2. Start by talking about yourself. Don’t great stories begin with an author’s autobiography? This
should include where you come from, what you do, where you went to school, your first
job, your last TED talk, the horrors of flying coach class, the name of your first dog… Linger on
your own photo so they remember this moment.

3. Be sure to talk about your newest book/ software product / company service / and how you
think it will help the audience. Act humble.

4. Objectives
0 To tell you how storytelling can make you better at
doing _______________
0 To affirm to you how much I appear to know about it
0 To explain how easy it is for anyone to create a
powerful story
0 To illustrate how all effective stories begin by telling
you exactly what is in them in a bulleted list format.

5. How Stories Work
0 Tradition of telling Stories
0 Stories and Emotion
0 Common Structure of Stories
0 The Three Act Structure
0 The Importance of Surprise
0 Yes, Stories Should Not Give Away What Happens Next
0 How George Lucas Based Star Wars Characters on My
Writing!
0 Have I Mentioned My New Book?

6. You must use a photo of a campfire within the first 5 slides (whew that was close) and talk
about our timeless tradition. Drop a mention of your last camping trip in some remote part of
the world most people in the audience do not have a flying bank vault’s chance of seeing.

7. All presentations must also include a photo of cave paintings and a reminder of how oral
storytelling was the primary means of communicating information and passing on important
information. Look out! A Lion is ready to pounce on you. Ha ha ha.

8. Stories Link Us Together
Absolutely, people connect linearly just like a rusty chain.

9. Everyone is a storyteller!!
Nothing helps introverts and novices overcome performance anxiety like showing a photo of a
confident performer. And she looks like she is having so much fun.

10. Have I mentioned my other book? It is really relevant. I will say out loud the URL where you
can find it, but your chances of writing it down are slim to none. But you should consider
finding it.

11. The Structure of Stories
Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
This is a real surprise to everyone.

12. Present Freytag’s Triangle, because a diagram shows that something important is being
described. Apparently now stories has a lot more parts to them, but no one will call you on
that. Refer to points in the tiny text that the audience cannot possible read beyond the second
row.

13. Do not miss out the chance to include a Star Wars reference as the prime example of the three
act structure, possibly the only film audiences can relate to. Better if you can include shots of
the Millennium Falcon in space. Might as well talk about your experience watching the entire
series as a marathon. That is very relevant.

14. If you are feeling really brave introduce the Hero’s Journey in about 90 seconds. Be careful and
do not forget the names of all steps. Invoking Joseph Campbell’s name adds credence to your
reputation. It’s not a problem if you confuse them because no one outside of an English teacher
can sort them.

15. Digital Storytelling
Try really hard to explain succinctly how digital storytelling is unique from un-digital
storytelling without veering into saying it is telling stories in digital form. Talking in circles is
an effective means of reinforcing what you want them to walk away with (a signed copy of that
book).

16. Show a screenshot of video and just describe what happens in it. You cannot trust that
PowerPoint will even play it back, and its probably downloaded in some strange file format.
Not like motion or sound will help explain it as a digital story.

17. Include a photo of your own child with technology and describe something they figured out
without anyone showing them how to use the device. Nothing inspires adults uncomfortable
with their own technological expertise then seeing photos of kids deftly manipulating them.

18. Allude to a specific series of 3, 5, 7… 29 steps to create a good story. Because every story
follows a precise formula. It’s just like making cookies.

19. One more chance to remind you that I have published many books, quite a few of which are
still filling my garage with boxes of unsold titles. I’d really like to be able to park my car in
there (and make its payments). I could not cover everything in this presentation, but it might
be in my book. Or my next one.

20. Don’t Bother Giving Credit for
the Images
I got them all by googling, which means they are ripe for me to use,
and you can google just as well, right?

21. Make sure you close with a reminder about a campfire. Because that is just about the best
metaphor anywhere for how storytelling works.

22. Just Kidding About The Lack
of Photo Attribution
Smart Watch People http://www.hispotion.com/the-im-watch-5013
Book Cover II - for sale (COLLAB) http://mirellasantana.deviantart.com/art/Book-Cover-II-for-sale-COLLAB-401037252
Camp fire http://www.rhinoafrica.com/tanzania/arusha/arusha-coffee-lodg e
Cave Painting http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=102043
Link cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by D-Gernz: http://flickr.com/photos/d-gernz/8599188786/
Storyteller cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by Lancaster Litfest: http://flickr.com/photos/litfest/5412498421/
Freytag Pyramid http://teampants.webs.com/freytagspyramid.htm
Stars Wars http://andrewss7.deviantart.com/art/Star-Wars-saga-Episode-IV-poster-270508857
Hero's Journey http://markwelch.com/whirligig /
Thief II Book Cover for Sale http://taniaart.deviantart.com/art/Thief-II-Book-Cover-for-sale-424351576
Digital Storytelling cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Fancy Jantzi: http://flickr.com/photos/jantzi/5386423632/
Child with Phone http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10128407-39.html
Recipe http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Recipe.gif
Modern Witch Book Cover For Sale http://taniaart.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Witch-Book-Cover-for-Sale-424646966
Another Campfire cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Julie Herrick: http://flickr.com/photos/jaherrick/245129825/
Of course in tiny print, and not having it on the photo makes it fun to try and find the images!