No Mercy / No Malice: The Prof G Storytelling Playbook

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**SPEAKER_3** (1:00)
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**Scott Galloway** (1:32)
This week, we're airing a post originally published last August. Entrepreneur is another word for, wait for it, salesperson. And a salesperson is really a storyteller. Every business begins with a story compelling enough to capture people's imaginations and their capital.
None of the businesses I've started made any sense at first. Then they did or they didn't.
Prof G Media is no different, except stories are our product. Today, our research lead, Mia Silverio, explores the art and science of effective storytelling.

**Mia Silverio** (2:13)
I've been on hundreds of Zoom calls with Scott, not an exaggeration. Over the past five years, I've learned how he crafts powerful presentations. This is how we think about business storytelling at Prof G Media. Scott will often stop me when we're reviewing his decks to call for more drama. Infusing a narrative with drama and emotion separates an exceptional storyteller from a mediocre one. A good storyteller is simply a good entertainer. Am I discounting the importance of underlying content? Somewhat. But the unfortunate truth is that even if you have revelatory information to share, it's not going to have an impact if no one's paying attention. As writer and podcaster Derek Thompson observed, There's something overlapping in the Venn diagram between what is demanded of stand-up comics and what is demanded from public intellectuals, and that is, explain this shit to me, make me feel something.
Research tells us that experiences that elicit emotions are more memorable than ones that don't. Your story doesn't need to make your audience cry or laugh, but it should inspire thoughtfulness or surprise, promote introspection or curiosity, or evoke longing or guilt. At the very least, you need to be self-aware enough to make a deprecating joke about a dull topic.
Two ways to inject emotion into your presentations. Number one, lean into provocative contrarian takes that surprise your audience or challenge their assumptions. The first slide of Scott's 2024 TED Talk asked, Do we love our children? The question begs an obvious answer, yes. But it sets up the next slides, which show irrefutable evidence that young people today have been handed a sour deal. If we've elected officials who have let the American Dream and the promises of capitalism die in the service of older generations in Richmond, Scott asked, how does that behavior square with really loving our children?
Powerful stories surprise us. Harry Potter running into a brick wall and not getting head trauma is so delightfully perplexing that it prepares you for the magical new world you're about to enter.
Scott is well known for his surprising takes. Young people need to drink more, the era of brand is over, Tesla is dramatically overvalued, etc. But provocative statements only work when they're anchored in evidence.
If you don't have the evidence or creative leeway with your content, you can still deliver surprises through how you present. Hide half a chart in Powerpoint and reveal it at a key moment. Drop in a video or audio clip, bring in a guest, move literally. Scott has worn wigs, lip-synched on stage, and jumped up and down shirtless at South by Southwest. No one expects these stunts, which is why they land. Surprise gets attention and draws your audience into the story. I never thought I'd use the words accounting and viral, in the same sentence, but a professor at the University of Oklahoma changed that. Instead of droning on about balance sheets, Jonathan Kern runs around his classroom singing about depreciation and leading chants about cash flow. Viral TikTok videos show lecture halls full of engaged students. He made the most boring subject in business school unforgettable by doing the exact opposite of what everyone expects from an accounting class.