions, it can categorize the options offered by factors such as cost, features, and ease of implementation. They also ran an audit to get insights on which technology suits their production line the best.
• Climax: After a careful evaluation, the company chose a production monitoring software solution within its needs and budget. They opted to run a pilot on a limited number of machines, comparing the output results after 3 months. The implementation phase is handled by the software provided in terms of software, access points, and hardware required.
• Resolution: Over the first three weeks, the company observed significant improvements in its production process. They could locate bottlenecks that hindered the throughput rate, making the required changes to address them. This led to increased efficiency and brought cost-saving benefits to the company.
• Ending: The production monitoring software became an integral part of the company’s daily operations, influencing when maintenance tasks should be scheduled, providing insights about hidden production potential, and helping operators understand the consequences of each action taken more clearly. Due to the quick implementation process and the reports on cost-savings, especially from the scrap count reduction and energy-saving perspective, the company opted to install this production monitoring solution across all machines on the shop floor.

The Hero’s Journey 

The Hero’s Journey is a storytelling technique that fits neatly into a long-form presentation or keynote speech. This framework became popularized by Joseph Cambell’s book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces ,” it’s longer than the previous examples and can get quite elaborate. We can identify these sections in the Hero’s Journey:

• The Call to Adventure: The challenge/opportunity that initiates the path to the journey.
• Resisting the Call: The hero’s inner struggle to embark on the journey out of fear of failure or inadequacy.
• Meeting the Mentor: The encounter between the hero and a wise figure who provides advice on the journey.
• Crossing the Threshold: Moving from the comfort zone into the “Unknown,” walking into danger or uncertainty.
• Quests, Allies, and Enemies: The hero must transit obstacles and interactions to gather experience to face the key challenge of its journey.
• Approaching the Cave: In this stage, the hero faces the story’s main conflict.
• The Abyss: Where the hero experiences an internal crisis, inducing a transformation as it faces its deepest fear or a life-or-death choice.
• The Reward: After emerging victorious from The Abyss, our hero gains a valuable element (tangible or not) relevant to transit the rest of the quest.
• The Road Home: This stage represents the path back to their daily life, but finds new obstacles or challenges.
• The Rebirth: A final challenge emerges, where the hero is confronted with its greatest fear and must put all the knowledge to the test. This point showcases how much the hero has truly changed throughout the journey.
• Return: The hero is now back in its ordinary life, with the gained knowledge and a better understanding of the world. Now, that newfound knowledge is applied to benefit others.

That is a basic outline of the steps to cover in this road. If you wish to know more about this storytelling technique, we recommend you check our guide on The Hero’s Journey and its application.

Some presentations encompass various styles, functions, and objectives, each catering to specific communication goals. Internal and external presentations serve distinct purposes, requiring tailored approaches to effectively convey information. To enhance your storytelling prowess within presentations, here are some ideas that incorporate PowerPoint storytelling examples :

On Presenting Projects, Plans, Reports, etc.

Suppose you regularly present plans, project roadmaps , and reports to higher management. In that case, you can tap into what you intend to produce from the project and craft a success story, presenting the winning moments and obstacles your organization had to transit. Say, for example, a laptop manufacturer is presenting their newest model release plan. One of the main points to highlight in the marketing strategy is why this model is a flagship for the company. Well, since the product is due to be released in Q3 2023 and there were major differences in previous laptop designs by this company, the marketing team can build a narrative on how the Pandemic affected the initial design they had in mind due to the microchip shortage, the restrictions to work in shopfloor, and how they were presented with a new paradigm in terms of work. Those learnings were applied after noticing what customers needed regarding power and portability to work from anywhere in the world, not just a shared office. And that’s the background why this new laptop model is the solution for digital nomads and a brand new concept in the company’s strategy.

