The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling

• Stories solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages;
• Stories bring people together: stories connect us through the way we feel and respond to them;
• Stories inspire and motivate, by tapping into people’s emotions and baring both the good and bad.

• Entertaining. Good stories keep the reader engaged and interested in what’s coming next.
• Educational. Good stories spark curiosity and add to the reader’s knowledge bank.
• Universal. Good stories are relatable to all readers and tap into emotions and experiences that most people undergo.
• Organized. Good stories follow a succinct organization that helps convey the core message and helps readers absorb it.
• Memorable. Whether through inspiration, scandal, or humor, good stories stick in the reader’s mind.

• Characters. Every story features at least one character, and this character will be the key to relating your audience back to the story.
• Conflict. The conflict is the lesson of how the character overcomes a challenge.
• Resolution. Your story’s resolution should wrap up the story, provide context around the characters and conflict(s), and leave your audience with a call-to-action.

1. Know your audience;
2. Know your audience;
3. Decide what kind of story you’re telling;
4. Establish your call-to-action;
5. Choose your story medium;
6. Craft your story;
7. Share your story.

If your objective is to:

• Incite action: describe how a successful action was completed in the past and its steps.
• Tell people about yourself, feature genuine, humanizing struggles, failures, and wins.
• Convey values, tap into familiar emotions and situations so that the story feels relatable.
• Foster collaboration, tell a story that moves readers to discuss and share your story with others.
• Educate, feature a trial-and-error experience, so that readers can learn about a problem and how a solution was discovered and applied.