Thursday, November 1, 2012

Strategy is Storytelling

By Pascal Dennis

Wonderful to see Business Week come to this conclusion in a recent issue.

The context was "PowerPoint is lousy, don't use it. Tell stories instead."

"The medium is the message," said Marshal Mcluhan, and, once more, he's right.

Don't want to be misunderstood. PPT is okay for training.


But it's not a strategy or problem solving tool.

One damn slide after another, the rate of information transfer asymptotically approaching zero...

PPT drains the life & poetry out of the most compelling stories.

Imagine the Sermon on the Mount in PPT.

Blessed are the
  • meek

For they shall
  • inherit the earth...

Or the Gettysburg Address:

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers
  • brought forth onto this continent,
  • a new nation,
  • conceived in liberty...

It's enough to make you jump out the window.

So, practice storytelling.

Seek a compelling narrative comprising an introduction, crisis and resolution.

Pascal

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