Introducing an Ideal Persona

For OKR sessions with newer employees , tell stories to inspire team members to feel invested in their objectives and key results. You can create one “ideal employee” model and craft a narrative around it to present common challenges, what objectives to aim for, and the benchmarks by which the company shall measure the new employees’ success rate. Express how this “ideal employee” came to the company fresh out of university, heading for a trainee role. How asking the mentors for advice helped the employee better understand their strengths and weaknesses and how to adapt them to perform at a greater level. Then, you can use this same narrative to cultivate the constant-learning mindset, as the “ideal employee” joined for extra-hours workshops that coach how to work with new frameworks, a well-paid sacrifice as it helped the employee to land an in-company promotion in less than 1 year. Use examples of other teams in the company and expose how they overcame new challenges or set new success metrics by collaborating as a team while staying true to your company’s mission & vision.

Strategies for Sales Meetings

Your best storytelling tactic for those presenting during external meetings like sales and proposals is the trusty “get to know your audience” technique . If it’s a big group, study the average person in attendance and direct your stories toward them. For smaller groups, research the client and mention things they’re interested in. Tie it into your presentation with stories, analogies, and metaphors. As an example of this tactic, let’s place ourselves in a sales professional’s shoes, presenting robotic vacuums to a group of investors and guaranteeing higher profits than they would make if investing in competitor brands like iRobot. The sales professional must gather information about the audience’s background, their individual investing profile, which projects similar to this product caught their interest, their expected ROI, and their threshold for risk. Then, the sales professional has to craft a narrative that attends to the needs of the average member in the meeting, with juicy details to spike the interest of the best 3 potential investors in the room. You can ask then what happens if there’s a conflict of interest in contrasting expectations. Step 1 is to stay true to your facts: do not present information your product or service cannot produce. Step 2 is to debate which position is more favorable to your interests and who is your ideal investor candidate. Step 3 is to calmly expose the facts that may drive the interest away from one/several investors and how your proposal aims to solve the problem in a different format than they expected. If, by chance, no consensus is reached, move towards Step 4, which is thanking the investors for their time and wishing that you can reach a business deal in another project.

Repurposing Customer Testimonials

In some cases, users crave tangible results from an innovative product. Talk to the customer satisfaction team at the company and ask them to tell you stories from the customers they talk to. Take notes of those experiences, remembering to write down the name in case you opt to cite a customer and need to ask for permission. 

By working with your customers’ testimonials, your organization can learn about flaws your product or service may present. Such information can later be repurposed as the ground research of a new product line and even be used in the product presentation as a punch line when to introduce “Why did we create this product?” – it is a powerful resource to count with, and automatically validates your efforts by working on suggestions made from real-life customers on what they expect from a product or service.

This approach is also used in the format of surveys held by the customer satisfaction team, as we count on valid insights to work from.

Creating a Dialogue

Turn the presentation into a conversation . Incorporating storytelling into a conversation can feel more manageable than in a speech. This process can be done by following these steps:

• Simplify the language: Avoid any unrequired jargon when transforming the presentation into a conversational format. If you must use industry-exclusive terms, introduce them in the context and with an explanation as if speaking with a colleague. Overly format language should be discarded as the aim is for a conventional business conversation, as it would happen in a coffee break during an event.
• Structure the narrative: Make it a back-and-forth conversation where questions and comments can be added by any of the two interlocutors (the presenter and, in this case, the audience). Write down any aspect of the conversation that you feel might be left out if you don’t follow a strict outline.
• Use examples: As you would in any normal conversation, have some references at bay. Working with your case study in the presentation as an example can help in most cases, as you are already familiar with the ins and outs of that example. If not, opt for an example that is relevant and easy to structure for your talk.
• Be adaptable: It is not a presentation format but a more relaxed take on delivering a topic. With this, we imply unexpected changes can emerge like a member of the audience raising a series of consecutive questions or making it a lengthy monologue to express an idea. Go with the flow and only return to your speech if you divert too much from your intent.
• Highlight key points: Don’t dwell too much on specific details that may consume much time. Instead, push the key points into the conversation early on so you can reference them later as the conversation goes on.

Case Study of Storytelling in a Corporate Presentation

A software provider for the retail industry, TechEase, seeks to win a large contract from a potential client, a major retail chain, to implement a new inventory management system. The client, MoreIsLess, has expressed interest in TechEase’s software but has yet to make a final decision. 

