What Professional Actors Can Teach You About Using Stories in Your Presentations with Kerri Garbis.

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Where do you look to find great storytellers? As a speaker, you might turn to other speakers—but have you looked to actors? Actors live inside stories, and every word they deliver shapes how a story is consumed and interpreted. Kerri Garbis has been a professional actress since childhood, training at the Baltimore School for the Arts before earning her BFA in musical theater from Syracuse University. As CEO of Ovation, a communication skills training firm, she has trained hundreds of business professionals in presentation skills, storytelling, and emotional intelligence. Here’s my conversation with Kerri Garbis.

What Actors Know That Business Speakers Don’t

Peter: Why do you believe actors have important things to say to people preparing for presentations?

Kerri: It started when a friend needed help finding the best place to stand in a ballroom before giving a presentation. As an actor, I knew how to work a space. Afterward, I ended up in the green room with the other presenters—and what I witnessed was everything counterproductive to what I’d been trained to do. One man was literally throwing up in a trash can. When I asked the others how they prepared, every answer was the opposite of best practice for getting confident and getting your content into muscle memory. That day I realized: actors have a lot to teach business professionals about presentations.

Why Storytelling Works

Kerri: Storytelling is the easiest way to emotionally connect with your audience. It immediately makes your content more memorable, and honestly, it makes your life easier. It’s so much simpler to tell a story than to run through 10 data points your audience may not care about. Tell it in the context of a story, and it’s more interesting, more engaging, and more beneficial to everyone in the room.

When to Tell a Story

Kerri: There are very few inappropriate times to tell a story. The two highest-impact moments are the opening and the close. Open with a story to grab your audience’s attention right away. Close with one to deliver a mic-drop moment they’ll carry with them. Stories are also great for transitions, mood shifts, and regaining credibility if something goes wrong—tech fails, a heckler, a rough moment. Tell a story, clear the air, and get back on track.

Keys to a Story That Truly Resonates

Kerri: Know your audience—know what stories they want to hear. And remember: less is more. You don’t need to explain every detail. Leave some blanks for the audience’s imagination to fill in. That said, always share the resolution—the point of the story. Don’t assume they’ll get the moral on their own. Say it plainly: “The point is…” or “I share this because…” Don’t make your audience do mental gymnastics to figure out why you told the story in the first place.

Where to Find Stories

Kerri: Life experience. Everyone has stories—even if they don’t believe it. I once worked with a tech presenter who said his topic was too data-heavy for stories. I pushed him to find something analogous in his life. He realized the story of marrying a woman he didn’t know well and bringing her from India to the States mirrored exactly what he’d done with two incompatible software programs. It was a beautiful, human story that connected perfectly. Start with yourself. If you get stuck, ask a partner or spouse—they remember stories you’ve long forgotten.

The Biggest Mistake Speakers Make

Kerri: Two things. First: front-loading. Too much setup before the inciting incident—the thing that actually makes it a story. Get to the moment faster. Second: announcing the story. “I’m going to tell you a story about…” Just start the story. Movies don’t announce themselves. Neither should you. Launch right in and your audience will follow.

Peter: Kerri, where can listeners learn more about you?

Kerri: Find me on LinkedIn and Facebook at Kerri Garbis—K-E-R-R-I G-A-R-B-I-S. My company is Ovation, a communication skills training firm specializing in professional presence and speaker development. Visit us at getovation.com.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let’s make it happen. I’ll see you next time.