Five Storytelling Structures You Probably Didn’t See Coming
When you’re structuring a speech, where do you begin? How do you build one argument upon the next in a way that keeps your audience engaged, helps them follow your thinking, and never lets boredom creep in? Here are five storytelling frameworks and structural principles that may inspire an entirely new approach to your next presentation. The Matryoshka Principle One surprisingly effective way to engage an audience with a short attention span is the Matryoshka Principle. Like the famous Russian nesting dolls, a larger framing story contains a series of progressively smaller stories, each nested inside the last. Multiple narratives unfold within one another, creating a rich and layered experience. Hans Rosling demonstrates this beautifully in his talk The Magic Washing Machine . He opens with a childhood memory from his family home, then gradually weaves in anecdote after anecdote throughout the presentation. Only at the very end does he return to the story of his mother's first wa...
