2d • General discussion
Storytelling
Here are seven storytelling techniques you could use on a podcast, with examples.
- Open loops: An unfinished thought that makes people need the ending.
"Last year I made a decision that cost my company $50,000. It turned out to be the best investment I ever made."
You don't say what the decision was. Not yet.
2. Curiosity gap: The space between what someone knows and what they want to know.
"I spent 10 years at Forbes. The biggest lesson had nothing to do with media."
Now everyone wants to know what it was about.
3. Relatable characters: People connect to people, not concepts.
Weak: "Our marketing strategy wasn't working."
Strong: "Mike was the VP of Marketing. Every Monday he walked into the leadership meeting, sweating through his white dress shirt, with a new dashboard and a growing sense of panic."
Now you can picture Mike.
4. Emotional contrast: The swing is the story.
"At 8 a.m. I was convinced my business was finished. By 5 p.m. we'd landed the biggest client in company history."
Bigger swing, better story.
5. Narrative tension: Uncertainty pulls people forward.
"We had one week of cash left. Payroll was due Friday. And our biggest customer still hadn't paid."
You want to know what happens.
6. Specific details: Specificity feels true.
Weak: "I was nervous."
Strong: "I refreshed my inbox 27 times, by the time the reporter wrote back, I had finished off an entire box of Cheez-Its."
"27" does more work than "very."
7. Metaphor: It makes an unfamiliar idea click.
“AI is like a brilliant intern with a photographic memory and zero common sense. Give it directions to make you cheesecake, and it will hand you a block of parmesan with chocolate frosting."
The strongest stories run several of these at once.
"Two weeks after being laid off from Forbes, I was sitting at my kitchen table staring at a spreadsheet. I had exactly 94 days of runway before I'd need another job. What happened next changed how I think about building a business."
That's a relatable character, specific details (kitchen table, 94 days), emotional contrast, tension, an open loop, and a curiosity gap. Six techniques, three sentences.
Much better than just saying:
"I learned an important lesson about entrepreneurship."
Now it's your turn, give your own example from something that happened in your life. Whoever has the best one will win a prize! Bonus points for using more than one technique.
P.S Our next virtual event will be a networking meets storytelling session!
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Storytelling
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