Brief Summary
This video provides five storytelling techniques to captivate listeners. It emphasises zooming into specific moments rather than summarising events. The techniques include setting the location, describing actions, sharing thoughts and emotions, and using dialogue. The video uses examples from John Krasinski and Sarah Willingham to illustrate these techniques.
- State the location to allow the audience to visualise the scene.
- Describe actions to create forward momentum and engage the listener.
- Share raw, unfiltered thoughts to make the story relatable.
- Show emotions through body language and expressions for a visual impact.
- Use dialogue to add interest and capture the essence of the conversation.
The video introduces storytelling as a powerful tool for engaging listeners, and promises to simplify the process by focusing on what truly matters. It uses a short anecdote from John Krasinski to illustrate the importance of zooming into specific moments rather than summarising events. Krasinski's story about being recognised as Emily Blunt's husband at customs serves as an example of effective storytelling through detailed interaction.
The first technique involves stating the location at the beginning of the story to allow the audience to visualise the scene. Examples include "sitting on my couch in my living room" or "standing in front of the conference room". The video stresses that providing too many details about the location is unnecessary; simply stating the location is enough for listeners to create their own mental image.
The second technique focuses on describing the actions taking place in the story. Instead of providing excessive context, the storyteller should concentrate on what they were doing at that specific moment, such as walking, biking, or reading. Examples include "I open my laptop and start reading a message by my manager" or "I'm at the airport waiting in line at security". Stating the actions creates forward momentum and immediately engages the listener.
The third technique involves sharing the thoughts that were going through the storyteller's mind during the crucial moment. Instead of saying "I was excited to meet my crush," the storyteller could say, "I thought, 'This will be so cool!'" The video advises against sharing thoughts that sound too professional or intellectual, and encourages the use of raw, unfiltered, and slightly neurotic thoughts to make the story more relatable.
The fourth technique emphasises the importance of conveying emotions in a visual way. Instead of simply stating an emotion, such as "I was relieved," the storyteller should show how the emotion manifested physically, such as "I leaned backward and let out this big sigh." Showing emotions through body language and expressions makes the story more vivid and engaging.
The fifth technique involves using dialogue to bring the story to life. Instead of summarising what someone said, the storyteller should quote the exact words spoken during the crucial moment. For example, instead of saying "My friend was very disappointed," the storyteller could say, "My friend looked at me and said, 'Phillip, what on Earth was that?'" The video advises using interesting and catchy dialogue rather than boring or overly formal language.
The video presents a story by Sarah Willingham, a British entrepreneur, to illustrate the five storytelling techniques in action. Willingham's story about being mistaken for a coffee maker during a meeting at Pizza Express demonstrates how location, actions, thoughts, dialogue, and emotions can be woven together to create a compelling narrative. The story highlights the power of turning a misjudgment into a moment of empowerment.
The video concludes by summarising the five foundational storytelling techniques and suggesting further exploration of more advanced techniques. It encourages viewers to check out another video for further learning on how to become a better storyteller.
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Transcript
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0:00 hey there storytelling is one of the most powerful tools to hook your listeners and keep them glued to every word you say but hey a lot of the advice that is out there make it sound way too complicated but the truth is storytelling is actually pretty simple if you know what really matters if you just give me 9 Minutes you'll discover the five storytelling techniques to tell insanely good stories but before we do that let me show you a quick example by John Kinski whom you might know from the office it's a 20 second story so really short but it's so powerful by the end of today you'll know exactly how to tell stories just like him and then I said yeah and he said says uh who are you visiting here I said my wife and he says is she an actress I said yeah he said would I know her I I don't know man her name's Emily Blunt he goes he goes
0:49 you and I went yeah and he goes you you married Emily Blunt now I go yeah and he goes this okay go did you notice what he did there he didn't just summarize the events he didn't say oh yeah back then I was at customs and the agent asked me what I was doing and I responded I was an actor and he was very surprised he doesn't do that he doesn't summarize the events instead he zoomed into the moment of the story the best stories don't just summarize events they don't stay at that helicopter level they zoom into the moment they take us into the trenches they let us be part of that physical moment the good thing is it's not that difficult I'm now going to show you five techniques that you you can use in all of your stories first technique location say where you are the best
1:36 stories start by stating the location where are you physically examples 2 weeks ago I'm sitting on my couch in my living room taking a deep breath or September 2019 I'm standing in front of the conference room ready to walk inside now why does it matter to State the location because the moment you say conference room or living room your audience will start to visualize it they're like o yes I I know a conference room and they start to visualize their version of that conference room now beginner storytellers they often do the mistake that they give too many details they're like oh in that conference room there was a big table a television and a wooden floor don't do that don't do that it doesn't matter just stay the location