TechEase knows they are competing against several other software providers and must make a compelling sales presentation to set them apart.

First, the TeachEase team concretizes the client’s pain points to use them as a basis for a compelling story. TechEase must show how its software will meet the requirements to ease the client’s unique pain points.

• MoreIsLess needs an inventory management software solutionthat is more effective than the one they use now. 
• The current software is unstable and is constantly making employees frustrated. 
• It has also created issues with inventory data, making the company lose clients from its e-commerce platform due to undelivered orders and product sorting and packaging mistakes.
• MoreIsLess managers have previously had a negative experience with a software implementation project and are hesitant to take on another project that could potentially disrupt their operations.
• The client is concerned about the software’s complexity and whether it would be easy for their employees to use. 

To address these challenges, TechEase’s sales team develops a sales story that will resonate with the client. One easy way to understand this problem is by implementing a metaphor. In this case, TechEase interprets the inefficiency in the system used by MoreIsLess as a bottleneck problem, given that new orders are added to the queue. However, unresolved/failed orders still hang there, altering the inventory data. In graphical terms, it resembles a car jam on a high-traffic road, where at a certain point, all elements get stuck.

Using the SCQA framework, the team sets up a structure for their sales presentation with the client company. They’ll build a compelling story with this as the foundation. The slides follow this outline and the structure for a sales presentation. Our SCQA Slides Template for PowerPoint is used to illustrate this case.

• Situation = MoreIsLess needs an inventory management software solution that will be more effective than now.

• Complication = Their current system creates bottlenecks in the supply chain, causing behavioral and financial problems. MoreIsLess managers are worried about disrupting operations to implement new management software. They are also worried about the software’s complexity.

• Question = How will TeachEase offer an inventory management solution that will solve the bottleneck issue quickly and efficiently without disrupting operations? How will they ensure timely employee training?

• Answer = TechEase offers to implement the new software over one weekend and train all involved employees within a week. Bottlenecks will ease within two weeks with a full-scale fix at three weeks max. The TechEase team also works with the customer success team to inform customers of the changes when necessary. They will offer a discount code to clients as an incentive if they have any issues in those two weeks.

The story uses a visual metaphor, the bottleneck. In this case, a long-term inventory bottleneck with mistaken shipments and unsent orders is caused by the current software.

Ineffective inventory management software = a traffic bottleneck on a highway intersection

Everyone hates it when traffic becomes a bottleneck that makes drivers change routes, get lost, arrive late to their destination, etc. TechEase’s software solves the problem by creating more efficient inventory systems that relieve bottlenecks by “creating different lanes and making some of them wider.” 

TechEase uses the bottleneck visual metaphor in the presentation slides by turning an inventory flowchart into a traffic bottleneck. In the following slides, the bottleneck eases up, and the presenter explains how the software solves that problem. During the conversation, they use analogies and metaphors that tie back to the idea of the traffic bottleneck.

Storytelling can be a powerful tool for persuasion. A well-crafted story can help the audience relate to the presenter’s point of view and see the value in a proposed solution, idea, or product. Using the bottleneck visual metaphor, TechEase connects with the audience in a plane beyond what they’re immediately discussing. 

Finally, the TechEase team mentions a previous client with a similar issue. In a quick story, they explain how the software eased its bottlenecks without affecting daily productivity.

Tying the metaphoric story with a real story brings the idea home, from fiction to reality.

Resulting in MoreIsLess closing the deal and implementing TechEase’s software.

The Power of Visual Metaphors and Your Stories

Data and storytelling have many ways of working together to incentivize creative communication. One particular technique we’re fond of is visual metaphors and associations.

Relevant visual metaphors help you add storytelling to data without confusing the audience. It tends to do the opposite. Say you intend to represent what’s missing from a process to satisfy the customer’s needs. We can represent this situation as the following case study: a language learning application intends to compete on the same tier as top-industry solutions like Duolingo. They found out that users struggle to improve their pronunciation levels in some languages due to their way of pronouncing vocals and consonants in their native language. Take a look at this slide for a gap analysis. The broken road over a crevasse is the visual metaphor for the gap. It’s simple, it makes sense, and it’s effective. Using the gap analysis, the company can represent how the current state of their app is not helping users overcome pronunciation mistakes, as there’s no system to evaluate that in the app.

