According to Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Abraham Lincoln had a skill for simplifying complex subjects. Although he received little formal education, Lincoln excelled at teaching jurors, young lawyers, and later, as a United States presidential candidate, voters.

Storytelling was Lincoln’s most powerful rhetorical tool. “He understood early on that concrete examples and stories provided the best vehicles for teaching,” writes Goodwin in Leadership in Turbulent Times. “He could simultaneously educate, entertain, and move his audiences.”

And he, like many inspiring storytellers around the world, was able to do all that without the benefit of PowerPoint—a staple in today’s classroom. The tools of communication have changed since Lincoln regaled crowds with his storytelling techniques, but our minds are not wired to engage with bullet points on a slide. Our minds are wired for story. Many of us think in narrative and enjoy consuming content in story form.