Storytelling (Chat Thread)

[Andy Black]

Telling stories is something we could all do with getting better at, not just as business owners, but also as parents and even chatting to friends and family.



List of podcasts, books, YouTube channels, blogs, people to follow, etc:

• Let me know and I'll update this opening post.

Forum members who've written stories:

• @MJ DeMarco of course.
• @ChickenHawk writes and sells fiction on Amazon.
• @Lex DeVille seems to have done everything, including writing a childrens book he now reads to his young daughter.
• Others?
• Reply below and I'll update this list.

Related forum threads:

• I can't think of any!
• Reply below and I'll update this list.

 

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[Andy Black]

Here's something I found this morning on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1573653387383640067

View: https://twitter.com/ItsKieranDrew/status/1573653387383640067

 

[mikecarlooch]

Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson is a great book on this topic

 

[Matt Lee]

Not coming from any writing background, the 3 act model has been very useful if for me when it comes to writing a story with transformation.

An example:
There is a man who is stuck in a hole with his fellow friends.

He chooses to dig himself out of the hole after realizing that he will remain stuck just like everyone else for the rest of his life if he does not do something about it.

"Is this all there is to it he asks himself?"...

And so it begins...

...journey, process, action, conflicts...

The end is whether he succeeded or gave up due to resistance.

Massively generalized here. Once you come to internalize the 3 act model and this story of a man fighting from a bad position, you'll see it everywhere. In the TMF , the story about the 2 brothers building a pyramid can be seen through this lens.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also read either Lex's or MJ's thread on here about open loops very long ago. It's some thread on how to be a better writer. I can't seem to pinpoint the titles.

The idea is always use open loop whenever you can. This is inciting a story without ever delivering the story unless...

the viewer/audience bites.

It make everything more exciting because readers, watchers, and human in general love a complete story. It bothers them to read something that is left un finished.

Example of open loops:

1) With a single decision, the man lost all his money, wife, and kids. He was starting to stare at the abyss with a bottle of sleeping pills. It looked as if he will end it all but he didn't.(pause)

You think this is bad... As it turn out this is just the beginning.(music intensifies)

//two open loops here. One is what is the decision? The second is why is it just the beginning?

2) Like you, I struggled with self doubt. I couldn't listen to my thoughts, ideas, and dreams. Deep down, I knew I'm a quitter. Everything I've tried I've quit when it got difficult. It's so frustrating but I didn't know what to do.

Yet a few years later, I'm living the life other people could only envy.

//giving a beginning and an end, the open loop is the process and journey that resulted in the changed. The secret as Lex would call it I think.

3) You have big dreams, but I know you're scared. You're tired. Some days you don't even know if you'll pull through.

I know you don't believe you have what it takes to succeed.

But let me tell you this. (pause)

It doesn't take a genius or someone with extraordinary IQ to succeed.
// this opens a loop. The end of the loop could look something like the sentence below.

It takes having faith and being ok with being lonely when trying to make it work. The truth is...(opens another loops. WHAT TRUTH YOU DIRTY AUTHOR!!)

just some 2C

 

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[mikecarlooch]

What makes them great? - Douglas Kruger

Only 4 reviews on Amazon.. 4! Mind blown personally - great book so far

 

[Andy Black]

What makes them great? - Douglas Kruger

Only 4 reviews on Amazon.. 4! Mind blown personally - great book so far

You'll write the 5th right? ;-)

 

[S.Y.]

Ah stories. Love them!

I hate how people equate storytelling with either something like theater or to marketing. "I think therefore I am"? No. More so I tell stories therefore I am.

Stories is what makes us human. And it is how we interpret the world.

The most important gift for my son is stories. His, mine, others...

Here are the resources I go to over and over for stories in everyday life.

• Storyworthy - Matthew Dicks
• The Moth (real stories)
• Chose your story, change your life - Kindra Hall
• Stories that stick - Kindra Hall
• How to tell a story - The Moth
• Long story short - Margot Leitman
• Anything David Sedaris (specially his interviews. He tells stories after stories after stories)
• Anything Niel Gaitmen
• Andy Raskin on LinkedIn. He helps CEO craft stories and align their team around a narrative. He is killing it.

 

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[S.Y.]

I had few minutes to myself earlier, and went on YouTube to find some clip of David Sedaris.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqE6fDqlXfc



I wrote about it earlier, and it is worth bringing back again. Stories/Storytelling are one of those concepts that can mean many things. Ask it what they are to 10 people, 10 different times, and you will get 100 different definitions of storytelling and of what a story is.

And it is fine. Non-fiction storytelling is not the same as telling a personal story. Using a story in a business setting is yet another beast. Add short stories and creative fiction, and you have two other different pieces. They have something in common sure. So do panthers, lions, wildcats and cats. Commonalities among themselves, but different beasts.

I am a sucker for real and personal stories, a recounting of something meaningful that happened to someone. However small or big, give me stake, give me a genuine story and I am all for it. When I use the word stories, this is the definition. Most of the time.

I love David Sedaris's interview because he uses stories all the time. It is easy to miss, very easy. When it comes to using stories in everyday life, he is someone people can study. Watch the video? Can you sense where he uses the stories?

Many might miss it. At 1.09 he gets asked a question. He could have answered it in many different ways. But he decided to use a story. He invites you into his family. He shares with you how they are not a gun family. What could have been easy to give a dry quick answer, was an invitation to connect, subtlety, while responding.

At 3.35, he pulled another story. It could have ended with the piece of advice. Luckily, he goes on to leave listeners a STAR - a Story They can Always remember.