In another example, a company faces communication issues due to workers creating immense email threads due to the “Reply All” function. Instead of replying to the team members who should be aware of the answer, workers keep replying to all, creating email chains of over 20 emails that may not be relevant to the members listed in the initial email, as the current messages include specific instructions for one team. Instead, a wiser solution would be to reply only to those who find that communication pertinent or create a new email thread with the members interacting. Using the 3D square peg metaphor, we can represent how the “Reply All” option is forced into the organization rather than opting for individual email threads per topic or testing communication solutions like Microsoft Teams or Slack. This slide has an adaptable visual metaphor for explaining that something isn’t working as it should and that you’re forcing a solution where it isn’t fit to work.

The funnel is a classic and highly effective storytelling technique in marketing and business. We can drive the attention from hard-to-understand data into visual cues. Instead of using numbers to express how a media channel brings users to our company and turns them into prospective buyers, we can represent the funnel and categorize from contacts through the next filtered stage of qualified leads, then to prospects, and finally, opportunities. And we can also filter out the users who partially meet the criteria, reformulating solutions to their needs. Make yours unique by using colored dots, icons, and a legend to pinpoint where your team needs to work harder and what areas are strong.

As we’ve seen, there are multiple methods to implement metaphors to tell a story . The problem lies in pairing the aesthetic of your visual slides with the rest of the content you are delivering; otherwise, it feels disconnected. A tool like the SlideModel AI Presentation Maker help to bridge the gap by creating an entire slide deck based on a pre-selected design style and theme.

Overcoming Challenges in Storytelling for Corporate Presentations

There are always challenges and obstacles when using storytelling in corporate presentations. They’re the reason why so many presentations could have been emails. And also why deals aren’t closing, sales aren’t being made, and internal meeting presentations are unproductive. These are some of the most common:

• The company doesn’t have a brand story, no corporate storytelling strategy, nor does its communication culture have any stories to tell. This foments a culture of basic communication that doesn’t inspire action and growth.
• Everyone just keeps doing “what works.” When faced with something new, they say, “We’ve always been doing it this way.” If a new idea for a presentation comes up, they say, “We’ve used this report presentation template for the past year. Why change now?”
• It takes time to craft relevant stories and practice them. Many presentations must be finished fast and then presented at a meeting nobody wants to attend.
• Sometimes, a story used means nothing, and the effort is wasted .

The number one strategy to overcome storytelling challenges is to understand and share that storytelling is worth the time it takes to implement.  

Here are some strategies for overcoming storytelling challenges in a corporate setting.

• Hire a brand storyteller to build a story from which the entire company can build more stories.
• Build detailed user personas and create stories around them.
• Hire a creative director to lead important presentation projects and client communication.
• Challenge your employees to get creative when building presentations and think of other ideas to implement instead of reusing the same report template every Friday. If your company has a brand story, share it with them. Involve the Learning and Development department and offer storytelling workshops for everyone to build their skills.
• Don’t create a story for each presentation. Keep a folder of potential stories to use in the future and reference it regularly. 
• Make the stories mean something. Stories that don’t relate to your audience are as good as nothing. 

Be ready for every situation; you never know when your in-person presentation will turn into a hybrid session at the last minute. If you practiced a presentation for a stage, with some walking around and eye contact, you’ll have to bring it all in and adapt it for the camera. 

In a few steps, you can adapt the storytelling from an in-person meeting into a hybrid session. 

• Set up a camera to record the front of the room where the presenters will be.
• Connect it to the webinar or meeting software and test it.
• Send attendees a digital copy of the presentation slides.
• When the session starts, don’t just show the front of the room to the virtual attendees; change views and show the slides fullscreen, especially those with the visual metaphor.
• During the session, have someone in charge of the chat box and motivate attendees to participate in the discussion.

The power of storytelling is undisputed. It differentiates between a presentation considered “this could have been an email” and a presentation that positively impacts the audience. 

