Coworker told me my presentations were just a list of facts with no story and she was totally right

I used to cram every data point into slides until a senior designer said, "No one cares about the numbers until you show why they matter." Now I cut down to 3 main points and add a single real example for each. Has anyone else gotten feedback that completely changed how they structure work stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

anderson.piper7d ago

Oh man, I'm gonna push back a little here. I mean I get the idea of telling a story but sometimes a list of facts is exactly what people need. I've sat through so many "story driven" presentations where the presenter rambled for 20 minutes and I still didn't know what the actual point was. Facts tell you stuff directly without the fluff. If your coworker was right for you that's cool, but don't let anyone convince you that dry and factual is always bad. Some of us just want the data straight up.

kelly.charlie7d ago

My buddy tried the story approach once and his boss was like "dude just give me the bullet points I don't have time for this.

spencer7827d ago

I mean, respectfully I see it differently @kelly.charlie - idk, I think it depends on the audience and if your buddy's boss just wants bullet points then the story approach probably wasn't the right fit for that situation, not that stories are bad in general.