5. Anecdotes

Identify brief anecdotes that highlight your most important points

The purpose of anecdotes is not to replace your hard evidence, but to emphasize it.  Go through your list of evidence from step 4, and circle anything that is not quantitative evidence – anything that is “anecdotal” in any way. Each of these can serve the role of an anecdote, be they a story told to you by a salesperson, a customer quote from a survey, or an interesting story you heard that has nothing about your business, but helps make a relevant point.

Once you’ve identified the anecdotes you want to use, go to step 6: Sequencing.

Resources

Read about the critical role of anecdotes and examples in presentations.

From Advanced Presentations by Design:

  • What kinds of stories should I use in my presentation? (p. 67)
  • How do I prepare an anecdote so that it can be “told” well? (p. 70)
  • Where do I find useful stories? (p. 71)