Stories in a corporate setting are the glue that humanizes business meetings, making them more entertaining, effective, compelling, memorable, and successful. 

In this guide, we shared some storytelling techniques you can incorporate at different levels of your organization. Try them out and see what works better. Part of getting to know your audience is trying out stories with them and seeing how they react. Check out our storytelling templates for PowerPoint to create your next presentation.

Here’s to much better presentations in your future.

Zacks, J. M., Speer, N. K., & Reynolds, J. R. (2009). Segmentation in reading and film comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 138(2), 307–327. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015305

Source: Zak, P. J. (2014). Why inspiring stories make us react: The neuroscience of narrative. Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science, 2014, 2. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4445577/

Green, M. C., & Brock, T. C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), 701–721. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.701

Hinyard, L. J., & Kreuter, M. W. (2007). Using narrative communication as a tool for health behavior change: A conceptual, theoretical, and empirical overview. Health Education & Behavior, 34(5), 777–792. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198106291963

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8 Classic storytelling techniques for engaging presentations

Emily Bartlett Feb 1, 2022 1:57:05 PM

A good public speaker takes their audience on a journey, leaving them feeling inspired and motivated. But structuring your speech to get your ideas across and keep your audience engaged all the way through is tricky. Try these eight storytelling techniques for a presentation that wows. 

You’re doing a presentation, so you start with the facts you want to get across. Wrong! Humans are hardwired for stories. They love heroes, journeys, surprises, layers and happy endings.

Deliver a presentation that captures the hearts and heads of your audience by stealing one of these classic storytelling techniques. Start with the story – the rest will be history.

1. Monomyth

The monomyth (also called the hero's journey), is a story structure that's found in many folk tales, myths and religious writings from around the world.

In a monomyth, the hero is called to leave their home and sets out on a difficult journey. They move from somewhere they know into a threatening unknown place.

After overcoming a great trial, they return home with a reward or newfound wisdom – something which will help their community. Lots of modern stories still follow this structure, from the Lion King to Star Wars. 

Using the monomyth to shape your presentation can help you explain what has brought you to the wisdom you want to share. It can bring your message alive for your audience.

• Taking the audience on a journey
• Showing the benefit of taking risks
• Demonstrating how you learned some new found wisdom

See also: The Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell

Japanese yo-yo-er BLACK tells the inspiring story of finding his life's passion, and the difficult path he took to become world champion. He closes by sharing his new found skills with the audience, bringing his journey full circle.

2. The mountain

The mountain structure is a way of mapping the tension and drama in a story. It's similar to the monomyth because it helps us to plot when certain events occur in a story.

It's different because it doesn't necessarily have a happy ending. The first part of the story is given to setting the scene, and is followed by just a series of small challenges and rising action before a climactic conclusion.

It's a bit like a TV series – each episode has its ups and downs, all building up to a big finale at the end of the season.

• Showing how you overcame a series of challenges
• Slowly building tension
• Delivering a satisfying conclusion

Aimee Mullins uses a mountain-structure speech to tell a personal story – from being born without fibula bones in her lower legs to becoming a famous athlete, actress and model.

3. Nested loops

Nested loops is a storytelling technique where you layer three or more narratives within each other.

You place your most important story – the core of your message – in the centre, and use the stories around it to elaborate or explain that central principle. The first story you begin is the last story you finish, the second story you start is second to last, etc.

Nested loops works a bit like a friend telling you about a wise person in their life, someone who taught them an important lesson. The first loops are your friend's story, the second loops are the wise person's story. At the centre is the important lesson.

• Explaining the process of how you were inspired/ came to a conclusion
• Using analogies to explain a central concept
• Showing how a piece of wisdom was passed along to you

See also:  Simon Sinek's TED talk shows how successful organizations place the 'why?' of what they do at the centre, surrounded by the 'what?' and 'how?' of their business. Nested loops are an ideal way of framing this message, giving your audience a real insight into your identity. 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses the framework of her experiences in university and the way that Africa is perceived in the Western world to drive home her argument about stories.

4. Sparklines

Sparklines are a way of mapping presentation structures. Graphic designer Nancy Duarte uses sparklines to analyse famous speeches graphically in her book Resonate .

