At Catalyst Dallas, Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design discussed how to tell a great story.
We are all born with the desire to do something that changes the world.
You can have a bad idea and communicate it well, and it will be adopted.
You can have a great idea and communicate it poorly, and nothing will happen.
So how can we communicate the greatest story well?
- Establish a likeable hero. I am not the hero; the audience is the hero. The presenter is to come alongside the hero and get them unstuck.
- Encounter a roadblock.
- Emerge transformed.
Joseph Campell traveled the world to discover common elements of story structure in both Western and Eastern cultures and discovered that there are keys to great storytelling.
Gustav Freytag found good stories to follow (1) exposition, (2) rising action, (3) climax, (4) falling action, and (5) denouncement.
Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King, Jr knew how to tell great stories. Steve Jobs marveled at his own product. MLK spoke eloquently using repetition, poetic metaphors, pop culture, and political references.
One of the only ways to make your dream come true is to learn to be a good storyteller.
Special thanks to Skylark Audio Video for covering my travel expenses so that I can live blog the conference for you.
Further Reading:
2012 Church Conference Calendar
