Story-telling

Among the non-technical topics in this book, story-telling is possibly the most derided. One reason, I believe, is the unfortunate name story-telling itself. Story calls to mind embellishments, hyperbolie, misinformation, deception all in the interest of delivering a captivating, if not entirely truthful, tall tale. I recall the look of disdain among my students when I would bring up the topic.

Structure and story-telling go hand-in-hand when developing a compelling presentation – both are needed.

A visual depiction of a scientific talk is provided in this chapter. Bonnie Bassler presents her work on bacterial communication to a general audience, employing a clear and consistent visual language with engaging metaphors. The Problem and Solutiom structure of her talk drives the story forward by creating and relieving tension at multiple time points.

The generic structure of a presentation.

The generic structure of a research article.