April 15, 2024
I’ve analyzed 638 stories to understand how to master the art of storytelling.
The best stories have 4 core elements: T.A.C.O —> TACO.
Think of your stories like a taco. It’s different elements coming together to create something super yummy, making your listeners crave more.
Let’s go!
Quickly think of a childhood memory. It can be any memory that pops into your mind.
Got something? How old were you at that time? What did you feel at that moment?
Why do you think you remember that moment?
It’s because of the emotions you felt at that moment. These can be pleasurable (e.g., happy, excited) or painful emotions (e.g., fear, sadness). Compare that with how much you remember from your meeting a week ago. You probably forgot 99 percent of that meeting.
If you want to connect to your listeners and be remembered in any way, you’ve got to tell a story that touches them emotionally.
How can you make your story more touching?
Here are two strategies:
Technique #1: Share the Goals
I want you to quickly remember the last time you watched Star Wars.
In Star Wars, you have the bad guys, the Stormtroopers, right?
In every single Star Wars movie, Stormtroopers are just slaughtered.
For those who watched Star Wars (but even for the people who haven’t watched it): How do you feel when Stormtroopers are killed?
NOTHING!
Because you don’t know them. They’re faceless, nameless creatures we don’t know anything about. When they die, we don’t care.
The better way is to bring your character to life.
Share your character’s goals.
What does your main character want to achieve?
But don’t just share any shallow goals, share emotional goals.
Examples:
Make your audience cheer for your character.
Technique #2: Share the thoughts
Another powerful technique to make your stories more touching is to share the character’s thoughts during the crucial moments of the story. We all have thousands of thoughts every day. A lot of these thoughts are anxious thoughts, fear, worries, dreams, or hopes. Share some of these thoughts.
What does the character think in the crucial moment of the story?
Examples:
Look. Our thoughts are usually not very intellectual. Give your listeners your raw, unfiltered thoughts.
So, keep in mind:
Don’t be a stormtrooper.
Okay, onto the next element. I’ve seen some very average stories land incredibly well, only because of this element.
Imagine you live in the countryside and every day you drive your car to work. Along the way, you pass plenty of fields with cows grazing. You don’t even notice them. You’re just on autopilot. But one day, something crazy happens. On that same route, you spot a pink cow.
“Wow,” you say. “That’s crazy. I’ve never seen a pink cow in my life.” You arrive at work and tell everyone what you’ve just seen. You remember that moment years later.
This is unusual, this is attention-grabbing.
How can make your stories more surprising, more attention-grabbing?
Here are two techniques:
Technique #1: Anticipation Hook
One simple way to grab your listener’s attention is by using an anticipation hook. An anticipation hook is a short sentence you say right at the start of your story to get your listeners excited about what is to come.
Examples:
Do you see?
An anticipation hook gets your listeners excited about what is to come. It sells your story.
My only recommendation is to use these anticipation hooks sparingly.
If you frame every story as the “craziest” or “most interesting” experience, it will undermine your credibility.
Technique #2: Pattern Interrupt
Another technique that grabs your listener’s attention is to use a pattern interrupt.
We as humans have very clear ideas about what’s normal. This includes how people should behave, what actions they should take, and what results they should expect.
A pattern interrupt breaks that expectation by sharing an unusual action, event, or reaction.
Examples:
Do you see?
These statements are attention-grabbing, making the listener curious for more.
So, try to add anything that is a bit unusual, something that your listeners didn’t see coming.
What’s the pink cow in your story?
Let’s now move into the element that 99% of the stories get wrong.
Most stories are too long and too complex.
They go into too many unnecessary details.
Sure, if you’re sharing your life story at a TED talk, you can take a bit more time.
But if it’s just a normal story you share at work or in front of your friends, try to keep it between 1 and 3 minutes.
Otherwise, you risk losing people.
So, how can you shorten your story and eliminate any unnecessary details?
Here are two techniques:
Technique #1: Give less context
A lot of people give way too much context. They get lost in the details of what they had for breakfast, what their company does, or what responsibilities they have.
The better way is to focus the context on the essentials: The “Who, where, when, and what.”
So who’s the main character, where are they, when does it take place, and what does the character want.
That’s enough for the context.
You want to spend as little time as possible on context so that you can move to the most important part of the story, the challenge, as quickly as possible.
Ask yourself: Is this context needed for the story to make sense? If not, cut it.
Technique #2: Eliminate side characters
Often, our stories involve multiple people, such as your boss, a friend, or the taxi driver. Unless these characters have a crucial role in the story, cut them out. I know… it’s harsh, and you want to be inclusive. But any extra character brings in additional friction and makes it tougher for the audience to follow. You don’t want anyone to think, “Wait. Who’s Mary now?”
Ask yourself: Is this character essential to the story? If not, cut them.
Now, onto the last and most important element of great storytelling.
The best stories are observable or visual.
They “transport” their listeners into the story’s world.
They make their listeners see the images in their head, feel the emotions, and experience the story as if it was happening to them.
Here’s how you can make it more observable.
How can you take your listener into the visual moment?
Technique #1: Show the emotions
Emotions are very important in storytelling.
But the problem is that most people tell the emotion.
They say something like “She’s happy, sad, disappointed, nervous,” etc.
Words like these aren’t very visual.
We can’t picture what it looks like to be “disappointed” or “proud.” It’s kind of abstract.
Instead of telling the emotion, show the emotion.
How does the body or face change when experiencing the emotion of the story?
Examples:
What words can you use to describe the emotions?
Just ask yourself:
How do I react physically when I experience a certain emotion? What happens to my body or face when I’m sad, nervous, happy, etc.?
Or, alternatively, think how does my friend, mother, or partner physically react when experiencing a certain emotion.
Technique #2: Share the dialogue
Often your stories have more than one character. Your manager, a friend, or your partner.
To make these stories more interesting, you can start to share some of the dialogue of that story. What are the exact words that one of the characters said in a crucial moment of the story?
Don’t worry. It does not have to be a full-blown conversation.
It can be as short as one sentence — one exclamation that reveals a key piece of information.
For example:
See the difference? It makes the story immediately more real, more visual.
But hey, what if you can’t remember the exact words that were used in specific situations?
Here you have some creative freedom here.
Think what could have been said in the moment. What are the words that could have been used in this crucial moment of the story?
Try to use words that are sharp and trigger an emotional response.
These were the 4 most important elements to master the art of storytelling: touching, attention-grabbing, concise, and observable or TACO.
If you include even just one of these elements, your stories will be in better shape than most stories out there.
The best stories also follow a clear structure. Not sure what structure to use? Check out this next article in which I share the 1 Storytelling Structure I Use For 99% Of My Stories.
Enjoy!
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