Telling a Story?

Dear Reader,

Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of Story. To get what you want out of telling your story you first need to know, not just the story you're telling, but the component parts of that story, a breakdown of sorts. What is the set up, and how will you deliver the punch-line? How you'll deliver the punch-line depends, in part, on what you want the audience to see, hear and feel when you're done. Let's take a quick look at some of the purposes for telling your story (in fact any story), and feel free to add to the list.

A few uses for a story:

• Conversation starter 
• Solving a problem
• Entertain 
• Convincing others (to do or not do something)
• Selling something

Imagine dissecting a story, any story, and looking for the laugh points, emotional hits, calls to action, this is the stuff of a compelling story. When a story is fully exposed, pulled apart and looked at from many different angles something revealing happens; you're able to identify the elements, the importance of those elements individually and of course how they all fit together and their interdependencies. Believe me, it really does help to know what parts to use for what purpose. And of course when telling the whole story it's good to know where to emphasize what, and where to point the listener's attention.

Things that stories impel:

• Perseverance
• Determination
• Resolve (Firmness of Purpose)
• Perspective shift
• Realization
• Revealed something not known or understood before
• Affirms something known
• Sales

Ultimately, wouldn't it be nice to have people know you by your story? The things you've created? And if you tell your story to enough people in many different ways impacting them emotionally or calling them to action, how would you like to be known as an Ultimate Story Teller?

Please feel free to comment on this post and let me know if there's anything you need or want and I'll contact you directly.


All the Best,
Scott Evans