What is the One Thing Good Stories Do?
What do you wish your story would do more than anything?
For many people, they wish that someone (your audience) would make a decision (to attend their show, buy their product, donate to their cause).
There is a tendency to want to create one story that will accomplish it all.
In reality, any one story, be it a video, blog post, website page, podcast, or social post is just one piece of a bigger story.
THINK OF EACH STORY AS PART OF A LARGER CONVERSATION.
And the story you tell at any one point in time depends on where your audience is in the process of getting to know you.
For an artist, when people first encounter your work you may share what inspired you. If you are speaking to a curator, you may want to share more details about your process and influences.
For a solopreneur, when people first encounter your work you may talk about the problem you are solving and the benefits that enables. Once someone wants to learn more, you may share details about your solution and how they can work with you.
EACH STORY IS AN INVITATION TO LEARN MORE.
The goal of any one story is not to convince someone to go from 0-100, it is to open a door.
Think of the last time you purchased a book. Even if you heard a recommendation, if you are like most people, you didn’t purchase the book immediately. There are intermediate steps between learning of a book and purchasing it.
You read the book summary. Maybe you read customer reviews or watch a review on YouTube. You check the price and maybe assess whether you want to download it from Audible or purchase it for your Kindle.
Decisions generally involve several layers of inquiry.
This should be comforting. It means there is less weight on any one story or one piece of content created.
It also illustrates that decisions involve factors that you do not control – other reviews, reading habits, recommendations.
The point is, not to get stuck trying to make one story explain everything you want to say to your audience.
YOU NEED TO FOCUS.
It is important to focus on what you want to say (your one idea) and why you want to say it.
Knowing why you are sharing a story means you first, understand the purpose of your story and second, you know the knowledge and feelings you want your audience to walk away with.
Yet, in the rush to produce more and more content, people often don’t take the time to understand the purpose of the story they want to tell.
Even a few moments of reflecting on your goals can help you craft a more impactful story.
A FEW GUIDELINES TO CLARIFY THE GOAL OF YOUR STORY:
Start by thinking of what your audience understands and feels now.
Think about what you want them to understand and feel after hearing your story.
How can you leave them curious to continue the conversation?
It might be intimidating to think of your reason for each communication you put out. If your goals are fuzzy, you don’t have to fear not meeting your objective.
But if your goal is clear you have a better chance of communicating and learning if you need to make adjustments going forward. You need to put your story out there to test if it resonates.
Some of the best videos were created only after the story had been tested over and over in other formats. Blogs. In-person conversations. Conference talks and panels. The Story of Stuff was one of these (and it is worth checking out if you haven’t seen it already).
THINK OF YOUR STORY IN TERMS OF YOUR AUDIENCE.
The goal of any story is to get the viewer/listener/reader to see the world differently at the end of the story.
Your story doesn’t need to convince someone, it needs to open a door. But there will be many doors, some smaller and some bigger. Use each story you tell as an invitation for your audience to learn more.