Our second type of story is also a very typical one. Many times you can see both The Quest and Overcoming the Monster story lines closely knit. However, Overcoming the Monster has a very clear objective: there is an evil somewhere in the world, and only the hero, with the right weapon, can defeat it. You know the plot well, you’ve read it in the classic Beowulf, or seen it in The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. There is a reason why these stories are timeless; they appeal to us all, that is why a presentation based on one of these types is going to be so powerful.

This is how the plot goes: we have a monster, a dragon or some other representation of evil; the hero who must slay the dragon; and the special weapon, a sword or even a ring! These 3 elements are easily transferred to a presentation. Say your company is presenting their SEO services for websites. Bad SEO is the dragon; you can show how evil is spreading through the land, the Dark Side is taking over. There is hope though, there is a hero, your company, that comes to the rescue to defeat this problem. Your service is the weapon, it is the ring that destroys evil.

There is a strong association happening here; from all the stories we’ve heard in our lives we know there is only one way, and one person who can defeat the dragon.  If you succeed in making your audience associate the problem you are solving with the evil in all these Overcoming the Monster stories, subconsciously you are telling them that you are the only one with the weapon to save them. Here lies the power of storytelling, there is something behind it that the audience is not aware is happening, but that affects the way they see the situation.

What other types of presentations can you come up with following this plot?

Until next time,

Byron Stanford for Project Presentation.