The most important skill you’ve never been taught:
Storytelling
10 dead-simple tips to make you a better storyteller:
Cut the fluff
Most people amble on in backstory for 10 minutes or write an intro paragraph.
This is a waste of time.
Find the interesting parts of your story, jump right to it, and provide as little backstory as possible.
Start with the end in mind
What do you want the outcome of your story to be?
• Customer buying a product
• Friend laughing his ass off
• Investor giving you money
If you start with the end in mind, the intro and middle naturally funnel to that target.
Make it emotional
People make decisions based on emotion.
But it’s impossible to make your audience feel everything.
Nail down 1-2 emotions and direct the entire story to amplify those.
I regularly refer to this chart from @ShaanVP: https://t.co/dGxLMnKUYJ
Raise the stakes
Apple realized the iPhone was competing on the same few features each release.
So it raised the stakes: privacy.
This tells two stories:
• Apple protects your privacy
• Competitors exploit your privacy
The story became a feature with iOS 14.5. https://t.co/zNvUdq2uHa
Use data intentionally
Numbers tell, stories sell.
But if used well, data backs up the story you’re telling.
I aim to use 1-3 high-impact data points to support my stories.
Keep a story log
You have story-worthy moments every day but forget almost all of them. Simple fix:
• Create a two column spreadsheet (date and story)
• Before bed, take two minutes to write the best story from that day
You’ll start seeing stories everywhere.
Structure your story
Humans gravitate to structure. Luckily there are tons to wrap around your story:
• Hero’s Journey
• StoryBrand
• Three Act
Here’s the structure JK Rowling used for the 5th Harry Potter: https://t.co/vItjXNmdXX
Talk to a niche
Great stories aren’t told to everyone.
They’re told to the specific group of people who will resonate most with them.
The idea of “1000 true fans.”
Nail the hook
It doesn’t matter how incredible the rest of your story is if nobody sticks around for it.
A few guidelines:
• Punchy
• Short
• “Big if true”
Here’s the hook Steve Jobs used for the iPhone product launch: https://t.co/0OiNWor5CB
Sell the transformation
Great storytelling boils down to the transformation the Hero goes through.
Nike never sells its clothing — it sells what the clothing can do for you.
“If you wear our stuff, you’ll jump like LeBron, run like Ronaldo, and hit like Serena.” https://t.co/u9T3iY7TEC
Hope you enjoyed that!
I write about storytelling 1-2x times per week. Follow @nathanbaugh27 so you don’t miss those.
Here’s another one you may enjoy: https://twitter.com/nathanbaugh27/status/1505890197086552066
Storytelling is the most important skill you can learn.
Try my free weekly newsletter to improve yours: http://www.worldbuilders.ai/subscribe
The story log concept seems to be resonating
here's mine (started it july 1)
the key for me has been keeping it short and informal. it provides just enough context to jog my memory
idea came from the book storyworthy: http://amazon.com/Storyworthy-audiobook/dp/B07GT7BMJV/ https://t.co/cvQUIc8Gdz
