Storytelling in Meetings - instead of Bullet Points

It’s par for the course that when you arrive at a business meeting, you’ll be greeted by yet another PowerPoint presentation. And, it’s probably cluttered with far too many bullet points.

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, stunned leadership teams inside and outside his organization by banning PowerPoint presentations from executive meetings. In lieu of a 40-page PowerPoint deck, Bezos instead required speakers to produce, in advance, concise memos for distribution to team members.  Sheryl Sandberg also banned slide presentations at times, as have a few other corporations.

What do bullet points really tell you?
According to leading neuroscientists, bullet points do very little for cognitive processing.  We process, think, and communicate more effectively by means of narratives and stories.  When you relay information in a meaningful manner, you’re much more likely to get your point across. We refer to these as mental magnets™.

The best ideas are driven by passion.
When was the last time you were inspired by a bullet point? Compared to stories, bullet points do not have the same persuasive power. If you want to make the most of your meeting, incorporate brief stories that will result in a more informed discussion. Let your business meetings inspire by offering information that can be easily understood by everyone present.

Narratives take more thought to prepare than a slide.
A PowerPoint presentation often functions as a veil for an unfinished thought. If you know the full meaning of your data, it should be easy to translate your data into a narrative that makes sense to your attendees. If not, that’s a red flag suggesting you're not yet ready to deliver your presentation.

A story, instead of a slide presentation, forces you to form a complete argument rather than list basic facts. The goal of any meeting is to share information that stimulates action – a decision, an investment, or closing a deal.  No one has ever made a decision simply because you shared 40 pages of bullet points and charts with them.  By using a story instead, you go beyond the data and graphics, granting everyone the opportunity to process the information.  The result will be more informed discussions that lead to better results.