She argues that the very best speeches succeed because they contrast our ordinary world with an ideal, improved world. They compare  what is  with  what could be . 

By doing this the presenter draws attention to the problems we have in our society, our personal lives, our businesses. The presenter creates and fuels a desire for change in the audience.

It's a highly emotional technique that is sure to motivate your audience to support you.

• Inspiring the audience to action
• Creating hope and excitement
• Creating a following

See also: Resonate by Nancy Duarte

Martin Luther King's speech is famous the world over because it contrasts the racist, intolerant society of the day with an ideal future society where all races are treated equally.

5. In media res

In medias res storytelling is when you begin your narrative in the heat of the action, before starting over at the beginning to explain how you got there.

By dropping your audience right into the most exciting part of your story they'll be gripped from the beginning and will stay engaged to find out what happens.

But be careful – you don't want to give away too much of the action straight away. Try hinting at something bizarre or unexpected – something that needs more explanation. Give your audience just enough information to keep them hooked, as you go back and set the scene of your story.

This only works for shorter presentations though – if you string it out too long your audience will get frustrated and lose interest.

• Grabbing attention from the start
• Keep an audience craving resolution
• Focusing attention on a pivotal moment in your story

Zak Ebrahim begins his talk with the revelation that his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. His audience is gripped from the beginning, as he begins to recount the events of his childhood and the path he took after his father's conviction. 

6. Converging ideas

Converging ideas is a speech structure that shows the audience how different strands of thinking came together to form one product or idea.

It can be used to show the birth of a movement. Or explain how a single idea was the culmination of several great minds working towards one goal.

Converging ideas is similar to the nested loops structure, but rather than framing one story with complementary stories, it can show how several equally important stories came to a single strong conclusion.

This technique could be used to tell the stories of some of the world's greatest partnerships – for example, web developers Larry Page and Sergey Brin. 

Larry and Sergey met at Stanford's PhD program in 1995, but they didn't like each other at first. They both had great ideas, but found working together hard. Eventually they found themselves working on a research project together. A research project that became Google.

• Showing how great minds came together
• Demonstrating how a development occurred at a certain point in history
• Showing how symbiotic relationships have formed

See also: Steven Johnson's TED talk , where he explains how collaboration has fuelled some of history's best ideas.

John Bohannon and the Black Label Movement explain (verbally and through dance) how scientists and dancers came together to form an exciting, dynamic alternative to boring presentations.

7. False start

A 'false start' story is when you begin to tell a seemingly predictable story, before unexpectedly disrupting it and beginning it over again. You lure your audience into a false sense of security, and then shock them by turning the tables.

This format is great for talking about a time that you failed in something and were forced to 'go back to the start' and reassess. It's ideal for talking about the things that you learnt from that experience. Or the innovative way that you solved your problem.

But best of all, it's a quick attention hack which will disrupt your audience's expectations and surprise them into paying closer attention to your message. 

• Disrupting audience expectations
• Showing the benefits of a flexible approach
• Keeping the audience engaged

J K Rowling begins her speech at Harvard in a typical fashion. She talks about her time at university and the expectations of her parents. The audience expects her to talk about the growing success of her writing career – instead she focuses on a time in her twenties where she felt she had 'failed' in life. What comes next is inspirational.

8. Petal structure

The petal structure is a way of organising multiple speakers or stories around one central concept. It's useful if you have several unconnected stories you want to tell or things you want to reveal – that all relate back to a single message.

You tell your stories one by one before returning back to the centre. The petals can overlap as one story introduces the next but each should be a complete narrative in itself.

In doing so, you can weave a rich tapestry of evidence around your central theory. Or strong emotional impressions around your idea. 

By showing your audience how all these key stories are related to one another, you leave them feeling the true importance and weight of your message.

• Demonstrating how strands of a story or process are interconnected
• Showing how several scenarios relate back to one idea
• Letting multiple speakers talk around a central theme

See also:  Carnegie Mellon University's guide to story nodes

Simon Sinek again! His theory might lend itself perfectly to nested loops, but he himself chose to deliver his talk in a petal structure. He tells his audience a series a stories to help illustrate his ideas, each one strengthening his message further.  

