The Foundations of Storytelling - Part I

YouTube, Hulu, TikTok, Netflix, Instagram, X/Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat… we live in the age of content chaos, it’s overwhelming all of us. Our attention spans are shorter than ever and it’s increasingly hard to remember what’s important in life, let alone find it.

Amid all of this when you’re trying to reach, engage or persuade people about anything, it must be part of a narrative that has been designed to do exactly that or it’s simply not going to happen.

We all have our favorite stories and our own, unique ways to tell them, some more creatively than others. For me the best place to start with storytelling is to understand exactly what a story is, how it’s told as well as why and where it’s taking us. Here’s my view of what a story is and bit about how to tell one.

Defining Story

Sto*ry – an account of events that is designed to interest, amuse or instruct an audience

The concept of ‘story’ applies to almost anything, a person, product, idea, company, relationship… and we all think we know what it is. In my view a well told story needs at least one of three key elements it could be interesting, it can amuse an audience, or it can be instructive. The technical words in marketing are communications, branding, messaging, advertising… I could go on, but in the end it’s a story.

Describing Storytelling

Sto*ry*tell*ing – the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while inspiring the imagination of an audience

The act of ‘storytelling’ is where an idea or concept transforms into something living. Whether it be a sales presentation, a blog or video about an innovative new product, a research survey that reveals something new and exciting about a subject, a funny short video or even a one-on-one conversation about collaborating on a project, the story that you tell is what drives the conversation, as well as the imagination of your audience.

This is also the stage where you have to deeply consider the method of storytelling you need to practice so you can reach your audience. Is it the written word, pictures and graphics, video, ads… or is it an integrated combination of everything? It all depends on the audience that you intend to reach and how they prefer to be reached… often this can be the hardest part of the storytelling process.

The Purpose

A key to any great story is to leave your audience with something they didn’t know or feel before. When your approach is focused on teaching, amusing or exciting your audience, rather than selling, that is when you are remembered in a favorable way, that is how you persuade those that you want to reach.

It’s Always a Journey…

Like the many phases of a well-designed plan, the intention of a good story is to bring your audience along with you on a journey to a desired place or end. Personally, I like it to be aspirational, but a good story takes many different forms. It can be informative, operational, emotional, the list goes on and on, but in the end, you want to take your audience on a journey that they have not experienced before.

It’s All About Your Intention

What focuses the storytelling process is the audience that you want to tell your story to as well as the intention behind that story, which I’ll cover in my next post detailing my equation for storytelling success…

As we all know, not all stories are worth telling, it often requires an experienced communications professional (such as myself) to work closely with those who are committed to invest in the process of finding, telling and refining their best stories. If you want to break through the communications chaos that pervades our personal and professional lives today, it’s essential that you and your organization can determine which aspects of the story you want to tell are valuable and appealing as well as the components that are just noise. Reach out to me at matt@thesecondrow.net and I’ll work with you to ensure that your story is not only worth telling, but that it’s done well and has the impact that you need to achieve your personal or business goals.