Until you make them care.

We all know this applies to personal stories. That’s why one person’s story about their 2 year old learning how to pick their nose is cute and funny, and another person’s is an eye-roller.

But it applies to business too. Kathy Sierra makes the point most eloquently as usual. What we need to do, as people trying to convey business ideas, is think: Would this make an interesting story to anyone?

Here’s the thing: Everything – EVERYTHING – can be made interesting. Or at least more interesting. And that is our responsibility as presenters. Instead of thinking “well, this is just a boring topic that I need to get through,” we should be saying to ourselves “how can I juice this up?”

We should look back to school for the answers. Not because we learned them in class, but because we learned by watching. I had 2 International Relations professors in college. One put me to sleep, and the other made me sit up and listen. Which one do you think got me interested in international relations?

Which style do you think will get people interested in your product?