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6 Rules of Great Storytelling (As Told by Pixar)
“What you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to write about an event in your life that made you feel some particular way. And what you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to get the audience to have that same feeling.”
Pete Docter
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Pete Docter
“What you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to write about an event in your life that made you feel some particular way. And what you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to get the audience to have that same feeling.”
Pixar’s Plotting Techniques For Structure And Purpose
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.
6 Rules for Great Storytelling
- Great stories convey things common to the human condition in unique situations. They are universal.
- Great stories have a clear structure and purpose.
- People find it easy to root for an underdog and they don’t even need to succeed. They value the character’s journey over their destination.
- Great stories appeal to our deepest emotions.
- Having the readers perceptions of reality challenged or changed in some way makes for great storytelling.
- Great stories are simple and focused. Resist the urge to show all the world building you made to allow your audience to get lost in the narrative. You can test your story by reading it to a new person and watching their reactions and questions.
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“The most powerful person in the world is the story teller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of ..."
Steve Jobs
Storytelling Is Everything
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.
Purpose
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.
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Storytelling is...
Why we tell stories
- 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.
Good stories are …
- 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.
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Three-Act storytelling structure
One of the oldest and most straightforward storytelling formulas:
- Setup: Set the scene and introduce the character(s)
- Confrontation or “Rising action” : Present a p...
Five-Act storytelling structure
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 – After – Bridge storytelling formula
- 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).
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Rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
- Emphasize trying more than success.
- Having an initial theme while writing is important but don’t get too attached to it.
- Cutting things out
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Purpose of Storytelling
- Clarifies The Vision and Mission of an Organization. Reinforces the intent of the leadership.
- Helps to Address strong challenges of organizational culture. It ...
Exercise for Corporate Leaders
Consider utilizing the exercise below to help develop a positive story:
- Identify a successful event within the organization, or, an accomplishment by its personnel.
- Detail the actions leading up to and following the event in chronological order.
- Develop a 5 minute and 2 minute version of the story for use when speaking with your internal leadership team and personnel.
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“When you share a personal, professional moment where you’ve changed in a positive way, you inspire people. That's..."
Matthew Luhn
Closing A Hiring Pitch
Bring the hiring pitch home with personal stories that show how people authentically live out your company’s mission. Pixar’s films often start from a real, personal story.
Your company’s big-picture mission might be inspiring, but it’s not necessarily personal. You can make it more personal by peppering your pitches with personal anecdotes about ways that you’ve changed.
Feeding Interest With The Promise Of Change
After you’ve hooked your audience/candidate, you need to catch their attention and get the story moving by animating it with change and transformation. In Pixar’s movies, that change isn’t just about reversals of fortune—they’re about personal transformation.
Great stories promise to change the life of the protagonist who we imagine ourselves to be, if not our own. In light of that, recruiters should focus on how candidates’ lives will change—not just their day-to-day tasks, but also how the new role will change the way they feel.
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Purpose of storytelling
In the workplace, storytelling serves as an essential, powerful tool for effective communication.
It gets people excited around an idea, or a value, or perhaps some drier information t...
Tip 1. Make it personal.
- 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?
Tip 2. Show passion
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?
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Richard Feynman (1918–1988) "The Great Explainer”
He is considered to be one of the most important physicists of all time.
Feynman was brilliant, eloquent, and an exquisitely passionate thinker who stands unequivocally for his...The Feynman Technique
Feynman started to record and connect the things he did know with those he did not know, resulting in a thorough notebook of subjects that had been disassembled, translated, and recorded.
We can use this same model to learn new concepts.
“In order to talk to each other, we have to have words, and that’s all right. It’s a good idea to try to see the difference, and it’s a good idea to know when we are teaching the tools of sc...
“In order to talk to each other, we have to have words, and that’s all right. It’s a good idea to try to see the difference, and it’s a good idea to know when we are teaching the tools of science, such as words, and when we are teaching science itself.”
Richard Feynman
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Persuasion through storytelling
Stories are a very integral part of being persuasive.
Stories trump data when it comes to persuasion because stories are easier to understand and relate to.
What makes a story engaging
- 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.
Characteristics of persuasive stories
- 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.