Storytelling vs. PowerPoint. Which wins?

Whenever I need to communicate something important, I try to turn it into a story.

So, here’s a story about storytelling:

In the early days of Amazon, Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoint presentations. Instead, he required teams to present new ideas and strategic recommendations through a six-page narrative memo – about 1,500 words.

Meetings would begin with everyone reading the memo together, followed by a discussion.

Bezos explained:

“There is no way you can write a six-page narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking. PowerPoint is easy for the presenter, but not for the audience.”

Storytelling takes more effort, but it transforms communication from something people read or hear into something they feel and remember.

This is especially important in change communications, where bulleted PowerPoint slides can leave people feeling cold and disengaged.