Often, presenters arrive at their conference or the rehearsal with an intention of what they want to communicate in mind. And it's great stuff! However, their talking points and visuals often obfuscate their intention. Have you ever been Powerpointed to death? I've worked my company's employees and our customer presenters to pull out the intention of the speaker and turn busy slides and speaking tangents into a clear and powerful talk. Given how important speaking engagements are to our goals, I'd like to offer one of the fundamental structures for telling an engaging and concise business story. This is the 4-point story. Use a 4-point story to establish the main points of what you wish to say. Pretty soon you can deliver a coherent and powerful talk that fulfills on what you set out to communicate. I initially used these slides in a 60min workshop with local business owners in San Leandro, CA in 2016.

1. How to tell engaging and concise successstories
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

2. “If they only knew the great stuff we do”
Our organization does
great work, like…
Wow, that’s great
And we did…
And…
And …
And …
Wow.. Uh huh..
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

3. Storytellingis a provenway to communicate
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

4. Storiescan beshort
Stories can be long

5. The 4 Point Story
Setupand Goal
Obstacle
1
2
3
4
PivotalTriumph
Resolution
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

6. The 4 Point Story
Setup and Goal
Introduce your subject and their goal
Obstacle
Why won’t they get their goal with business-as-usual?
1
2
3
4
Pivotal Triumph
What did they do(with yourorganization) to overcometheir obstacle?
Resolution
What werethe results? (did they achievetheir goal?)
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

7. The 4 Point Story – Common Pitfall
Setup and Goal
Introduce your subject and their goal
Obstacle
Why won’t they get their goal with business-as-usual?
1
2
3
4
Pivotal Triumph
What did they do(with yourorganization) to overcometheir obstacle?
Resolution
What werethe results? (did they achievetheir goal?)
33 3
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

8. The 4 Point Story – Common Pitfall
Setupand Goal
Obstacle
1
2
3
4
PivotalTriumph
Resolution
When youshowed up
(andyoutalkalot aboutit)
Happened before you showed up
(andis whereyouraudienceisnow)
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins

9. The 4 Point Story
Setup and Goal
Introduce your subject and their goal
Obstacle
Why won’t they get their goal with business-as-usual?
1
2
3
4
Pivotal Triumph
What did they do(with yourorganization) to overcometheir obstacle?
Resolution
What werethe results? (did they achievetheir goal?)
Copyright © 2016 by Stuart Collins