The Table or the Trophy?
If I put a trophy on top of a table, what do you think I want you to see, the trophy or the table? Of course it’s the trophy. We can look at narration and dialogue the same way. Narration is the table and dialogue is the trophy. The narration is only there to set up the dialogue, which is what we really want to see (or hear).
It’s okay to dress up the table a bit to make the trophy even more attractive, but it’s ultimately the trophy that we should see.
Mix It to Fix It
Too many speakers use far too much narration. For example, they say lines like, “My wife came home and told me she wanted a divorce.” That’s narration…a report from the past. That dialogue would sound like this, “I want a divorce.” That’s much more powerful. However, an effective mix of narration would sound like this, “My wife came home, looked me directly in the eyes and said, ‘I want a divorce.’”
Do you see how narration and dialogue should work together? It’s important to mix the two. The narration was, “My wife came home, looked me directly in the eyes and said…” while the dialogue was, “I want a divorce.” The narration (table) sets up the dialogue (trophy) very well. What we end up remembering is the dialogue.
What happens when you go down the wrong road?
What happens when a speaker uses all dialogue without any narration? It comes off like a stage-play.
What happens when a speaker uses all narration and no dialogue? That’s when you have a CNN report.
The key is in the mix. We need a few, “He said…” and “She looked at me and said…” lines of narration to set up the dialogue so that it’s more conversational and natural.
Therefore, there is no Dialogue vs. Narration argument. Instead of being opponents, they should be teammates. They should work together to create powerful messages that stick and shine.
See For Yourself – Narration AND Dialogue Video Coaching
Below you will see a 4-minute video of me coaching a speaker on how to mix the narration and dialogue for the greatest impact. Enjoy! Oh, and I know there’s a typo in the beginning of the video.
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