For some time now, we've been sharing videos in The Business Storyteller to illustrate the ideas we discuss. This week, we're trying something a little different. We're taking a closer look at one video to examine what the speaker does, why it works, and what we can borrow for our own presentations and conversations.This time nobody asked where AI was.

You've probably sat through a presentation where the speaker knew the subject thoroughly but struggled to explain why it mattered. Sometimes the problem is the choice of examples. We pick the most technically accurate one, the one with the strongest data, or simply the one we know best.

Barry Schwartz offers an interesting lesson in choosing examples deliberately.

In his TED Talk, The Paradox of Choice, the psychologist questions an assumption most of us take for granted: more choice should make our lives better. He has a difficult argument to make. We associate choice with freedom. Why would having more options make us less happy?

Watch how how approaches it.

You may have seen this talk before. This time, watch it for the examples rather than the argument. If you're short on time, watch these three excerpts. Together, they take about five minutes:

Each example helps Schwartz make a different part of his argument.

Schwartz begins by showing how choice has multiplied in ordinary life. He describes the bewildering number of salad dressings available in a supermarket, along with the choices we face when buying electronics and other everyday products. There's humour in the sheer excess of it all.

These examples establish a shared experience. Before Schwartz introduces his psychological argument, we're already thinking about occasions when we've faced too many options.

Imagine explaining the complexity of a new software product to a senior executive. You could begin with its architecture. Or you could describe a customer confronted with twelve configuration choices before completing a simple task. The second example gives the executive something familiar to work with.

Schwartz then cites research about employees choosing retirement savings plans. As the number of investment options increases, participation tends to decline. He points out that employees who delay making a choice can miss out on substantial employer contributions.

We've moved from the inconvenience of shopping to decisions with consequences for people's financial futures. The consumer examples help us recognise the experience of too much choice. The retirement-plan research shows why the issue deserves serious attention.

It's a useful distinction when presenting a business recommendation. A customer anecdote may help colleagues understand a problem, but they may still wonder whether it warrants action. Evidence of its scale or consequences answers a different question.

Later, Schwartz recounts buying a pair of jeans. He remembers a time when jeans came in relatively few varieties. Now the salesperson asks what fit, style and finish he'd like. After an hour of trying on different pairs, he buys the best-fitting jeans he's ever owned. Yet he's less satisfied with them.

Schwartz could have ended the story with the inconvenience of choosing among so many jeans. Instead, he describes an unexpected outcome: a better product accompanied by greater disappointment. With so many possibilities available, his expectations have risen. The story helps us understand that contradiction before Schwartz explains the psychology behind it.

It's a situation business leaders encounter too. A stakeholder receives nearly every feature requested and still feels disappointed with the launch. More options have created higher expectations.

Schwartz uses examples to accomplish different things. The supermarket establishes familiarity. The retirement-plan research demonstrates the consequences. The jeans story helps us understand something counterintuitive.

We don't need three examples in every presentation. Sometimes one is enough. What matters is being clear about what we want an example to accomplish. Are we helping the audience recognise a problem, understand something unexpected, or appreciate why it matters?

That purpose should guide our choice of example.

Take a slide you're preparing this week that explains a complex idea. Give yourself ten minutes to find one everyday experience that mirrors the problem you're describing.

Write it in two or three sentences, then try explaining the idea to a colleague using that example before showing the slide. Ask whether it made the idea easier to understand. If it didn't, try another.

Did you find this kind of video breakdown useful? Hit reply and let us know. And if there's a talk you'd like us to examine, we'd love to hear about it.