importance of storytelling

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: importance of storytelling 📖 

i attended this event today, and despite the cool pieces of knowledge doctors, ceos and artists were bringing from all around the country, my biggest takeaway was that storytelling and a good presentation make or break everything.

it doesn’t matter how novel an idea or product is if your presentation and message don’t align with an audience.

if you’re speaking to a group of policy-makers from all sorts of industries, does it make sense to dive deep into the tech side of your solution? not really. 😬 

a presentation or pitch is meant to spark interest. to set the kindling for a future conversation. to prompt questions. to establish a mission and spread awareness.

it’s not a lecture. it’s not a rant session. it’s not a history lesson.

and even if it is, storytelling is equally important to keep people engaged and interested.

speaking from a personal experience that ties into a mission an audience can relate to is the key. 🔑 there are 4 components to it:

1) you, the speaker’s, personal tie

2) a greater mission (ex. what problem is your idea solving)

3) relatability — what does this have to do with the audience? what can they do about it?

4) intention — what do you actually want out of this presentation? do you just want to spread awareness? do you want people to sign up to a waitlist? do you want to raise money for your startup? this intention needs to be made clear through a story.

the correlation between audience engagement and the speakers’ storytelling ability was apparent throughout the event and i found myself eager to contribute to different ideas where a presentation left a deep impression on me, even if the solution wasn’t an earth-shattering discovery. 🔎 

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