The Foundations of Storytelling: Part 2 - The Awesomeness Equation
A few weeks ago, I wrote The Foundations of Storytelling – Part 1 to define exactly what a story is and some fundamental tenets to follow when you're telling a story. Today, we'll dive into an equation that I use to tell a story and the emotions that you aim to impart on your audience with your story.
Not to be confused with Einstein's theory of special relativity, here's my equation to storytelling awesomeness: C5 = E3 + I3.
Let's break it down:
C5: The Five C’s Needed to Tell a Proper Story:
Character: The who of a story. The key is to show transformation over the length of the narrative. The growth and development of characters keep the audience invested.
Context: Sets the scene and establishes why the audience should care and become invested. It gets people involved in the story by providing the background and setting the stakes.
Conflict: Establishes a problem, creates and highlights tension and communicates urgency. Conflict can be either negative (a problem) or positive (an opportunity), or both. It’s the driving force that moves the story forward.
Climax: Generates an ‘aha!’ moment. It pinpoints uniqueness, fuels optimism and describes the high point of the story journey. It is the turning point where the story reaches its peak tension.
Closure: Summarizes some of the lessons learned and/or highlights a call to action. The aim is to build enlistment and commitment from your audience, often creating an opportunity where change can take root. Closure also ties up loose ends and leaves the audience with a sense of completion.
E3 + I3: The Feelings You Aim to Bring Out of Your Audience:
Entrance: This often takes many forms. Phrases like ‘page turner,’ ‘binge-watch,’ or ‘can’t take my eyes off of it’ are what a good storyteller aspires to and it’s very important to captivate your audience right from the start.
Engagement: To garner a reaction, sometimes positive, other times negative. This tells you that you have the audience fully involved in what you’re doing. Engagement is the key to keeping the audience hooked.
Emotional: A well-told story generates real emotional energy from the audience, whether it’s happiness, excitement, or even sadness to make your story memorable.
Interesting: It’s obvious but needs to be emphasized. You need to grab your audience and not let them go. You have to keep the audience curious and eager to know what happens next.
Interactive: Often, it’s important to give your audience a way to become involved in the story and sometimes even become part of it, which makes your story more engaging and personal.
Intellectual: This is where the act of persuasion comes into our equation. You’ve grabbed their attention, they feel involved and part of the story and now you teach them something new and innovative that they did not know before. Intellectual stimulation keeps the audience thinking and reflecting on the story.
By following this equation, you can craft stories that not only captivate and engage but also inspire and educate your audience. Get in touch with me at matt@thesecondrow.net and I can help you start applying this storytelling equation today and watch your narratives transform into compelling, impactful stories that resonate deeply with your audience!