Storytelling

Challenge

Storytelling is a key element when it comes to conveying your thoughts, ideas and plans. When a  company needs to convey a message to an employee or an entrepreneur wants to convey his  business ideas to an investor, storytelling is something that makes it or breaks it for them.

With storytelling comes a myriad of challenges. A story must be gripping enough to ensure the  listener stays attentive all the while and also convey all the nitty gritty details of the idea at hand. A  story needs to be brief, yet rich in content. It is extremely difficult to ensure that all these factors are  balanced out in the presentation one has created.

Application

When I had to present my startup idea to my investors, I was extremely nervous. I knew I was given  one chance to prove the value of my proposed business but was very confused as to how to go  about doing that. This was when one of my friends suggested the design thinking course. The main  takeaway from the course was the storytelling module.

So, from the module, I started planning out a basic structure for my presentation. It had to be brief,  so I jotted down only the points that were extremely valuable. It turned out that what was of utter  importance was my business idea and future metrics. I knew text is extremely boring. So, what I  decided to do was fill the presentation slides with fun little images which would lend a helping hand  to what I was speaking at that presentation. The images were mildly amusing and yet not too  cartoonish that the investors wouldn’t take me seriously.

The next thing I did that I believe was extremely valuable was provide each member of the board  with a sheet explaining the minute details of what I was explaining. For example, for everything I  explained, which obviously I had kept brief, the sheet would have slightly extra details, which I would  refer the board members to when I explained the relevant details. I know that while explaining, if  the investors start reading the content, they would miss out on the points I put out later, so I ensure  that the investors refer the manual only after I’m done with my presentation. What this does is  make the presentation seem short, but at the same time, bring out more intricate details without  the investors feeling as if the presentation was a drag.

So, to frame my speech, I had to bring out my ideas and points in a story like fashion. With a lot of  current and non-existential circumstances, I explained how this business would work, got to know  the investors a bit too. What getting to know the investors would help you with is now, knowing a  little background of theirs, you could explain how your project would fit into their lives conveniently  as well. So, now you could fine tune your business details to fit into their lives. This makes them not  only understand the business plan better, because it’s a perspective closer to theirs, but it also  ensures that they feel a bit more deeply about the business they might invest into. So, to support all  my views, there were images in the background. It is very important to understand the perspectives  of the investors. This is difficult to do, so you ensure you get as close as possible to their perspective  by bringing in various dimensions to your like the amusing imagery and the text sheets. Most times,  investments do not happen just because the investors could not understand what the person  pitching their idea was speaking, because the presentation was too technical. One should remember  the investors are most of the times business people and not techies or anyone from the field you

belong too. With an enthralling idea pitch, one is sure to secure investment. Also needed, is a little  bit of confidence and luck.

Insights & Approach

From going through to a number of investors with my various business propositions, what I have  figured out is that, I am more comfortable with providing my views about anything I want to convey.  This is not only with investors, but with also my family and friends. Previously, the topics that I had  trouble explaining because they were intricately complicated, now is a piece of cake for me. It has  also brought about a change in the way I think and has also inculcated a level of empathy within me.  Over time, it became easier for me to seek out investments and also helped my presentations and  texts improve exponentially over time.

The things I improved were, I started designing my own animations. This was because they helped  me convey my ideas more effectively, because they were mine after all, so the animations should be  mine too because who else could convey my ideas better than myself?

I see the importance of design thinking and the importance of cultivating these ideas and more of  these ideas into ones’ everyday life, as it is vital to cultivate the mindset of a businessman to suit  one.

