How do you use storytelling to explain technical concepts?

First, for any story you want to write, you need a clear picture of who you're writing to. So technical concepts are not an exception. And to be frank, persona is your biggest tool to nail this. Your persona should include: _ clear description of the demographics and psychographics _ clear description of the buying behavior _ clear description of their favorite platforms Everything about them, in the persona, will equip you when simplifying your stories.

When I have to explain technical stuff, I use stories that relate to everyday life. By comparing complex ideas to things people know, like using examples or stories, it becomes easier to understand. Make the information stick in their minds through storytelling and aim to make technical terms easy to grasp by ensuring audience remember the important points.

Story telling is a powerful tool to impact an unforgettable message and deeply engage an audience How do you achieve this? First you have to make your story clear and pointing to a particular personas To do this better you need your audience demographics, and their buying behavior This helps you write content that's relatable to their needs and pain points and clear their objectives by giving out a great offer

One of the effective ways of remembering a concept or theory for that matter would be learning through a story. Know who your audience is and try to keep it simple. Where does the magic happen? Connecting the core matter of the concept to your story! This way the audience would easily remember the core and then could connect it with the additional information of that concept.

Knowing the people involved in your storytelling is super important. With that you will be able to gauge an appropriate level of positioning and more so jargon that you would typically include, or avoid. You will have different segments / types of stakeholders - but always remember that they are individuals within their own right!

Some weeks ago, a friend asked what ghostwriting is all about. I replied with simple definition. She understood. Now let's say I want to wrap this explanation in a story. It'll look like this. "John is an expert at marketing. But he struggles to write about it online. He doesn't know how to put the right words together. He met Abdulrasheed who helped him bring his ideas to life. No credit for Abdulrasheed." That's how everything is. Simply that.

In my opinion, companies should have more courage to talk about their challenges and problems. I think this is especially true of success stories. These stories are often incredibly boring because companies are so focused on looking good. They jump from one success to the next ... just to look even more successful at the end. This is not a good story because it lacks challenges, problems, and a real climax. Problems make a good story, they are authentic and convey the message that a company can overcome problems and crises.

Really dip your features and tech specs into storytelling, immerse them. Try an exercise where you don't even mentioned the spec / feature itself - you can only present is as having an emotional impact on someone, and how the feature/tech spec allows you to achieve that.

Identify the Core Concept: Start by pinpointing the key technical element you want to convey. Focus on the most critical aspect of your concept that aligns with the interests and needs of your audience. Develop a Structured Framework: Utilize frameworks like the problem-solution method or the value proposition approach. These structures help in organizing your thoughts and presenting your message in a logical, understandable manner. Tailor Your Language and Examples: Adapt your language and examples to suit your audience. Avoid jargon if addressing non-technical listeners. Use analogies or simple metaphors to make complex concepts more accessible and relatable.

What's that ONE message you would like to leave your audience with. Define the CORE and that would usually kickstart the craft. After that, introduce the background and villain, the defeats and action taken. The CORE would then likely be your moral of your story.

When storytelling about a technical concept, it's often beneficial to choose a format that incorporates visual elements. This is because these visual content pieces (video, graphics, tutorials, etc.) can share complex processes in a way that's easy for your audience to comprehend.

Additionally, your content format aids comprehension. As a chemistry teacher, I use examples and make silly drawings to explain some technical concepts to my students. Similarly, when you're using a story to explain technical concepts, marry the idea with: _ examples _ simple visuals _ or short videos These will bury your message into the reader's head with ease. No hammer is needed. ??

Select the Medium: Choose the right platform based on your audience's preferences and your content's nature. For broader reach, consider digital formats like blog posts or videos. For interactive engagement, opt for podcasts or webinars. Incorporate Engaging Elements: Use visuals in presentations or animations in videos to simplify complex ideas. For written formats, infographics can be effective. Audio elements in podcasts should be clear and engaging. Adapt to Audience Interaction: If your format allows, include interactive elements like Q&A sessions in webinars or feedback sections in blogs. This encourages audience participation and makes your content more relatable and impactful.

When the objective, purpose, and audience are well-defined, the format becomes a consequence of these factors. Choosing the format will almost be obvious because you'll already know the best ways to communicate with the audience and which formats are most suitable for those messages. Nevertheless, engage in a mental exercise of questioning whether less obvious means could also work. It's worth being bold in these cases too.

Selecting the proper format for your story is like picking the perfect outfit — it needs to fit the event, resonate with the crowd, and enhance your overall message. Written content allows for depth and detail, perfect for those who prefer to learn at their own pace or need to revisit intricate information. Visual formats like infographics or videos can transform a dense technical manual into a dynamic, easily navigable map, guiding viewers through complicated processes with clarity and ease. Interactive formats such as webinars offer a two-way street of communication, enabling real-time adjustments based on audience feedback and fostering a deeper connection. The right format delivers your message AND brings your narrative to life.

The structure of your story should not only be interesting but also curated in a way that it becomes memorable. You can use unusual analogies to draw comparisons between technical terms with something very relatable. The main idea is all about balancing intrigue with expressing the technical aspects in a simple and easy to understand way.

