Last weekend, I flocked to one of the 4,120 movie theaters showing the adapted version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Despite receiving a handful of bleak reviews, the picture brought in about $170 million during opening weekend. Although it kept much of the integrity of the animated version, the live-action remake revealed a wealth of presentation storytelling tips.
Provide context
One of the most interesting additions the 2017 Beauty and the Beast included was located in the storytelling about Belle’s family. While the character of her father didn’t sustain the same quirkiness and clumsiness of the animated film, the live-action team provided more context into the situation surrounding Belle’s mother. In the animated version, the audience doesn’t gather more information about her mother, other than the fact that she isn’t a leading or supporting character. In the live-action story, however, the Beast takes Belle to her childhood home in Paris where she learns how her mother died.
Storytelling Tips:
Presenters can learn important storytelling tips from Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast, especially regarding the delivery of context. Don’t leave loose ends untied. Every storyline you open during the course of your presentation should be wrapped up by the time you hit the call to action.
Insert humor
It’s true that the animated Beauty and the Beast injects several moments of humor throughout the movie. But the live-action remake relied heavily on one central character to offer the comic relief. LeFou, Gaston’s right hand man, had many punchy one-liners in his part of the script – such as the following example in the song, “Gaston”:
“And his name’s G-A-S-T… I believe there’s another T… It just occurred to me that I’m illiterate and I’ve never actually had to spell it out loud before…”
Storytelling Tips:
In your presentation storytelling, experiment with putting the brunt of the comic delivery on a single character. Develop that character in a way so that the audience knows his or her personality as being humorous and light-hearted.
Maintain meaning
The most admirable quality of the most recent Beauty and the Beast is its ability to tweak and add minor details, while maintaining the overall message of the 1990s film. Overarching themes throughout the movie remained the same: love, good versus evil, inner beauty over outer beauty, and even the importance of physical relationships over material items. In one of the last scenes, the lifelike everyday objects began to turn into lifeless everyday objects as the last rose petal fell. Suddenly, the audience reacts in a saddening way to the death of the vibrant household items. The personal relationship they developed with the viewers died too, demonstrating the value of interpersonal connections.
Storytelling Tips:
If you are going to retell a popular story or fable, ensure that you are maintaining the intended meaning of the narrative. However, don’t be afraid to take your own spin on the tale and give a fresh perspective.
Looking for more helpful storytelling hints for your presentations? Here’s a quick list of some of our favorite articles:
How Presenters Can Control Their Narrative
A Small Idea that Brings Big Change: Lessons from a TED Talk
The Presentation Personas Who Are Natural Storytellers
