Storytelling, cinema and presentation

Much is said about joining storytelling, cinema and presentation to tell the best stories. But do film narrative techniques apply effectively in the corporate market?

How many storytelling courses promise to bring the experience of great cinema stories to the world of corporate presentations? An infinity. Most speak of universal narrative techniques that cinema has learned from other arts, especially Greek theater, and has used successfully in some famous blockusters. But unfortunately, these techniques do little to help the executive when creating his presentation.

First, because of the way these theories are exposed, in short courses, little is used. Most teach the surface of ancient knowledge, systematized primarily by none other than the Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his book “The Poetics”. Twenty-two centuries later, a lot of water and academic and practical discussion went under the bridge and boxing the western narrative into a single concept, the famous storytelling, is at least a serious mistake. Second and more important because, even if the courses were long-lasting, with important studies on the history of narrative and studies of films that used such knowledge, this would partially help the executive.

Corporate presentations

Corporate presentation has particularities that other languages ​​do not. It involves a mixture of emotion and reason not foreseen in the world of narrative. When a good story is written it does not have the explicit purpose of selling something, whereas every corporate presentation is a sale of an idea, product or concept. Of course, the emotion that we find in the great stories is welcome in a presentation, but what passion can we find in a strategic meeting that will define the next three years of a company? How to compare a retail company’s marketing plan with the Luckie Sky Walter saga on a star trek? It is a very imaginative exercise with few practical results. And the practical result is just what each and every company is looking for.

The legacy of cinema

Given this, the question remains: in what cinema can inspire a corporate presentation? In the most elementary concept of Greek theater: exploring a single theme per story. It was like that in the great tragedies. It is so in the big blockbusters. In fact, cinema used (and uses) this technique very skillfully. The last Oscar winner, O Parasita, is a great example. The film deals with only one theme, the class struggle. A theme as beaten as the story itself. The success of the film lies in the author’s creativity in fitting the theme into an original narrative. But it is a fact that in all scenes, without exception, we can extract the theme proposed by the author. Easy right? No, very difficult. Not being explicit and boring and yet talking about a single topic has been the challenge of writers and playwrights for millennia.

Choosing a single message is, therefore, the greatest inspiration that cinema can provide to a corporate presentation. The good news is that, for the executive, making that choice is much easier than for a writer. The message is the very reason for the presentation.

Whatever it is, a new idea, a new product, a new management tool, choose a single theme for your presentation. That done, use your creativity to talk differently about the same thing. This is magic that Greek theater taught for cinema. This is the legacy that cinema can bring us.