How to Tell a Great Story
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From the time we are born, we are told stories. It’s how human beings relate to each other. But in a choppy and abrupt world, it’s rare that anyone has the time to listen. It’s as if our memory is being erased as a species.
But done right, stories are a powerful marketing tool. Here’s how to tell a great one.
Start telling more stories
By drawing someone closer to a moment in your life, you make them see the world through your eyes for a second. This creates a connection. Don’t underestimate this – it can bridge huge gaps. In a world that is trying to erase its history and create infinitely wide divisions between people, you humanize your existence, create a sense of continuity (that you’re a person with a past, not just the present moment) and make yourself relatable by telling your story.
There are many applications to an advisory practice. Whether you are trying to get more attention on social media, persuade somebody to take a certain action, or just deepen relationships with clients, a story is a tool of persuasion and influence.
But you have to do it right.
The components of a good story
1. Use a hook with irony
The first sentence of the story, the hook, has to be intriguing enough to stop the person in their tracks. But make it slightly vague; that’s what makes it mysterious enough to compel the reader’s curiosity.
2. Develop the narrative with detail
Here is where you want to evoke emotion through the intensity of the narrative. As you lead up to the conflict point, sprinkle in:
- Sensory details such as smells, tastes, temperature (hot/cold);
- A humorous analogy; and
- Specific details about a particular time and place (“I used to live in the rundown part of Cleveland…”).
3. Pause at the height of moral confusion
Right before you make the big point, give the reader a glimpse of the moral struggle you faced. Here you are taking their emotion and leveling it off using a narrative pause, because you are about to appeal to their reasoning in the end. Capture the two opposing sides at war, and present a helplessness that you will refute with the moral of the story.
4. End with a bang
In one sentence, make a logical point that compels the reader to do what you want them to do. The final sentence should be the clincher.
Example of a good story
I can always feel my neck burning in church, but it’s not for the reason you would expect.
My beloved son Ziggy (not his real name) is not your typical seven-year old – he’s got autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Getting him to sit through an overstimulating mass each week is nothing short of a major workout. But we put God first in my household, and suffer as we may, we all go to church on Sunday.
Unfortunately, we’re not the only ones suffering.
I would best describe my son’s church behavior as bouncing off the pews like a rubber ball. One day this reached an extreme and the people around us grew especially hostile. Usually it’s just the icy stares, grumpy mutterings, and annoyed glances. But on this day, the hostility was acute. A few of my fellow parishioners decided to take matters into the own hands – literally. This one apparently grouchy man in the pew in front of us turned around and before I could stop him, he tried to backhand my son across the face.
The humiliation was unbearable. I gathered my four kids and left. As we reached the doors to the church, one of the ushers came running up to me.
“You shouldn’t have to take him out of church like this! Don’t you know that God loves all children? And He especially loves the ones who need Him the most!”
She was right, but I wasn’t in the mood for scripture. Too embarrassed to respond, I just shrugged it off and made a beeline for the door.
Then something very, very strange happened.
Well, we got outside, and as we were waiting for the traffic light to change, all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw this huge toy airplane, just sitting there by the corner of the church. The thing must have been three feet long; you couldn’t miss it.
Now here’s what’s so strange about this.
The sole object of my son’s obsession is airplanes. Ziggy has encyclopedic knowledge of all the military planes – their names, how fast they go, etc. Even more strangely, the toy plane hadn’t been there on the way in. In the very short amount of time we were in mass, somebody walking by must have dropped it… or was it something else? A sign from above, perhaps, that my son belonged in that church? It was like He was calling us back to Him.
“God left Ziggy the plane because the man was mean to him,” my five-year old said.
The next Sunday rolled around, and I was debating whether to subject myself to the torture of getting through mass with Ziggy. Because it’s not just mass, it’s the fourth of July with the fireworks hurting his ears, the birthday parties where nobody shows up, canceled playdates, the disapproval, the ridicule… the list of crosses to bear is unending.
“Mommy, can we go to the church and see if God left me an F-15 Eagle this time?”
We got there, and it was the same story – Ziggy bouncing off the pews like a rubber bouncy ball, and the parishioners behind us glaring. The skin on my ears was starting to burn.
This time, though, it was different.
I turned around and calmly said, “You know, mass is tough for us with my son having extreme special needs. Do you kind, reverent people suppose you could maybe pray for us – just a little bit?”
That shut them right down. Snickers from the ushers, nods from some of the other moms with young kids.
Shame is the most powerful form of manipulation and control within the human psyche, but it can only live in silence. It may seem powerful in the darkness, but it goes away when you shine a light on it.
The breakdown
What did you think – was that a good story? Here’s how the narrative tracks with the four critical elements mentioned above.
1. Ironic hook
The hook was the line about my neck burning, ironically, not from repentance over my sins but over the shame of taking a special-needs child to mass, which is not a sin but led the other parishioners to rebuke me.
2. Detailed narrative
The description of my son bouncing off the pews like a rubber ball and the grumpy parishioners are examples of high detail.
3. Moral dilemma
The dilemma is the interplay between knowing that God wants me to take Ziggy to mass, but not wanting to do so because of the pain of social alienation.
4. End with a bang
The line about overcoming shame.
Sara’s upshot
Use powerful stories in your oral presentations, social media posts, websites, client meetings, in any situation where you want to inspire somebody to take a difficult action, but you are getting resistance.
Okay and now for an announcement:
I always say that conferences stink and so now that I am having my own, I have some explaining to do. The Transparent Advisor Movement is having its first in-person event in March of 2024. You can learn about it here.
Thanks for hanging with me today. If you want to refine your marketing:
I have an e-book and a membership where you can learn some creative, non-sleazy social media tactics.
I’m a consultant who helps people infuse creativity in their marketing. If you’re interested, please contact me.
I’ll see you next month.
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