Story Structure

• Suspense and “cliffhangers” allow you to create an addictive narrative;
• Creating detailed imagery;
• Using literary techniques for turning simple stories into memorable works of art.
• Change made easier by providing an example.
  

• Delivery: matters as much as the content.
• Imagery:  the brain “lights up” in reacting to imagery, truly transporting the reader to the events being described. 
• Realism: poeple need a “human” element in the story that is easy for them to imagine.
• Structure: people prefer stories that follow a logical manner.
• Context: significant impact on the persuasiveness of a story.
• Audience: determine who you don’t want reading your content along with who you do.

Also known as Freytag’s Pyramid:

• Exposition: Introduce important background information
• Rising action: Tell a series of events to build up to the climax
• Climax: Turn the story around (usually the most exciting part of the story)
• Falling action: Continue the action from the climax
• Dénouement: Ending the story with a resolution.

• 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).

- What makes you care about the work that you do?
- What part of you outside of your work is present inside of that world?
- If in financial services, for example, what is it behind the numbers and data that are at the emotional core of your work?

The story needs to have stakes without being necessarily significant. Ask yourself:
- What gets you excited about what you’re talking about? 
- Why do you care? 

• 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.

Human beings react to physical and environmental changes all the time. Likewise, a good story requires changes and challenges, and characters need to be provided with certain crossroads of change, else the story does not move.

Incomplete stories are filled automatically by the brain, as we have an urge to find meaning in everything. We also tend to believe the simplest explanations. Stories need to be shown a linear cause and effect for the reader to stay interested. If there are too many effects, the effect is lost.

While overcoming your limitations, you’ll likely experience failure and you should scour those for lessons. 

It can be beneficial to find a role model and engage in some healthy imitation. Done well, it can give you some confidence.

You shouldn’t copy everything about the person. But notice how they act and try mimicking their successful habits until you can adapt them to your own style.

A story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a connection of cause and effect. And that is exactly how we think. We think in narratives all day long.

Exchange giving suggestions for telling stories.

A story is the only way to activate parts in the brain so that a listener turns the story into their own idea and experience.

Whether it's telling inspiring stories to customers or delivering a presentation to executives and the board of directors, being a good storyteller helps us make the leap from Good to Great.

Product managers and designers can benefit tremendously by great storytelling, and so can anyone who is working with product design.

Instead of selling products, we need to focus on their purpose and what good it does for the end-user. Focus on the need of the customer and design the product around it.

The Story Spine structure: Once upon a time there was [blank]. Every day, [blank]. One day [blank]. Because of that, [blank]. Until finally [bank].

A story’s purpose: find why you want to tell this story, what belief of yours fueled that story, what does it teach and its purpose. Stories with a purpose that you are passionate about have a bigger impact.

“Storytelling is the greatest technology that humans have ever created.” 

When the brain pieces separate bits of an image together to form a coherent picture, it is known as pattern recognition. Once we recognize a pattern, it can spark a degree of pleasure, often described as that "a-ha" moment.

Despite the verities of science, we feel compelled to tell stories that venture beyond the facts.

When we first see separate ideas, we feel obliged to find a relationship between the ideas to form a coherent picture. Once a possible relationship has been established, we feel the need to come up with an explanation.