While you develop the storyboard for your presentation, imagine your audience. What information do they already have about your message? How much do they know about your industry? How old are they? What are their shared likes, dislikes, hopes, and fears?
You probably already run through these questions without realizing it. For a presentation to succeed, it needs to be relevant. You wouldn’t deliver a technical talk about software engineering to a room filled with real estate agents. The closer your content aligns to their needs, the more they’ll take from the message.
But, what about a presentation with a story?
This is where things get a little tricky. If your deck is structured with a beginning, middle, and end, the narrative becomes the focus rather an audience-facing tone. Think of a superhero movie with a muscular main character like Batman. If that was turned into a presentation, how would the audience both relate to Bruce Wayne and choose to sign on the dotted line? Here are some ways to make the different aspects of your storytelling deck more relatable:
Main Characters
This is one of the easiest ways to make your audience feel connected to the presentation. If your main character shares their perspective and pain points, even if it’s a fictional character, then they’ll be able to relate. It’s like a more tuned-in version of those infomercials where people struggle to carry a tray of drinks or tie their shoes. If your audience sees and feels the problems that your main character does, they’ll pay attention.
Villains
If your hero is not relatable, i.e., you are trying to show an example of what not to do, then a villain or opposing force is a great way to make your story relatable. Let’s say you are presenting to a group of investors who are interested in the medical field, and you have an idea with the potential to cure cancer. In this case, cancer is the villain and your audience has a chance to be the hero. Make that villain as large, scary, and honest as possible in order to motivate your audience to act.
Setting
This final tactic should be a given: craft your presentation’s setting to mirror your audience’s daily life through photography and content. Don’t show images of Millennials at a coffee shop if you are presenting to an older corporate crowd. Set the story of your presentation within a scene that your audience cares about and recognizes, and they’ll feel right at home.
The journey of your narrative can go through as many twists and turns as it needs to lead to your conclusion or call-to-action. But sprinkling in relatable content in the characters, setting, and overall tone can help your audience feel more invested with the narrative, even if it’s a cautionary tale. It all starts with getting to know your audience, and using sleuth skills to better understand what they care about.
Want to learn more storytelling techniques for your presentation? Check out these helpful articles:
The 5 Elements of Storytelling for Presentations
Storytelling Ideas for Presentations
Storytelling Tactics: Creating “Happily Ever After” Within a Presentation
