Spotted at our programme, The Business Storyteller™, for business leaders of a leading pharmaceutical company:
Before: “Our meetings are too long. We need to find ways to shorten them, to make them more productive. Everyone needs to play their part, to prepare well. No one wants a meeting that drags on and on.”
After: “Our meetings are too long. It’s like queuing up for the toilet at an R&R during Raya. All of us know what that feels like.”
Before: “Let me tell you what it’s like to be part of the many projects in our company. You need to be prepared to work harder and smarter than you have ever worked before. You’ll face all kinds of challenges. You and your teams will have to figure out how to overcome every single challenge.”
After: “Let me tell you what it’s like…being part of a project in our organisation is like Prison Break: All Seasons!”
Yes, we devised a structured formula so that anyone—whether they’re business leaders like the two mentioned above, managers, or non-managers—can develop and use original metaphors while speaking, persuading, and presenting. Won’t these examples stay in your mind for a long time?
To find out more about how you can help your people to make their key messages stick (including learning a skill that George Orwell implored us to learn), just drop a note to Dr. Kavitha Murulitharan, Practice Head – Business Presentations.