View video – TEDxKyoto: Garr Reynolds – Story, Imagery & the Art of 21st Century Presentation. [17:11 min.] Reynolds, a management professor at Kansai Gadai University, contrasts the common text-heavy slide presentation with a visual storytelling approach, which he demonstrates in his own presentation. He notes business research recommends using stories to engage audiences at a deeper level, and observes visuals can communicate the experience of a thing, a key sales strategy. Reynolds emphasises that presentations are about ideas, which can be shared in many ways besides text. He says stories are the key element, but multimedia used well will support and amplify your story. Reynolds also encourages speakers to move more naturally away from the podium to both build confidence and make a stronger connection with the audience.

View video – Hans Rosling: 200 countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats. BBC Four. [4:47 min]. In this video, Dr. Rosling uses augmented reality animation to explain changes in global health statistics over the past 200 years. Statistical information is often seen as dry and difficult to follow; however, Dr. Rosling is able to make it interesting and understandable for the layperson.

View video – Duarte Inc.: Engage Through Storytelling [4:13 min.] Nancy Duarte suggests to convey research in an interesting way, we need to include a creative process. She compares and contrasts business report and story frameworks, and proposes explanatory presentations should combine facts and figures with stories. To fold stories into your report in a compelling way, Duarte advises identifying places throughout your factual presentation where you can illustrate the meaning of the data with stories. She notes Hollywood movie scenes are never longer than three minutes, and encourages speakers to consider this model in mixing a little story into report information.