Start with a story

So there you have it – 8 classic storytelling shapes to brighten up your talk and really engage your audience.  

Of course there are many other storytelling techniques out there that you can use. What I hope this post has done is show you that stories are powerful. They are the language of your audience.

Your talk – however dry the subject – can be brought alive if you find the story at the heart of it all. If you'd like any help developing your story and turning it into a winning animated video, contact our friendly Sparkol Creative Services team here.  

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > Using storytelling to engage your audience

Using storytelling to engage your audience

How do you keep your audience on the edge of their seats while you present? Learn how plot structure and other storytelling techniques can help you deliver a presentation that’s memorable, unique, and captivating from start to finish.

What is storytelling?

At its core, storytelling means giving your audience a plot or path to follow that is both compelling and satisfying. The best stories connect to something universal, spark curiosity, and enhance the way we see the world, all while pulling us forward with a natural momentum that lands us somewhere meaningful. This is what storytelling can do, but how does that translate to a presentation?

Tell your story with captivating presentations

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How to use storytelling in a presentation

No matter the topic, storytelling techniques add life and intrigue to your presentation. Try these tips to create an engaging experience for your audience:

Set the scene

Most stories happen in a physical space. Find a way to start your presentation with this same sense of place to ground your audience and draw their attention away from all that might distract them. How can you drop your audience into the world of your presentation? What do they need to know at the start so they can join you on the journey? Consider how visuals, audio, or a few words can set the scene and give your audience context and backdrop for the adventure ahead.

Take them on a journey

At its simplest, story structure has three sections—beginning, middle, and end—but at its best, each section serves a powerful, distinct purpose:

• The journey begins. In addition to setting the scene and providing context, this beginning is where we give the audience two key story components: the main character and the problem to be solved. What problem does your presentation address? What is at stake? Who stands to gain or lose? Draw viewers into your presentation by making them care about someone or something, and make sure they know what hangs in the balance.
• The winding way forward. In the middle, dig into the complexities of the plot-driving problem as you work your way through it and lead viewers toward a new understanding or way of being. This section is about deepening the sense of need and/or widening the promise of possibility as we cross the terrain from where we started to our ultimate destination. Let your viewers experience the challenges and obstacles at the heart of the problem and give them a fuller picture of what can be won or lost.
• The road ends, but the journey sticks with us. As the journey concludes, we reflect on what’s been lost, gained, and learned. What do we know now, and how does that change our perception and actions going forward? We’ve made it through the complexity, through the dramatic feats. We arrive at this new place or understanding, finally resolving the problem that drove us on the journey and seeing the new landscape and opportunities around us. Make the journey stick with us well after you’re done presenting by ending on a resonating image, line, or idea that amplifies the main takeaway or action you want them to do next.

Hit on universals

Great storytellers know that audiences delight in connecting to universal human experience. We’ve all loved, lost, and faced challenges. We all know what it is to triumph, feel like a stranger, and show up for someone in need. When you connect your viewers to these types of universal experiences, they see themselves in your topic and feel more invested. Consider, what are the universal themes at play? How can you bring a relatable sense of human endeavor, need, joy, love, etc., to your presentation? Just a little bit of universal relevance goes a long way to keeping your viewers deeply engaged.

By using storytelling techniques in your presentation, you can draw viewers in, keep them interested, and leave them with a resonating, action-driving takeaway. To strengthen your presentations even more, use these presentation design tips next.

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How to Use Storytelling in Presentations

Where ordinary presenters inform, great ones engage in storytelling.    

Their main objective is to get a message through to their audience. But while some do so by relaying facts, effective ones take their audience on a journey using great storytelling techniques.  This all boils down to having different mindsets and approaches. In this post, we’ll dive into the importance of narratives and provide you with a storytelling template.

The importance of storytelling in presentations

What must a storytelling presentation include, storytelling structure template example, visual content.

