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Stories are similar to anecdotes in their intent.
However, a good story has a very specific structure with more of a human
interest angle than a case study.
Think about your favorite film or book and you will probably find that
its plot follows the following ‘3-Act’ structure:
Act 1
Establish where, when and who
Describe the main protagonist
Introduce the status quo
Act 2
Introduce and inciting moment (challenge)
Describe the effect on the main protagonist
Introduce additional challenges
Act 3
Describe how the main protagonist deals with the challenges
Describe the result of the main protagonist’s actions
While the plot is important, the key to a
great story is enabling the audience to visualise the physical traits:
Descriptions of the environment, the person and how he or she did what
they did. Full stories are generally longer than anecdotes, so rather
than having an example, I suggest you pick up any good book and read how
the writer brings the story to life through description and plot.
Story telling is an incredibly powerful way to get a message
across. It comes more naturally to some than others (depending on
your culture and thinking preferences).
The Short Anecdote (scenario):
An anecdote is not a case study or a joke. It is usually a short
story that describes a challenge that a person needed to be overcome.
Its effectiveness as a Creative Grab lies in people’s natural tendency
to be interested in and care about other people. A good anecdote
creates immediate identity and empathy with your audience. An
anecdote is a simple and effective way to make an abstract or
potentially boring subject come vividly to life.
Example
In the spring of 1996, Tim Koogle, CEO of Yahoo! the internet search
engine company, and his team, including CFO Gary Valenzeula and founder
Jerry Yang, planned their IPO road show. Tim and Gary would be the
presenters, while the irrepressible Jerry would come along to answer
questions. After considering several possible Creative Grabs, Tim
began his presentation with a personal and true-to-life story keyed to a
concern he knew he shared with every member of his audience. His
anecdote went something like this:
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. As you can imagine, going public is
a very busy time: There are SEC documents to file, meetings with
lawyers and auditors, a road show presentation to prepare and of course,
a company to run. Imagine how I felt last week when I suddenly
realised it was April and I hadn’t prepared my tax returns. I had
a host of questions about my return, and I hadn’t even had a chance to
sit down with my accountant.
Fortunately, I work for Yahoo! So I logged on, clicked on the Yahoo!
home page ,clicked on the menu item call Finance, then clicked on the
menu item call Taxes … and the answers to all my questions were right
there.
When you consider that Yahoo! provides this kind of powerful Internet
search service of a vast array of subjects, from finance to travel to
entertainment to sport to health, and then consider the growing legion
of users of the Internet, you’ll see that the advertising revenues
Yahoo! can derive from those legions of users represents a very
attractive business opportunity. We invite you to join us".
With thanks to Jerry Weissman -
"Presenting to Win - The art of telling your story".
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