Streaming Consciousness: The Digital Art of Storytelling

Crafting a solid narrative is an essential skill offline or on.

Crafting a solid narrative is an essential skill offline or on.

I typically don’t have a planned content calendar when I look to publish a post every Wednesday (that may be a good or bad thing). Sometimes I look to elaborate on a thesis that I’ve written. But many times, I try to reflect on a motif that has repeatedly been shared with me the prior week, which makes me think of my parents. Each of them had a different style to the content they developed for their respective professions. My mother, a teacher, always lesson-planned months — maybe quarters — in advance, while my father, the pastor, outlined his sermons late Saturday night on subjects that were speaking to him. I find myself sometimes for these weekly posts evoking my “inner science teacher” (where I examine the ins and outs of an industry), while in other posts, I reflect on a common theme or lesson that has been stirred in my spirit.

This week’s “Streaming Consciousness” is an example of the latter occasion. The concept that has emerged in multiple conversations this week has been the importance of storytelling. You may think that storytelling was so prominent in my week because I heard many pitches from founders. However, the subject came up from several conversations with colleagues and other investors on how critical storytelling is for a venture capitalist’s career. Of course, we pitch to LP investors. Still, in this client services role, VCs need to absorb information from startup pitches and then recite the critical data and insights in a manner that provokes productive debate and leads to conviction around an investment decision.

No matter how informed you are as an investor, I’ve learned that one bad story can kill any potential deal momentum. And I’ve honestly found cultivating that narrative in the “zoom” era to be a big adjustment compared to the pre-pandemic setting in the boardroom. I’ve countered the zoom fatigue by making sure I construct better talking point frameworks to develop deal presentations.

Have you felt that the video conferencing environment has impacted your ability to tell a great story? And if so, what have you done to counter the circumstances? Leave a comment.