People love to tell stories, whether it's a humorous anecdote to amuse friends, a moving drama to spur donations, or a case study to boost sales.

But few people are gifted storytellers. Think about the windbag of a boss who thinks the team members are enthralled by his exploits. Or remember when your parents went on about how tough times were when they were your age.

Your eyes glossed over, your mind traveled or you suddenly remembered an urgent appointment. You silently complained that the storytellers had over-estimated their skills and material, gone on for too long, or crammed in details you couldn't care less about.

So if stories are so difficult to tell, why do so many people try to work them into reports, presentations and other public speaking tips? Because they work. Well done, they touch people emotionally, encourage them to draw conclusions, humanize the presenter, entertain, reinforce points, build credibility--and much more.

But to avoid falling into the pitfalls of storytelling, you need to follow these eight public speaking tips.

Storytelling - Public Speaking Tips

1. Keep the story very short.

2. Choose your details carefully. You are not painting a picture, but zooming in on the bits that illustrate your point in a compelling way.

3. Tell stories about other people, not you, unless your personal experience is intimately related to your objective, such as a breast cancer survivor describing what she went through so people will donate.

4. Don't describe the setting or back story. If it's vital, show it through an action or a revealing detail.

5. State the clear moral or point of your story. Don't assume your readers or audience will get it.

6. Use a conversational tone, almost as if you were sitting around a campfire, all eyes riveted on you.

7. Know your limitations. If you feel that the eyes may be wandering, or worse still, rolling, shorten the story.

8. Weave elements of storytelling, such as examples and revealing details, into more of your writing and speaking.

Remember that few people are great spoken storytellers. Even fewer excel at writing stories. But if you follow these public speaking tips, keep your stories short and to the point, and pick just the right details, you'll probably have a happy ending.