Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations

4

Why

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

—Peter Drucker, management consultant and ‘Father of management theory’

If we have our own why in life, we shall get along with almost any how.

—Friedrich Nietzsche, noted German philosopher and author of Twilight of the Idols in 1888

The first step in the CAST process is to make clear the reasons why there's a need to change at all. Simon Sinek manages to fill a whole book, Start with Why, writing about how the greatest influencers and leaders in the world all start with “Why” before going on to the “How” and “What.” The people you want to influence will accept change more readily if they understand why they need to change.

You can use the techniques in this chapter to start filling in your Visual Story Map. The first step is to work out the core reasons for the change you are proposing. Your visual story must successfully communicate those reasons.

In our training sessions, we have found that most people already have a change that they would like to propose, and the visual story becomes a way to describe that change. Assuming that you have a change that you would like to see in your life, your company, or your neighborhood, we would like to start with a simple caution.

It is likely that you have a reason that you want the change to occur... but we are going to ask you to go beyond your personal reasons. This chapter will help you to find the reason that your audience will recognize and identify with. We will help ...