Storyworthy

1. Find Your Story: Everyday Moments Can Be Extraordinary

"There are meaningful, life-changing moments happening in your life all the time. That dander in the wind will blow by you for the rest of your life unless you learn to see it, capture it, hold on to it, and find a way to keep it in your heart forever."

Homework for Life. This simple yet powerful exercise involves reflecting on each day and asking yourself: "If I had to tell a story from today, what would it be?" Write down a brief snippet of the most storyworthy moment, even if it seems insignificant. This practice helps you:

• Develop a storytelling lens to see the extraordinary in everyday life
• Build a vast collection of potential stories
• Slow down time and make your life feel more expansive

By consistently doing this exercise, you'll discover that your life is filled with meaningful moments that can become compelling stories. These small, often overlooked experiences are often the most relatable and touching for audiences.

2. Craft Your Story: The Five-Second Moment is Key

"All great stories — regardless of length or depth or tone — tell the story of a five-second moment in a person's life, and the purpose of the story is to bring that moment to the greatest clarity possible."

Identify transformation. The five-second moment is a brief instance of change, realization, or transformation that forms the heart of your story. To craft an effective story:

• Find the moment when something fundamentally changes
• Start your story at the opposite of this moment to create an arc
• Structure everything else to serve and highlight this crucial moment

Examples of five-second moments:

• Realizing you're not alone in the world
• Discovering a hidden truth about yourself or others
• Making a life-altering decision

Remember, even in "big" stories (like surviving a car crash), the most impactful moment is often small and deeply human (like friends showing up at the hospital when family doesn't).

3. Engage Your Audience: Use Stakes to Create Suspense

"Stakes are the reason audiences listen and continue to listen to a story. Stakes answer questions like: What does the storyteller want or need? What is at peril? What is the storyteller fighting for or against? What will happen next? How is this story going to turn out?"

Five strategies for raising stakes:

1. The Elephant: Clearly state the need, want, problem, or mystery early on
2. Backpacks: Load the audience with your hopes and fears before an event
3. Breadcrumbs: Hint at future events to keep the audience guessing
4. Hourglasses: Slow down at crucial moments to build anticipation
5. Crystal Balls: Make false predictions to create wonder about outcomes

By employing these techniques, you create a sense of urgency and make the audience invested in the outcome. This keeps them engaged and wanting to hear more, even in stories that might not seem inherently exciting.

4. Build Authenticity: Strategic Lies in True Storytelling

"As storytellers, we only lie for the benefit of our audience. We never lie for our own personal gain. We don't manipulate the truth, alter the fabric of reality, or shift time and space for our own benefit."

Five permissible lies:

1. Omission: Leave out unnecessary details or characters
2. Compression: Push time and space together for clarity
3. Assumption: Make reasonable guesses about forgotten details
4. Progression: Change the order of events for better emotional impact
5. Conflation: Compress emotional transformation into a smaller timeframe

These "lies" are not about fabrication, but about crafting a more effective narrative. They help:

• Streamline the story
• Enhance clarity and impact
• Create a more satisfying emotional journey for the audience

Always remember: the goal is to serve the story and the audience, not to make yourself look better or change the fundamental truth of what happened.

5. Create a Mental Movie: Use Present Tense and Vivid Details

"In its best form, storytelling is time travel. If I am doing my job well and telling an excellent story, you may, for just a moment, forget that you exist in the present time and space and travel back to the year and location that I am describing."

Paint a vivid picture. To create a cinematic experience in the minds of your audience:

• Use present tense to create immediacy
• Provide specific physical locations for every moment
• Include sensory details to make the scene come alive
• Avoid anachronisms and audience acknowledgments that break the illusion

Tips for maintaining the "time travel bubble":

• Don't ask rhetorical questions
• Avoid props
• Downplay your physical presence (e.g., wear nondescript clothing)

By immersing the audience in the world of your story, you make it more engaging and memorable. They should feel as if they're experiencing the events alongside you, rather than just listening to a recounting.

6. Elicit Emotion: Surprise is the Key to Making People Cry

"When it comes to storytelling, I believe that surprise is the only way to elicit an emotional reaction from your audience. Whether it's laughter, tears, anger, sadness, outrage, or any other emotional response, the key is surprise."

Create contrast. To generate surprise and emotional impact:

• Set up expectations, then subvert them
• Hide critical information, then reveal it at the right moment
• Use humor to camouflage important details
• Create contrast between lighter moments and heavier ones

Techniques for preserving surprise:

• Avoid thesis statements that give away the ending
• Use stakes to heighten anticipation
• Carefully choose where to place important information in your story

Remember, the goal isn't just to make people cry or laugh, but to take them on an emotional journey. The most powerful stories often mix humor and heartbreak, creating a richer, more nuanced experience for the audience.

7. Perfect Your Delivery: Choose Words Carefully and Avoid Distractions

"The words you choose will in part determine how your audience perceives you. It will impact the opinions that they form about you."

Mindful word choice. Consider these guidelines when crafting and delivering your story:

Profanity:

• Use sparingly, if at all
• Only when it's the absolute best word choice or for authentic dialogue

Vulgarity:

• Avoid graphic details that might repulse the audience
• Use euphemisms and humor to handle sensitive topics

Names and references:

• Change names to protect privacy when necessary
• Avoid celebrity comparisons, which can alienate or distract

Accents:

• Generally avoid imitating accents, especially of other cultures
• Exception: You can imitate accents of parents/grandparents or your own region

By being thoughtful about your language and delivery, you maintain credibility and keep the focus on your story rather than on potentially distracting or offensive elements. This helps ensure that your message resonates with the widest possible audience.

Last updated: January 22, 2025