April 17, 2025
Hey there, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools to inspire others, but most of the advice that is out there makes it sound way too complicated. But the truth is storytelling is actually pretty easy if you know what really matters. In this article, I’m going to share the three steps to structure unforgettable stories.
To show you how these steps are applied, let me first share a short story from Ryan Reynolds. See if you can spot the structure that he’s using.
In our rebellious moments, I wanted to get an earring. As a kid, I thought that would be a good idea. My brother said, “You’re going to die. You’re going to show up at dinner tonight and Dad—there will be a messy stabbing death because Dad will take one of the utensils and stab you.”
I went off with one of my friends and his mom, and we went to Sears or wherever the hell you go, and she signed the consent form. I got an earring. I came home and I remember my face being so flush with blood and heat, thinking about this impending disaster that was about to happen.
I get to the dinner table. He mutters some swear word under his breath or something like “You f—ing…” something like that. And I kind of look up, and I look around, and I see that all three of my brothers had gotten an earring too, to sort of save me.
Ryan Reynolds uses a three-step story structure that I would call C-A-R, or CAR. Now, you can think of your story like a car—it takes your listeners on this ride that they won’t forget.
In the first step, you want to give some rough context. Where and when does it take place? Who’s the main character? And what does that character want?
Just remember in Ryan Reynolds’ story—what did he want? Well, he wanted to get an earring, and also he wanted to rebel a little bit against his father. The best stories start by sharing the storyteller’s goal.
So maybe you wanted to get a promotion. Maybe you wanted to attract a partner. Maybe you wanted to be admired by your friends. Share what the main character wants to achieve right at the start.
The moment you share the character’s goals, your audience will wonder, like, “Hey, is she going to make it?” They will keep listening until they know the answer. But I’d recommend keeping the context relatively short—like a few sentences. That’s usually enough. You want to move to the most important part of the story—the adversity—as quickly as possible.
Every great story has some sort of adversity or challenge. That can be a difficult decision, a physical problem, an emotional problem—any type of challenge.
In Ryan Reynolds’ story, his challenge was that he was terrified of how his father would react to the earring. The adversity is the longest and the most crucial part of any story. Describe the struggle. Show what is at stake, and really let us feel the emotions behind it.
But instead of telling the emotion, describe and show the emotion. In Ryan Reynolds’ story, for example, instead of saying,
“Oh, I was nervous,”
He said,
“I was sitting at the table, sweat dripping on my pants.”
He describes how it looks on his body and his face. Show the emotion.
Hey, for most stories, usually one challenge is enough. But if you have more time and you really want to build it up, you can think of sharing multiple challenges. But there, the key is just to start with a small challenge, then go to the next challenge, and then go to the final and biggest challenge all the way at the end of the story.
In that last step, you want to share how the adversity is overcome. What are the actions, reactions, decisions taken to overcome that problem?
Just remember in Ryan Reynolds’ story—how was the challenge overcome? Well, in that case, it was his brothers who decided to get an earring as well. And so it was his brothers who saved Ryan from the punishment of his father. Beautiful moment.
Now, I know in real life we have a problem and then we do a bunch of things to overcome that problem. For your story, I would suggest focusing on the one to two most crucial actions to overcome that problem. Otherwise, it would just get too much, too overwhelming.
Once you’ve shared those actions, let us know: how does the story turn out at the end? How has the character changed? How is the character transformed? If, for example, at the beginning they were overwhelmed, now they’re in control. If they were nervous, now they’re confident. If they were sad, now they’re happy. Show the transformation.
A great resolution leaves your audience with this sense of satisfaction, like as if they went on this journey themselves and they really saw this character grow.
You can use this CAR structure for all of your stories. But once you’ve gotten a bit more comfortable with that structure, you may also want to think of: how can I spice it up? How can I tell it in a more interesting way?
For that, you may want to check out this next article in which I share how Tony Robbins, a master storyteller, uses a five-step formula to tell his stories.
Enjoy.
P.S. Want to become a stronger communicator?
Here are two ways I can support you:
👉 Want to tell more engaging stories? Join our next Storytelling Workshop.
👉 Want to speak with confidence and clarity? Check out our Communication Skills Training.
Both are fun, practical, and designed to help you grow fast.
Are you ready to transform your storytelling skills?
Discover how your storytelling skills score and uncover useful insights to help you become a charismatic storyteller:
