Why storytelling matters | Garr Reynolds | TEDxKyoto

Using his own suggestions, Garr Reynolds outlines and demonstrates ten steps for creating and giving better presentations, re-introducing us to the craft and power of well-told stories. Amid the complexities of our daily modern lives, there is the deeper realization that “less is more.” For Garr, this Zen sensibility of striving for simplicity and clarity is the foundation upon which he guides others towards better communication skills and better lives.

As a Professor of Management and Design at Kansai Gaidai University, author, designer and world-renowned communications consultant, Garr helps others achieve “more” by embracing the power and beauty of “less.”

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx.

Today I'm going to share ten ways
to make better presentations,

and these are the lessons
I have garnered over the years

from hanging out with storytellers.

My job is I go around the world
helping people with their presentations

and especially in business,
doing pitches and sharing ideas.

I try to instill storytelling
elements into their talks,

but as you might know or have seen,

there are a lot of boring
presentations around the world.

Has anyone here seen
a boring presentation?

I don't mean now, but ...

(Laughter)

Okay.

So, this idea of going back -

we can learn about the future
by looking at the past.

I think that when it comes
to communication and visual communication,

there are many lessons that we
can garner from looking at the past.

So one idea I mentioned
two years ago was "kamishibai."

That's just one example.

A very visual method,

it goes back maybe to emaki scrolls,

but certainly in the 1920s
and '30s and '40s,

it was very popular.

You have a storyteller;

you have the visual with elements
which are easy to see for that audience,

and you have an engaged audience.

This sort of beautiful three-part harmony;

that's the way presentations
should be today as well.

And storytelling is what makes
us human as part of our DNA;

it's how we have evolved.

Long before Homo sapiens could read,
of course, we were telling stories.

And children, long before
they can read and write,

of course, they're sharing
information by telling stories

and using storytelling elements
even in explanatory narratives.

No matter what type of narrative it is,

we can use, at least, many story elements

that will really help
with the engagement of our talks.

And of course, it increases the drama.

(Dramatic music plays)

We like to add a bit of drama
into presentations whenever we can.

So I and my wife and our family,
we live in Nara,

which is just down the street from here.

And my project, our project
is to raise two small children.

So I am what they call in Japan "ikumen."

(Laughter)

My job is to take kids
to school and pick them up

and try to be a big part of their life,

as much as a I can.

So, the experts always say
you shouldn't watch TV with little kids,

and we don't watch TV,
but we watch a lot of DVDs in English.

It's a kind of "isseki-nicho":

we can have entertainment,

but we can also learn English
at the same time.

And we have watched
every Pixar film ever made,

dozens and dozens of times.

So perhaps I should call this:

"Ten ways to make better presentations:

Lessons I have learned
from watching too many Pixar films."

(Laughter)

So, let's get started.

The first one that great presenters do,

as all the presenters you will see today
and at past TEDxKyoto events,

is they turn off the computer.

Even if they are going to use technology,

they know, as John Cleese said,

we don't know where great ideas
come from exactly,

but we do know that they
do not come from the laptop.

So turn off your smartphones,

turn off all technology
in the preparation stage.

This is key.

Do not start here.

If you went into Google,
certainly if you went into Apple -

where I used to work many years ago -

technology companies, but you'll see
paper and whiteboards everywhere

because paper is still very, very useful -

such as Post it Notes -

to get your ideas down,

and then you can go to technology
if you want to use multimedia.

One of my students sent me this:

best use of a Windows PC ever.

(Laughter)

I'm just kidding; I love Bill Gates.

Alright, number two
is the audience comes first.

So put the audience first, of course.

So I always say -
because people always ask me:

"I want to tell my story,

so how can I connect
with the audience?" -

just remember that your story
is really their story

if you approach it right.

The plot, what you say
and the description of your events

are unique to you,

but the theme is universal,
so they can relate to it.

Later I'll show an example of that.

Andrew Stanton, from Pixar,

he directed and wrote
"[Finding] Nemo" and many others,

he spoke in a TED talk about this.

He said you've got to make
the audience care.

Whether it's a monomyth, a true story,

or it's a lecture,

make the audience care.

As he says, "Make me care.

Please - emotionally, intellectually,
aesthetically - just make me care."

That's half the battle.

So if you show empathy for your audience
in the preparation stage,

that will make all the difference.

Number three is to have a solid structure.

One of my favorite filmmakers
is Billy Wilder.

As he says, "[Story] needs
architectural structure,

which is completely" lost -

you don't see it
when you see the actual movie,

and it's the same with presentations.

The structure is there;

the audience isn't aware of it

because they're just listening,
and they're understanding,

and they're engaged with your talk.

So there is sort of
a basic shape to story, right?

You've heard this before:

there's a beginning
and a middle and an end.

And that's somewhat useful,

but a wiener dog has
a beginning, a middle and an end.

So in and of itself,
that's not too useful.

But it's really true.

There is the beginning,
which is exposition

where you make it clear
what the stakes are, what's at risk;

and then there's the conflict,

the problems in the middle,
the rising tension;

and some sort
of resolution at the end.

So that's a good basic structure.

Now, in the real world, a business,

I use this model,
but we focus on solutions

because companies are usually
selling an idea or a product

to help with this problem.

So this is one activity

that I do with college students
and with entrepreneurs.

I have them first use
a structure like this:

Think about the ideal world
versus the actual world, reality;

what is the problem that causes
that reality that we have?

And then what is the solution
that you provide for that?

So that's a good basic model.

And then the students storyboard that.

Really quickly,
they put it up on the wall;

they can show it to others,
and then we can refine it.

We can ask questions.

They get their ideas down.

Then, later, they can go back
to the whiteboard

and really plot out their ideas.

But there's this basic structure,
which the audience doesn't see,

but this really helps the entrepreneur
or the student get their ideas down.

Next is to have a clear theme.

And theme basically means message.

What's your point?

Have you ever seen a presentation
where you weren't sure what the point was?

Not this one, I hope.

So what is your message?

So here's an example.

This is Megumi, a filmmaker
who spoke last year -

if you haven't seen it, check it out -

and my friend Patrick who's now
teaching at USC in Los Angeles -

he gave a great presentation.

Both of these presentations
were fabulous,

but they are very different -
the plots are different.

You have a young, female filmmaker
talking about growing up as a hāfu,

as a Japanese and an American,

and then Patrick talking
about what it's like to be a gay man

and having to hide that,

and then being able to come out later
and actually marry the love of his life,

and to be totally open about that -
it's a great transformation.

Very different content,
very different plot,

but they're both talking
about the same thing,

which is about being different.

And both of these talks
really resonated with the audience

because most people
in the audience are not hāfu,

most people in
the audience were not gay,

but they can relate
to the struggle and insecurities

and all these types of universal themes.

So your story is really their story,

and if you approach it this way,
it can make all the difference.

Number five is to remove the nonessential.

So if you're a playwright -

anyone who writes a film script
knows of Chekhov's gun.

It goes like this: "Remove everything
that has no relevance to the story."

As he says, for example,

"If you say in the first chapter
that there is a rifle hanging on the wall,

in the second or third chapter
it absolutely has to go off."

So you never include anything
that is superfluous;

everything has a reason.

Number six: hook them early.

Wasn't George great?

Did you like that talk?

How many people were here live
for that in the spring?

It was amazing to see it live.

But he came out,
there was no formalities -

no thank you, I'd like to thank
my mother; I'd like to thank my father;

I'd like to thank the Prime Minister -

none of that.

He just got started with this line:

"I'm a veteran
of the Starship Enterprise."

And right away, he had the audience,

and he had them in [his] hand
for that 20 minutes.

It was amazing.

Have that connection,
sort of break the ice,

and then he goes on
with this great narrative,

this great journey that he took us on;

it's a wonderful example.

Number seven: show a clear conflict.

What is the problem?

This is a book called "Story Proof,"

that looks at the scientific
reasons why story works.

In his definition, he says,

"A character-based narration

of a character's struggles
to overcome obstacles

and reach an important goal."

So that is story.

The key: character struggles to overcome
some obstacle to reach a goal.

There it is again: character,

struggle,

obstacles and goal.

So you can think of these three,
character, struggles and goal -

well, we can apply it here.

