Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations

Finding the Common Ground

If there is a more important key to communication than finding common ground, I certainly can't think of it. Common ground is the place where people can discuss differences, share ideas, find solutions, and start creating something together. Too often people see communication as the process of transmitting massive amounts of information to other people. But that's the wrong picture. Communication is a journey. The more that people have in common, the better the chance that they can take that journey together.

—John C. Maxwell, authority on leadership. He has written more than 60 books, with over 19 million copies sold.

Every individual in your audience has some existing knowledge or context relevant to your story. Imagine this context as a map in the mind of each individual. The areas of the mental map can be described in different levels of detail, some with real experience and some with a theoretical knowledge. This map may be tiny, inaccurate, or the result of years of experience. It is their mental map. It is constantly being updated, and every map is unique. For your story to have meaning, it must have sufficient overlap with the mental maps of your audience. It is the overlap, or common ground, that allows members of your audience to understand the story and incorporate it with their existing knowledge.

We all have a set of filters that we use to judge information we receive, to compare it with our own mental maps, and to decide what information ...