Beth Kanter wrote an incredibly relevant piece on the importance of story-telling in presentations.  She cites Andy Goodman in her article:

Andy is a master at storytelling.  In his workshops, he offers the following formula for a storytelling based on Hollywood script writing:

* Introduce the central character
* Inciting moment:  something bad happens to the character that will prevent them from achieving a goal related to the goal of your presentation
* Barrier to resolution #1:  Character tries to solve the problem, but can’t
* Barrier to resolution #2:  Characater tries to solve the problem, but can’t
* Resolution:  What you’re going to share in your presentation
* Widen the Lens:  The bigger picture

Sounds simple enough…but not all of us are master story-tellers. How do you know if your story is good?

• Does your story give your audience an lesson they can use?  – Give your audience the ability to apply a lesson from the experience of someone else
• Is the ending of the story an excellent beginning to your presentation? – It’s tempting to tell a joke, but don’t take time away from communicating your message
• Would your audience tell the story to someone else? – Don’t confuse this with simplicity; the point is to create a group who can spread your message to others
• Have you practiced telling the story to someone else? Don’t test your story on the audience; master the timing by practicing with a friend or colleague

Last night I gave a presentation to the Chicago Chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation about the basics of Social Media and implications to a non-profit.  You can download and use the presentation here. Scleroderma or systemic sclerosis, is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

They had 3 great questions that I would love to solicit your feedback

1. How could we use Social Media around goals as well as discussions?

2. How does Social Media involvement at the national level differ from the local level?

3. Should we lock down certain areas of discussion to specific people or keep it open and transparent?

We look forward to your responses!