Specificity creates engagement
The average presentation by professionals (lawyers/accountants/consultants) is incredibly generic, and skull-numbingly boring.
Most of the time they completely lack stories, which is a huge own-goal given all the scientific research that confirms that humans are affected, learn, and remember things delivered in stories far more effectively than almost any other method of communication.
Secondly, even when they do include stories, they lack the colour and detail that really brings the narrative to life.
We’ve all heard a professional say something like “A few years ago I worked with a team who did X, and the result was Y”. That’s not a story! That’s a case study! It’s boring, we’re unlikely to learn anything, and we’re even less likely to remember any of it.
“All the people I find interesting speak with a great deal of specificity.”
A case study doesn’t become a story until it has characters, emotions, and specificity.
What was the person’s name? How did they keep their hair? What kinds of shoes did they wear?
What were they upset about? How did they feel about the change that was coming? What did their spouse say to them to help prepare them for the decision?
What are the interesting little details that you could share? Did the shopping trolley have one wobbly wheel? Was the shift key on the computer sticky? Did the dog bark every time it heard the keys jangle?
If you’re going to make money (easily) as a professional, you need to be memorable. To be memorable, you need to be interesting. To be interesting, you need to tell stories with characters, emotions, and specificity.