Engaging with audiences is easier when you include stories in your messages.
Everyone loves a good story – both adults AND kids.
But knowing how to TELL a good story is a skill that doesn’t come naturally to everyone.
However, storytelling is a skill that can be easily learned.
Why Is Storytelling Important?
In a world where stories are becoming increasingly popular — in social media, content marketing, YouTube videos, and more — good stories are almost EXPECTED. Without them, your messages are more likely to be overlooked. Or, at least, quickly forgotten.
THAT is why it’s important to learn how to tell a good story.
Listed below are 5 things to keep in mind when you start writing your own story.
Know Your Audience
Who will be reading (or hearing) your story? The life experiences you share with an audience of retired people over the age of 65 will be different than ones you share with a Gen Z audience – many of whom may still be in high school or college.
Show … Don’t Tell
I recently came across a descriptive piece of writing in a book that features award-winning examples of travel articles. This excerpt is from an article titled “The Actual Hollister,” written by Dave Eggers and published in The New Yorker. (Hollister is a small city in central California, about 40 minutes northeast of the popular coastal town of Monterey.)
“Hollister emerges in no particular hurry. Tidy rows of onions, cherry trees, and bell peppers give way to a small factory or two — a group of women in hairnets were taking a break in front of Marich Confectionery as I passed — and then there are diners and gas stations and, finally, a downtown that seems timeless without being in any way quaint.”
Eggers’ description of this small community paints a picture that immediately draws you into his world. So different than if he had just written: “I drove down the street and saw some old buildings and gas stations.”
Sharing specific details about an experience is a good way to “show, don’t tell.”
Start in the Middle
“One thing was certain, that the WHITE kitten had had nothing to do with it: — it was the black kitten’s fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bearing it pretty well, considering); so you see that it COULDN’T have had any hand in the mischief.”
With these opening sentences from the classic children’s book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll was able to draw in the reader, creating curiosity and (usually) causing youngsters to want to KEEP reading.
(Starting a story “in the middle” won’t work with every story, but if it IS used, it can be very effective.)
Identify the ‘Conflict’
Every non-documentary type of movie and every work of fiction has a “hero” and a “villain” – either in the form of a person or a situation. But this dynamic can be seen in business writing, too.
In B2B (business-to-business) case studies, the obstacle representing the “villain” is the PROBLEM a customer has. The SOLUTION to the obstacle is often portrayed through an interview with a satisfied customer who shares the story of how a company’s product or service helped them overcome their problem.
Whether you’re writing a speech, a case study, or a book, your story needs to present some type of conflict and show how it was resolved.
Don’t Forget Feelings
Facts aren’t everything. Feelings are what draw readers into a story.
When the information being shared is dry … and maybe even a little boring, stories that relate to the topic being discussed can cause people to pay attention to what you’re saying in a way they never would have WITHOUT the story.
* * * *
Speaking of how important it is to evoke feelings in stories, I recently came across a book of photography I’d never heard of before. It does an excellent job of illustrating how photos can do an excellent job of telling stories, too.
The Sweet Flypaper of Life features black-and-white photos portraying family life in Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s. The photographer was Roy DeCarava, and the writer (poet) was Langston Hughes.
(First published in 1955, other editions have appeared since then. The latest one was released in January 1984.)
* * * *
BONUS TIP
One more reason to include stories in your content:
Your “voice” is what sets your writing apart from someone else’s writing … and is not something AI will be able to easily duplicate. ESPECIALLY if the stories you tell are from your own past or your memories.
Need help turning stories from satisfied customers into case studies for your website or content marketing?
Contact me for a free 30-minute consultation.
