The vast, vast majority of information you receive every day will never be recalled or remembered. In fact, it will be forgotten nearly instantly. And this holds true for presentation content too.
But if you make your message like a Twinkie—there’s a good chance that, like the famous little snack cake, it will last forever.
There are few guaranteed ways to ensure at least part of your presentation will be remembered (such as orchestrating a Steve Jobs “holy shit” moment), but one of these ways is tell a story. Stories are, after all, THE stickiest types of information. Okay, so what’s with the Twinkie metaphor?
Think of any idea, any message, or any piece of information as the creamy filling in a Hostess Twinkie… On its own, that creamy filling is a little hard to digest, and if you leave it sitting out it’s not going to last for long. But the moment you wrap that filling in a golden delicious cake—the entire package will last forever.
And it’s the same with your content. That yellow cake wrapper? That’s your story. Find a compelling enough story to wrap your message in, and your message will have no expiration date with your audience.
What Van Halen Will Teach You About Presentation
When I give trainings, I preface my section on storytelling by explaining that I’m about to explain the importance of a terribly boring subject (contract riders) in such a way that they will remember it for the rest of their lives. Guaranteed.
I’m so confident in saying that, because I’m about to give them a story they will never forget. It involves Van Halen. And brown M&Ms.
Canary in a Coal Mine
When Van Halen was touring in the 80s, they were notorious for, among other things, a specific clause in their contract rider stipulating that at each show they were to be provided backstage a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed. This was true—not an urban legend. Over the years, this was seen as a symbol of 80s excess and spoiled rock stars. But those M&Ms were actually a matter of life and death.
You see, when they toured, Van Halen was known for putting on quite a show. A Van Halen concert was much more elaborate than any other similar band’s at the time. The venues at which they performed were accustomed to a rock group showing up with maybe two semi trucks full of equipment, but Van Halen had so much scenery, lighting and sound equipment, that they arrived with ten semi trucks. All this extra stuff meant that the venues would often have to reinforce their stages, install extra trusses and bring in extra power. If they didn’t, there was the distinct possibility that a row of lights would plummet into the audience or a speaker would crash through the stage during the show. And so, Van Halen sent out a lengthy contract rider stipulating all of their very important infrastructure needs.
But how do you make sure that each venue reads the entire contract?
Brown M&Ms.
Buried in the middle of the contract was the M&M clause. This one request served as the canary in the coal mine. If Van Halen showed up and there were no M&Ms backstage, it meant that the venue didn’t read the contract fully, and there might not be adequate infrastrucutre for the show. No M&Ms or brown M&Ms backstage meant a stoppage of the load-in and a full audit of the entire space to make sure things were safe for the performance. It truly was a matter of life and death.
And THAT is why brown M&Ms…and contract riders are so important.
It’s also why a story is quite likely the only way you will ever get anyone to remember anything.
The Power of a Story
Peg Neuhauser, a professional speaker and consultant, says that if she can’t find a story to illustrate a point she wants to make, she’ll just drop the point. “The audience won’t be convinced anyway,” she says, “so why keep it?” I agree with Peg, but would also add that an audience also won’t even remember the point. Think about the last few non-fiction books you’ve read. If you remember any specific part, it almost certainly involves a story.
Find the right stories for your presentations, and those presentations might just last forever. Like a Twinkie.
