Every piece of writing should tell a story.   This is as true for a report for my boss … as it is for an essay that I may be preparing for print, or a tale about Josie that I post here.   Same thing for any kind of a presentation that I might do for a conference:  What’s the plot?  Who are the characters?  Where’s the dynamic tension?  How do I want the audience to feel when they’ve come to the end?

—T. Scott Plutchak