Tell a Story
Tell a Story
Human beings love stories. In all cultures, stories are used to communicate and share values, traditions and knowledge. Rhetorician Walter Fisher argues that human beings are best understood as homo narrans, as people who tell stories.4 As an introductory device, stories (and anecdotes and illustrations) are very effective introductions.
First, stories have a built-in structure that everyone recognizes and expects. Stories have a beginning, middle and end, and this built-in structure allows the audience and the speaker to immediately share this experience.
Secondly, because this built-in structure, stories as introductions lend themselves readily to a well-structured speech. You as speaker can start the story, get right to the climax, and then stop. You have the attention of the audience; you have shared experiences with them; and now you also have the conclusion of the speech all set to go—the end of the story.
