What do Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, J.K. Rowing and many other great orators have in common ? They master the art of storytelling.
These leaders and artists whose vision has created an impact on the world, are endowed with extraordinary creative power, a relentless will, an indomitable desire to shape their environment and make their dreams come true as a legacy to the future generation ! But still…
Steve Jobs delivering his Commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005, begins with the words : « I want to tell you three stories from my life. Just three stories… »
« I have a dream » Martin Luther King’s famous hymn to freedom is almost a song, chanted like a rap it’s grandiose, it’s the hit of speeches !
J.K. Rowling, who brought back to reading millions of kids, thanks to her famous Harry Potter, holds a philosophical discourse at Harvard in 2008 on the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination…
Having studied hundred of great speeches, I have discovered that the common point of these leaders, whether artists, entrepreneurs or politicians is their talent for …Storytelling.
I’m often asked ; « what is Storytelling ? »
Storytelling is not a new phenomenon. The art of telling stories has existed since time immemorial, whether it is the parietal art, the legacy of cavemen engraved on stone, or the hieroglyphics that adorn the Egyptian temples. From time immemorial man impelled by an imperative need to communicate and transmit, engraves his memory in stone, then on paper or simply orally through stories. He tells stories he tells… his story!
True stories, imagined or sublimated in tales and legends, enrich our culture and nurture our curiosity. Esope, Socrates, Jean de La Fontaine, Shakespeare, Molière… They all tell stories. They are named poets, writers, fables tellers, film makers. From now on we could call them storytellers. They are the stars of storytelling.
Stories are everywhere, in films, painting, music, dance, theater and all form of art captivate our attention because they tell stories.
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO BECOME A GREAT STORYTELLER?
Did you know that telling a story is natural. Look around you, people spend their time telling stories. A trivial fact can be brilliantly told according to the talent of the storyteller, some are more gifted than other but don’t be discouraged : Talent comes with practice. Only in the dictionary does success come before work !
Telling a story will add to your presentations your special and unique touch. Your audience will catch and remember your message more easily.
If you want to capture the attention, be listened to, convince your customers, your employees and make your presentations a real fireworks display, you must know how to tell a story and master Storytelling.
HOW DO WE TELL A STORY?
I had the opportunity to attend as an actress and a writer in 2006 the « Story » seminar of Hollywood doctor script: Robert McKee. A script doctor is the person called to the rescue when a film script lacks impact or simply to get his opinion. In film and theatre, the author is one of the most important characters of the show because without him, no film, no actors and no spectators.
I learned from the Master, to structure a script and after writing the musical « Casanova the power of love ». I adapted this technique to the composition of a pitch, speech or presentation to help my clients capture their audience in any public speaking circumstance.
WHAT IS A STORY?
« Story is everything – Story is the King! Story is EVERYTHING ! says great american actor and director Clint Eastwood.
The story is the foundation of your speech. Without a big idea and without as story there is no speech.
A story is a metaphor for life. It is not life. It is not a sequence of logical facts. It is not the truth. That’s the meaning you’re going to give to the facts. That’s the truth you want to convey.
HOW DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR CREATIVE IMAGINATION AND HOW DO YOU TELL WITH TALENT?
There are two wrong ways to tell a story. Telling a story based only on real facts, too literal or based only on pure fiction, which will make it implausible.
It is from the marriage between facts and imagination that a good speech, a captivating one, will be born.
A good story well told with talent. Is there a recipe?
Of course, yes there is a form and ingredients, like any good speech you need a common thread that is your message.
Then you need a structure, that is to say the choice of a series of events organized to express your idea and protagonists.
Finally, it will be necessary to articulate all this around obstacles, adventures and surprises to lead your audience quietly towards the outcome and the conclusion to which you want to lead it.
HOW DO YOU INTERPRET YOUR STORY TO MAKE IT CAPTIVATING?
Your STORY must be, like any artistic form: an emotional experience.
As I wrote in my book « Bye bye stage fright » : Too often the speaker begins his speech in a dynamic tone, then as he presents himself, loses his enthusiasm and gradually settles into monotony.
If you have a good story but you don’t know how to keep your audience alert, you will preach in the desert. This comes from a lack of emotional play.”
You need to wake up the actor dormant in you and learn to play your score like an actor on stage.
The composition of your text and its interpretation are the two parts of my workshop: Convince with Story telling.
If you want to develop this talent sign up today :
You will learn to use special acting skills to tell a story and keep your public entertained :
- The four essential parts to writing a story
- How to discover the thread of your story
- How to develop your imagination
- How to make a trivial fact absolutely exciting
- How to choose your words and make them attractive
- How to use emotions to pace your story
- How to tell your story and captivate from start to finish
- How to convince by developing your narrative talent
See you soon !
Carmela Valente
Article : « Captivate your audience with Storytelling » Copyright © 2 novembre 2019 Carmela Valente all rights reserved.