Every exciting story needs a villain. The problem that you are tackling can be positioned as a tough enemy to overcome. You might not have the full time allocation to perform the usual storytelling but always remember a great story must demonstrate character growth. In technical presentation, this literally means the progress that you have made in developing a feature or solving an issue.

Regardless of the structure you use, your story should revolve around: _ a character(s) _ having a problem _ effects of the problem _ finally met a solution _ alleviate the problem _ saved from the implications _ now living the desired life Tweak that when crafting your story. That's it. No more struggles with frameworks. But if you still struggle with it, my inbox has a big door. ??

It is all about the structure. Follow a storytelling framework - I would propose my unique model - the sprout model. There are 6 layers which include: Impact, People, Start Point, Main Event, End Point and Nurture. Cycling through these will give you a great structure and set you up for making an impact.

Choose a Storytelling Framework: Implement structures like the three-act structure or the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method. Begin with an introduction (setting the scene), followed by a challenge or conflict (middle), and conclude with a resolution (end). This helps in creating a coherent narrative flow. Engage with Creative Techniques: Use hooks at the beginning to grab attention, such as a surprising fact or a relatable scenario. Incorporate cliffhangers or suspense elements in the middle to maintain interest. Employ callbacks at the end, referring back to key points or the hook, to reinforce the message and create a memorable impact.

Use Plain Language: Choose simple, straightforward words over complex technical jargon. This approach makes your content more accessible to a wider audience, regardless of their technical background. Employ Active Voice: Write in an active voice to make your sentences clearer and more engaging. This style helps in making instructions or explanations more direct and easier to follow. Incorporate Analogies and Examples: Use familiar examples or everyday analogies to explain complex technical concepts. This technique helps in making abstract ideas more concrete and relatable for the audience.

One thing which I have found helpful is using real life analogies to explain a complex topic to which the audience can relate better. For example, if you need to explain Multi Factor Authentication you can use a house analogy - Imagine locking your house door with a code and a key instead of just the code. Even if someone finds your code, they still need the key to get in.

People online have a short attention spans. If you don’t explain technical concept clearly and quickly, they'll bounce to your competitor. Keep it simple!

I explained this in the previous section. But let me install another one here... The best way to simplify any writing, stories, or other forms of writing, is to use plain wording. Plain wording is the process of using clear, digestible words to explain an idea or concept. Here's an example. Bad wording: "My last ghostwriting client wrecked my desires to be an auxiliary hand for endeavoring B2C founders." Plain wording: "My last ghostwriting client made me lose interest in helping B2C founders" The difference lies in the choice of words. Make that count in your story, too.

I like to think this is my specialty. Craft a narrative using clear language akin to explaining to an elementary school student, emphasizing relatable metaphors or comparisons. This approach demystifies complexities, breaking them down into digestible elements. Once the fundamental understanding is established, you can gently guide them toward deeper layers, allowing self-directed exploration of more advanced concepts. This seamless transition from basic comprehension to complexity fosters engagement and empowers the audience to navigate the technical landscape with confidence.

Here's my plus. _ give your friends to evaluate your story. _ give your senior to evaluate your story. _ give anyone the story to read. Put the feedback together and measure it objectively. No sidelines. Just focus on genuine results. To be frank, feedback is an underrated tool to check one's improvement.

Record yourself speaking. I can't emphasize this more by bringing awareness to your own tonality, flow, choice of words and engagement. Then, test with someone who would offer you "tough love". It's always good to spar ideas with someone who would have "critical" eyes, preferably your mentor in presentation or story telling.

The special part of every presentation often lies in the unique experiences of the presenter. Story telling enhances the absorption of the information . It helps to bridge the knowledge gap and create the link to what people can relate to. For example, the explanation of IC design place and route can be explained in layman's term as planning for locations of electrical switches and furnitures when we move into a new house. This will greatly assist the understanding of a new to the job person or a non technical person.

The easiest way to explain and retain technical concepts is by outlining the business scenarios that the technology ultimately serves. For example: A narrative about a data warehouse focuses less on the architecture and more on the business's need for quick decision-making, emphasizing how the system supports this requirement. A narrative about a model centers less on the data itself and more on the business problem that the data solves, and so on.

It seems odd that in some respects, when sharing technical specs and features, there is a resistance to make it fun or more vibrant or more emotional. See beyond the specs. Every spec, feature will have a story behind - it will have a purpose to achieve something, so make sure that you bring this out in your communications.

Start with Relatable Analogies. When explaining technical concepts, begin with analogies that your audience can relate to. Analogies bridge the gap between complex ideas and everyday experiences, making the technical more accessible. For example, explaining data encryption as “locking important information in a safe where only the right key can unlock it” helps demystify the concept. When your audience sees the familiar in the unfamiliar, they’re more likely to understand and engage with the content.

The art of storytelling in technical presentations makes all the difference. As Steve Jobs once said, “People don't know what they want until you show it to them”. It's not just about conveying information, it's about making it resonate with people. For example, when talking about cloud computing, I use the analogy of a 'virtual skyscraper', where each floor is a different service. This helps non-tech people get the idea of layered services. Mixing this with new technologies like AI and Power BI makes everything easier and more interesting, presenting data in a way that everyone understands. Let's exchange more ideas and examples on how to make technical concepts simple and captivating. #Storytelling #CloudComputing #AI #PowerBI