The original Sesame Street show was, by design, an unconnected collection of sketches. Prevailing psychology of the 1960's said that a preschooler couldn't follow an extended narrative. But that idea's since been turned on its head. Three year olds may not be able to follow complicated subplots, but the narrative form is absolutely central to them. -- Malcolm Gladwell
Sometimes I read these and wonder if there's much difference between kids and adults. Storytelling books like the "Chicken Soup" series or Harry Potter series fly off the shelves. Popular sermons are filled with parables.
I once sat through a sixty minute presentation before a room full of top community leaders. These people live in the moment, are high achievers with focus. But this yawner of a Power Point presentation was over sixty slides long (in fact, only forty had been covered by the time it was mercifully shut down) and filled with scientific jargon. The saddest part was that the topic was special education, rich with opportunity to paint verbal success stories. That same group had earlier been riveted by a two-hour presentation -- from the county coroner. The difference was that the coroner brought several case studies, led the class through a detective-like activity, basically made dealing with dead bodies seem terribly interesting.
No matter what the message, those who can tell stories can captivate a room. Those who can't, can put one to sleep.
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