chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in What Makes a Story Work

Re: What Makes a Story Work

yeldziasahadatu — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:43:47 -0000

An information of what makes a story work

Re: What Makes a Story Work

yeldziasahadatu — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:41:58 -0000

What makes a story works

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Akash Sharma — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:28:38 -0000

Hi Chris,

This is a really informative post and its going to help a lot of people who are blogging out there who develop a mind block easily even if they have some content in mind.

Thanks for sharing

Re: What Makes a Story Work

John Heaney — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:57:12 -0000

can't say this often enough: tell stories, don't recite facts. learn it. live it. tip @chrisbrogan

Re: What Makes a Story Work

danitaleotta — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:34:49 -0000

This post really inspired me to overhaul my writing techniques. Like stevedevane noted, I often focus too much on pushing my product or view on readers rather than taking an inclusive approach. I'll have to brainstorm on how to reward my readers..

Re: What Makes a Story Work

UPrinting — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:56:09 -0000

Thanks for the great points, Chris. Storytelling really isn't as easy as it sounds. And sadly, people don't easily pick up the sense of the story either. The storyteller should cater to both readers - those who can and those who can't pick up a story. (like what guitar said, respect the readers!)

Re: What Makes a Story Work

NeoTechie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:06:59 -0000

It makes us feel like a hero because we know it has high value
and it will touch lives.

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Scott Gould — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:39:28 -0000

"Make them feel a superhero"

Great point. I love the story of the lady who has dinner with two presidents. After dinner she comments that the first made her feel like he knew everything in the world - the second, that she knew everything in the world

Re: What Makes a Story Work

LaPrairie — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:17:01 -0000

Super article...I passed it on to our Team!

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Jamie Favreau — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 20:22:02 -0000

I agree a great story is helpful especially if it is brief.

Concise is great for an interview or for a blog post about your product.

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Guest — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:55:15 -0000

I agree, although I had expected an explanation for John le Carré's statement that "the cat sat on the mat" is not a story, while "the cat sat on the dog's mat" is...

Re: What Makes a Story Work

stevensreeves — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:20:30 -0000

Treat the readers like intelligent grown ups, challenge them to think for themselves with some brief pointers and ask them to contribute to the picture.

As a reader (rather than a writer in this instance) I couldn't agree with you more.

And as a writer I now have a set of very succinct rules to direct measure my own performance against.

Thanks :-)

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Dave Lutz — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:10:58 -0000

Storytelling is absolutely a phenomenal tool for business improvement or developing content that will go viral. Several years ago I realized storytelling was a skill I needed to improve to go to the next level of being an exceptional leader. Since then, I've done lots of reading on the topic.

Earlier this year I wrote an article about storytelling for people in the meeting & convention industry. How the Wynn Las Vegas has embraced storytelling to improve their service and culture helped inspire the article. http://tinyurl.com/nlboqs

Re: What Makes a Story Work

BlytheSprit59 — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:43:21 -0000

I like the idea of adding a question to keep the conversation going.

Open-ended stories, like cliff-hangers also can be appealing.

Re: What Makes a Story Work

graeme_harrison — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:30:51 -0000

My 2 year old son has only watched a handful of movies in his short life, Wall-E, Toy Story and Happy Feet to name a few.

But its the 40+ year old Jungle Book that captures his imagination and is the one he loves and wants to watch everyday.

Why?

Because great storytelling works no matter how old the story is, and to my son Mowgli is a superhero who dresses just like him.

Good post Chris ;)

Re: What Makes a Story Work

anthonymora — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:30:07 -0000

Great article. One thing I’d emphasize is to keep in mind your audience when telling your story. For example, if you’re talking to the media the story is everything and has to meet their needs. In that arena, it’s all about the art of effective story telling. So many people miss the mark by pitching facts and information, where what truly works is a compelling story. As you alluded to, it’s important to pitch a story that your audience can hear and relate to. If you speak to your needs, instead of their interests, you’ll lose them.
Thanks,
Anthony
Www.pryourstory.com

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Maria Reyes-McDavis — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:48:34 -0000

I love this post, particularly the parts about brevity and making it all about them, not you. Great points that could dramatically improve the "results" bloggers see when they produce content :-)

Re: What Makes a Story Work

sylkejoan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:07:20 -0000

Thank you for emphasing the art of storytelling. I feel that a lot of folks who are in charge of the corporate blogs either do not know how, or disregard the importance of, storytelling.

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Rex — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:03:53 -0000

Hi Chris - followed you since the day I joined twitter.

Always love story-telling blogs and this is a super-heroic take on the form.

May I draw your attention to another method I've identified? Its got a five-box checklist which is presented in an un-checklist-like manner, some cool examples (including Elvis on the Moon) and it takes about 3 minutes to read. What's not to like?

Its on my website so do take a look if you get time. All the best!

Re: What Makes a Story Work

steveseager — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:01:06 -0000

Chris,

You are one of my heroes. So kudos straight off the bat. (I'm English so forgive the idiom.)

However, my take on this is that it's not about making your reader feel like a super hero, but giving them something that will let them feel like a super hero when they pass it on.

It may be a little semantic, but i think it's one of your own values. If you can articulate something you can pass on, that's the key.

Was going to write more, but I think that's the key. Not helping you get it. But helping you to get others get it.

You get it? :)

Steve Seager

Re: What Makes a Story Work

jodienodes — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:54:04 -0000

Thank you so much for writing this, Chris - very timely; starting to write a project today ;)

Re: What Makes a Story Work

bajaju — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:40:38 -0000

Great Point Chris. Audience or reader is the customer of your act or piece of story. Customer always buys the stuff which satisfies their need. In story telling involvement of the listener/reader is very important and it is possible when topic and content is agreeable to them. You can bring the audience by keeping piece name attractive but you cannot make them to read it full unless content of the piece engross them. Technique of keeping your audience involved is well said in your piece.

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Elizabeth B. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:24:33 -0000

Great post Chris. Storytelling is an art. Writing so your audience is not only entertained but enriched can be tricky but it is something that can be learned with practice. An awesome book comes to mind called "Made to Stick." It teaches and exemplifies how to tell stories that will stick in the minds of the readers. You mentioned several of the same points in that book.

Re: What Makes a Story Work

Leon de Rijke — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:15:14 -0000

Good points!

Re: What Makes a Story Work

stevedevane — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:07:25 -0000

Hi Chris,

This is great advice. Too many times, I get caught up in trying to make sure I'm providing "valuable content" that I forgot that the readers will be the ones judging whether or not it's valuable.

I especially appreciate you comment about providing a solid map of where you're taking the reader. Reminds me of my dad's advice the first time I had to give a speech in grade school. He said simply, "Tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them." I've used that suggestion many times in speeches. I expect it will also work in blog post.

Thanks again for the good words.

Steve DeVane