2:22 as long as they can visualize it it doesn't matter all the details they have their own version of that location second technique actions what are you doing in that specific moment of the story instead of giving way too much context about all the random stuff that doesn't matter just say what are you doing in that specific moment that can be walking biking shouting reading waiting whatever it is just State the actions State the verbs examples I'm in my office I open my laptop and start reading a message by my manager or 2 weeks ago I'm at the airport waiting and lineing at security now why does it matter to State the actions because it brings in forward momentum it takes the listener right into the moment when you
3:08 do that your audience will immediately know that you won't waste their time you're straight away taking them into the most important part of the story third technique thoughts what are you thinking we as humans have thousands and thousands of thoughts every single day a lot of those thoughts are hopes dreams plans fears worries crazy thoughts now share some of those thoughts of that crucial moment of the story example instead of saying I was excited to meet my crush say I thought ah this will be so cool right finally I can see her after all that time or instead of saying I was very disappointed about that presentation say I thought oh man this is bad right everyone will think now I'm stupid I can never go back there do you
3:54 see the difference it's a tiny tweak but it makes any story more interesting but hey a common mistake is that people share thoughts that sound too professional too intellectual they say something like I thought this represents a supreme opportunity now would your thoughts actually sound like that probably not right and so what you want to do is when you share your thoughts give us the raw unfiltered thoughts give us those a little bit like ranchy juicy a little bit neurotic thoughts now that will make your story much more relatable fourth technique emotions what are you feeling the best stories they're emotional they take the listeners on this emotional journey and now with the thoughts with the previous technique you
4:40 know now one technique to make it more emotional but there's another one the simplest way is to just stay an emotion so you say something like I was disappointed I was relieved I was happy now that is pretty standard right that is what most people do but it's not ideal because it is not really visual right when you hear someone saying I was disappointed well you cannot visualize it and so the better way is to show the emotion show how it looks on the body on the face when you experience that emotion let me give you some examples instead of saying I was relieved say in that moment I lean backward and let out this big or instead of saying he was anxious say he kept tapping his pen on the on
5:26 this table and he kept glancing up to the clock every few seconds do you see the difference showing the emotion makes it much more visual it takes us into the specific moment of the story technique number five dialogue what are you hearing many of your stories will have more than one character maybe a manager your friend a coworker your dog whoever it is now what did the character say in that crucial moment of the story what were the exact words examples instead of saying my friend was very disappointed say in that moment my friend looked at me and said Phillip what on Earth was that or instead of saying my manager was very happy with my work say in that moment my
6:12 manager looked at me and said wow that was really the best presentation you've ever given now do you see the difference dialogue is such a simple tool to make any story much more interesting it is actually the tool that I use the most but I guess there's just one thing to keep in mind similar as with the thoughts share the dialogue that is a little bit more interesting a little bit more juicy if you say something like in this moment my manager said well I'm very dissatisfied with the inadequate execution of that project well that would sound super boring right instead pick much more juicy much more concise and catchy doll all right now that you know the five most important elements in storytelling let's watch a quick one
6:58 minute video to see those elements in action that story is by Sarah Willingham who's a British entrepreneur investor and CEO of nightcap now when you watch the story see how she zooms into the moment can you spot when she shares the location the actions the thoughts the dialogue and the feelings so in my mid-20s I was running Acquisitions for pizzza Express and walked into a meeting room I was 2 minutes late for the meeting and the person on the opposite side of the table the lawyer looked up and said oh thank goodness for that mine's uh white with one sugar please so I thought okay this is a moment walked around to the coffee made
7:44 him his coffee but the coffee in front of him and said would anybody else like a coffee and um nobody said anything nobody wanted one I made myself a coffee and then sat back down again opposite him and as he looked up I watched the C drain from his face as he realized this enormous assumption that he' made and it was such a beautiful moment in my career really empowering when I sat there and realized that actually this moment where I'd had impostor syndrome anyway running a meeting like this but I'd been completely misjudged by the people on the opposite side of the table was actually this incredible superpower cuz guess who walked out with the
8:30 Dale what an incredible Storyteller right today you learned the foundations you learned how to tell insanely good stories but hey there are also a few more advanced storytelling techniques out there in case you want to go deeper on this journey I would suggest to check out this next video in which you learn how to be a better Storyteller than 99% of the people see you there [Music]