So you'll forgive me
for this very juvenile animation;

I had a four-year-old help me with this.

So there you are,
our protagonist, walking around

and there's an obstacle.

Suddenly there's a wall,
and he struggles with it,

and it's not working.

In the business world,

perhaps we can offer
some solution to try to help him.

So we give, metaphorically,
we give a rope.

And our protagonist struggles some more,

but he's doing better.

There's still struggle;
there's still rising tension:

Will he make it? Will he
make it? Will he make it?

Yes, and he's transformed.

So you could apply this to many types
of presentations, obviously.

I can see you're thinking about this.

Character, struggle and goal.

Alright. Number eight:
demonstrate a clear change.

Again, showing a wonderful example,

this is Alex Kerr last year,
talking about his great work

where he redoes, reforms, these old -
300 years or older - houses in Iya,

for example.

This is a great example;
it's very visceral -

sort of what Al Gore used to do
with "Inconvenient Truth -

show before, after.

That really hits people
at an intellectual level

but also at a visceral level.

This is before, and this is after;
it shows a very clear change.

And of course, life is change;
life is all about change.

Our cells are changing constantly;
nothing stays the same.

And every time we get on stage,

every time we give
a lecture or presentation

we're talking about some kind of change.

If you're not talking about a change,

there's probably no reason
to actually be on stage.

Next is to show or do
something unexpected.

This is a book I often
recommend: "Made to Stick."

It also has a Japanese translation.

One of the key ways to make an idea stick
is to do something unexpected.

So, do you remember
"The Empire Strikes Back"?

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,"

a long time ago - I saw it live
before, you know, before video.

But remember when Darth Vader -

that shocking moment when he says,
"No, Luke. I am your father"?

You remember where you were
when that happened, right?

So you've probably seen
this meme on the internet:

what would happen when a cat
sees this for the first time?

(Video) No, I am your father.

No!

It's not true.

Garr Reynolds: So, shocking.

So what can you do to make
your audience feel like this cat?

Somehow, you have to put
the unexpected in there.

Number ten is to make them feel something.

Yes, you need data.

Yes, you need evidence.

But often or almost always
that is not enough to work.

So again, we'll look
at an example from last year,

but this is a book I want
to recommend, by Stephen Denning.

Stephen Denning
used to be with World Bank,

had a long career with World Bank,

very analytic,

very so-called left brain, all numbers,

but as he says here: time and time again,

the only thing that would work
when you wanted to get people to change,

to actually change their behavior

or to get excited about your idea

was through story.

Of course, they have data;
of course, they have evidence,

but that alone wouldn't work.

So this is John Gathright.

He was the final presenter last year.

He has an amazing project
where he helps kids

who have horrible physical challenges
and emotional challenges,

and he takes them up into trees,

sometimes very high into trees.

And he showed in his presentation,
through data and evidence,

that trees have a healing effect,
physically and emotionally.

But it was this last example,
perhaps you recall, of Nana,

where he showed her -

she never smiles; she can't control
her body and her facial expressions,

and they didn't know if she could make it.

And he's telling this narrative
along with these visuals,

and when she got up there,
she changed, and she's smiling.

John said that the mother said,
"I've never seen this face before;

smiling - that's my little girl smiling
for the first time because of trees."

Now, again, John showed
the data behind it,

but when you also put in the visual,
this is transformation,

and this hits people
at an emotional level too.

And on that day,

I remember there were many people
crying in the audience,

and they're going to remember
that presentation for a long time.

So I said ten, but there's one more.

Number 11 is to be authentic.

Well, then people say, "Well, great,
authentic. How do I be authentic?

Everyone says be authentic.
What's the magic formula?"

And the formula is to be vulnerable,

to allow yourself vulnerability,

to take a risk.

Often our school system in Japan
doesn't encourage that type of thinking,

but great communicators,

all the Japanese presenters
we've had over the last two years

have all taken a risk,

and they've allowed themselves
to be vulnerable

as they put themselves up here on stage.

So it's been a great
two years: 2012, 2013.

What follows will also be amazing.

So the question
then is "What's your story?"

The world is waiting to hear it.

So please enjoy the rest of the day,

and then we hope to see you
back here on this stage next year.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)