I recently attended a Katy Perry concert in Denver with my daughter and was struck by the mastery of her performance presentation. Not only was the concert extremely visual, it had an unmistakable story arc. Each song or group of songs had a specific colour scheme, fantastic and unique props and planned audience engagement designed to produce a spectrum of emotions; from stiltwalkers, enormous lips and showy dancers to Katy becoming vulnerable with her acoustic guitar or calling her 70 year old mother from the stage and having the audience shout, “Hi Mom,” or bringing a child on stage with her “to make a wish on a shooting star.”
Though the information in an academic presentation may be different, presenting research should still involve practice, planning of a story arc that engages emotionally, and most importantly: Passion.
The technology to deliver information has become complex yet the human desire to connect and learn through storytelling is as powerful as ever. Academic presentations that can effectively wield emotion, dissonance, and persuasion within a story arc will be rewarded with an engaged audience. Even a poster that is mindful of its role of being a short story will stick to key facts and images that arouse the viewer, rather than overwhelm with information.
An excellent resource is Resonate by Nancy Duarte. Watch Sparkline Overview in the content here to see her discuss ‘Sparkline,’ what she claims to be the most effective story arc utilized in presentations and speeches. She observes that human minds are wired for contrasting and comparing and teaches how to integrate that natural tendency into the arc of the presentation. She recommends combining information with actual stories, to “Give them something they will always remember,” a take away that will stick with the viewer after the presentation is over.
After the Katy Perry concert, we met her backstage (I am related to the opening band so we had access passes.) This woman who had just taken thousands of people on an emotional rollercoaster ride stopped to talk to my daughter, truly listen to her and ask her kind questions about herself. This is the mark of gifted presenter: She came off the stage and continued to live her message. You can imagine the ripple this has had on the kids in our small town school as they stare at photos of us with a rock star and then hear the story about how gracious she was. Boom.
Gathering Seeds 