Storytelling Formulas: 11 Quick-Fire Ways to Create Your Stories

• Before: Describe the world with Problem A.
• After: Imagine what it’d be like having Problem A solved.
• Bridge: Here’s how to get there.

Set the stage of a problem that your target audience is likely to experience ( a problem that your company solves). Describe a world where that problem didn’t exist. Explain how to get there or present the solution (i.e. your product or service).

• Problem: Present a problem
• Agitate: Agitate the problem
• Solve: Solve the problem

First, you present a problem. Second, instead of presenting the “After”, you intensify the problem with emotional language. Finally, you solve the problem by offering your product or services.

The Golden Circle is a narrative structure from Simon Sinek. His claim is   can be used as a guide to vastly improve every aspect of your business or organization—from leadership and hiring, to product development, sales, and marketing.

• Why: Why the company exists (Why are you in this business? What motivates you)
• How: How the company fulfills its Why
• What: What the company does to fulfill its Why (i.e. your products and services).

Dale Carnegie usues a more dramatic structure for storytelling

• Incident: Share a relevant, personal experience, to grab your audience’s attention.
• Action: Describe the specific action taken to solve or prevent a problem, showing that a change was needed.
• Benefit: State the benefits of the action/change.

• Introduce the character;
• Bring the story to its lowest point;
• Turn it around and finish with a happy ending.

Once you introduce the character of the story, describe how things went awful for him/her, using emotions to draw your audience into your story. At the lowest point of the story, turn things around, describe how things improved, and end the story on a high note.

• Star: An attention-getting, positive opening
• Chain: A series of convincing facts, benefits, and reasons
• Hook: A powerful call-to-action.

The star grabs your audience’s attention. The chain turns your audience’s attention into a desire. The hook gives them something actionable to fulfill their desire.

Once upon a time there was.... Every day, ... One day, ... Because of that, ... Because of that, ... Until finally, ...

The idea is to introduce a character or a group of character, describe their usual routine, present a twist that disrupts their daily lives, explain how they overcome it, and celebrate!

• Departure: A hero receives a call to go on an adventure, receives advice from a mentor, and heads out on her journey.
• Initiation: The hero meets a series of challenges but eventually completes the mission.
• Return: The hero returns and helps others with her new found power or treasure.

This formula is used by many of the greatest storytellers including George Lucas for his Star Wars films!

In a famous TED talk, Nancy Duarte presents the structure of a presentation made famous by Steve Jobs.

• What is: The status quo
• What could be: The future that could be possible

Go back and forth between the two and end off with a …

• New bliss: The wonderful future with your idea/product/service adopted.