Speakers should aim to connect with their audiences. Aside from motivating and inspiring, they should also get them excited and help them identify with their message. To do that, their presentations need to be embedded with well-crafted messages that stick with viewers during and after the fact.  That’s where a narrative comes into play. It does much more than inform⁠—it portrays concepts or data with the use of a story.  It takes the speaker’s core message, repackages it, and delivers it in a way that engages with the audience and helps them digest the information, retain it, remember it days, weeks, or even months after, and above all, be able to retell it to others.

When it comes to effective narratives, slides and speech play equally important roles.   That means that your slides should not play second fiddle. They must be structured and designed in a way that complements your speech.   In this section, we’ll go into the essential storytelling elements with an example to illustrate our point.  

Like all good tales, telling a story means having a structure that includes a beginning, middle, and end. Here’s what each of them should encompass. 

Right off the bat, present a complication. This piques your audience’s interests and engages them because it keeps them hooked as they wait to hear possible solutions.   In this example of a pitch deck for a dating app , the first thing we've done is introduce a problem: the human quest for love (because no one wants to be alone!). 

The human brain is tailored to solve problems. By establishing a challenge, you propel your audience to work their minds and stick with you.  Above all, it sets the stage for the next section: the solution. 

(We’ll go into details about visual aspects a little later. But have you noticed the contrast in mood as represented by the different illustrations on the “problem” and “solution” slides?)  Presenting the problem and solution ties in with one of the best storytelling methods: Tease the promised land.   Dubbed by Andy Raskin, a specialist in strategic narratives, this method calls for speakers to provide a contrast between the current situation (and its problem) and the happy ending.   The solution is what you need to bridge this gap. To do that, you need a strategy, which brings us to the next section. 

As expert Hollywood screenwriter Robert McKee puts it, “What attracts human attention is change.”  The middle part of a story is the perfect place to present opportunities. It’s where you’d go into detail about the solution being offered.  In our example, this is done in the form of a “them vs us” analysis that compares your competitors with yourself. 

Comparisons are great for storytelling because they highlight differences and portray both sides of the change.  This, in turn, helps your audience to understand market opportunities, which acts as the perfect segway to showcase your product. 

All narratives end with a reflection, and your presentation should be no exception.   This can come in the form of a quote, which can serve as social proof, to inspire, or as support for your idea. Our template for a quote includes an illustration of a proposal, which is in line with the narration and represents a happy ending. 

The conclusion is also where your main takeaway should lie. In our example, we’ve done that with this slide on investment. That is, after all, the main purpose of this pitch deck template. Plus, the use of a heart is also a visual metaphor of investing in love.    

You could also flip the order around and end with the quote, especially if it’s an inspiring and powerful one. 

The visual aspect of storytelling is extremely important. This is where we take a page out of children’s books.  They are much easier to follow than adults’ books because of their visual nature—minimal text and massive illustrations. So keep your slides as simple and as text-free as possible. Nothing kills like text overload.  

Effective slides require a good balance of images, graphics, illustrations, etc. When selecting visual aids, use those that support your narrative. Since our template is about a dating app, we’ve chosen the color pink and red as base colors and have dotted the presentation with hearts and flowers. 

When representing data and concepts, these are generally better explained with a visual aid than text. Take for example the next image on “predicted growth”. 

Having text represent numbers is torture on your audience’s vision. Using graphics such as bars and charts, on the other hand, tells the entire story in a much cleaner and digestible manner.  Explaining all this in words would be way too chunky. 

“We expect growth to reach 10 percent in the first year, and increase to 20 percent in the following two years…” 

Urgh.   Varying the type of visual aid to cater to the type of concept or data you’re presenting also aids with comprehension.  In this next slide, we’ve used a timeline to depict a schedule.   

Although we’ve used a pitch deck template for a dating app as our example, its structure can be easily adapted to everything from case reports and lesson plans to thesis proposals, and more.  Creating a presentation with a storytelling element takes time and effort and everything has to go according to plan. That said, it’s important to have the resources you need to tell your story. If you’re feeling inspired, why not start customizing one of our templates to speed things up?   Browse through our range of free presentation templates that are fully customizable on Google Slides and PowerPoint. 

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