In the current evolution of presentations one of the big themes is stories. It was an arching theme of many of the presentations at the Presentation Summit and was the subject of Bruce Gabrielle’s webinar yesterday as part of the Outstanding Presentations Workshop series.

Bruce reminded us that 50 to 75% of information transferred between people is in the form of a story. This isn’t coincidence, it’s our nature. People are storytellers and story listeners. His comments about people being less likely to disagree with information wrapped in stories than just factual arguments, again ties back to other recent presentations, such as Olivia Mitchell’s call for those of use trying to help others make better presentations to become “elephant whisperers.” Logic is the small rider atop the massive elephant that is the emotional center and try as he or she might, that rider can’t budge the elephant with facts and figures alone.

Another simple, yet often overlooked, suggestion from Bruce was to take advantage of the friendly face effect. From the time we are babies we learn to recognize and respond to faces. So in a presentation where you are using quotes or facts that could be displayed as such, why not use a photo of the person speaking. It humanizes and helps us relate.

In the end, whether you are speaking to people in person or virtually, there are ways to help you connect and engage them by remembering and embracing their humanity and sharing the power of story.