One mistake that many people make when talking to a wide audience is overly relying on facts, figures, and hard data. While these things are important to have, these alone cannot carry a speech, presentation, or even digital messages given to audiences.
The problem with only relying on data is partly that it’s boring to listen to. When you’re just listening to someone read out tons of numbers and show a bunch of graphs, it’s bound to get boring quickly.
Without proper context around the subject and details on why these numbers matter, pure data and facts aren’t going to resonate with most people the way that stories will, so you need to find a balance of the two.
Stories, on the other hand, can be told with style, with humor, and will almost always be more memorable to most individuals. When people remember your stories better, the points you wanted to get across will stick better as well.
When your audience is engaged by your story, they’re going to be forming more mental connections relating to your presentation, video, or speech. This is the kind of outcome you want because it can help plenty in a professional sense.
If people like clients remember you better than a competitor, they’re going to be more likely to go with you, especially if the competitor just listed out facts and data points to them.
This isn’t to say that you should never include data or facts in your presentations, though. That kind of information is crucial, especially in most business settings. It’s just a matter of whether you make that the sole focus of your speech.
Facts and objective information are much like a condiment in a meal. They should not be the only thing you have, but rather they complement and improve the main course, which is the storytelling and the engagement.
You might also encounter some people who are simply more receptive to anecdotal information in the form of stories than they are to hard information. Some people are distrustful of data and would rather see real world experiences.
Depending on your audience, you’ll have to find the right balance between the two. Some settings do call for a more complex explanation and more facts, but others require you to be more personable and cite genuine experiences more than data points.
