How to turn your expert knowledge into lasting impact
“Imagine you develop the solution to one of humanity’s biggest problems – and nobody cares.”
This is not just a hypothetical scenario. It happens every day when brilliant experts present their valuable insights and forget the most important thing: people. This is exactly where effective storytelling for experts comes in: It transforms complex knowledge into stories that touch and move.
Mastering complexity: from AI thrillers and WhatsApp stories
What do artificial intelligence and a radio crime thriller have in common? Nothing really – and that’s exactly why the BR podcast “In 5 Tagen Mord” won the Grimme Online Award. The team led by Christian Schiffer and Janina Rock managed to turn a highly complex topic like AI into an exciting crime thriller experiment. Instead of technical treatises on machine learning, they let their audience experience first-hand what AI can – and cannot – do.
Matthias Leitner also takes this approach of making complex topics accessible to the extreme. In his award-winning WhatsApp stories, he transforms unwieldy tech topics into stories that get under your skin. “Technology is fundamentally changing our lives,” says Leitner, who will be sharing his methods at the Storytelling Symposium. “But this change only becomes real when people can feel it in their own lives.”
Randy Olsen puts it in a nutshell in “Houston, We Have A Narrative”: “Nothing matters if no one cares.” This simple truth is the key to real impact – whether you are a leader, a scientist or an expert in your field.
When brilliant ideas get stuck in the UBER
The principle “Nothing matters if no one cares” is particularly evident in pitch decks. Without professional storytelling for experts, brilliant ideas often get stuck in 40 slides with complex graphics. Like UBER drivers, they transport information from A to B, slide by slide. In the end, everyone nods politely – and forgets 90% of what was said by lunch.
How do you structure your expertise in a gripping way?
By learning from successful pitches and using the following clear three-step structure:
- Define the problem
- Choose a problem that directly affects your audience
- Focus on pain points that keep you awake at night
- Showing the relevance
- Explain why now is the right time
- Clarify the consequences of the problem
- Present the solution
- Show a clear vision instead of a flood of data
- Combine the solution with concrete benefits
The problem? Many experts confuse information transfer with impact. They think that if the facts are precise enough, they will be convincing. But people don’t make decisions based on data. They make them based on the emotions that this data triggers in them.
How do you turn expertise into impact? Three central principles
- Start with Why They Should Care
- Wrong: “Our data shows…”
- Right: “What does this mean for you/your team/your goals?”
- Direct benefit: Immediate attention of the audience
- People instead of metrics
- Incorrect: “The conversion rate increased by 23%”
- Correct: “More people are now achieving their goals”
- Direct benefit: Better memorability and emotional connection
- Conflict as a catalyst
- Wrong: “Here are the results”
- Right: “This is the challenge – and this is how we solve it together”
- Direct benefit: Activates the audience and creates motivation
Storytelling in practice: from knowledge to impact
At the Storytelling Symposium (November 12-15), we will explore this change of perspective in greater depth. In my session “Stop Thinking You Are UBER”, I will show you how to go from being a data supplier to an impact creator.
Because in the end, it’s not about conveying knowledge. It’s about bringing about change. And change starts with people taking an interest in your expertise – because they understand what it means for them.
Your next step
Look at your last presentation. Where did you deliver facts instead of conveying meaning? Where could you use storytelling to make your expertise more accessible?
At the Storytelling Symposium (November 12-15), we will explore this change in perspective in greater depth. In my session “Stop Thinking You Are UBER”, I will show you how successful storytelling works for experts and how you can go from being a data supplier to an impact creator.
You can find out more about the “Stop Thinking You Are UBER” session and the complete program of the Storytelling Symposium here:
https://storytelling-symposium.de/
