Effective Storytelling Step by Step (2020 edition): Captivate, Engage, and Influence your Audience by GOAZ O. G

Author:GOAZ, O. G. [GOAZ, O. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: POPRITE
Published: 2020-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

12 Narrative Seasoning

B efore I discuss these “narrative spices,” I would like to throw at you one of the questions I almost invariably get in my lectures and workshops on strategic storytelling and which has probably been troubling you as well, buzzing somewhere at the back of your mind.

Where do you find stories, for Pete’s sake?

Well, you’re right, it’s a million-dollar question.

Even if you deeply internalize the guidelines for effective storytelling that I have presented here, if you follow Labov’s roadmap, if you incorporate all the elements discussed by McKee and implement Aristotle’s directives, even if you master the use of the seasoning that I am about to describe –

Where the hell do stories come from?

Unlike babies, stories are not delivered by storks.

But you don’t need to lounge around waiting for inspiration. I will also not implore you to think out of the box, to use your imagination, or to be creative, though if you are capable of any of these feats – great! They can come in handy. Instead, I will tell you what I usually tell anyone who asks me this question:

Don’t invent; find !

Think of your life as an arsenal of stories, and you will realize that the trick is not to invent stories but to choose points from your life that are worth telling about.

Let me explain – through a story, of course.

In one lecture that I gave to a group of managers, someone I knew was in the audience. In the beginning, he seemed rather pleased that he and the lecturer were on friendly terms. However, when I told my audience that stories were not to be invented but rather found, I noticed that he made a skeptical face.

After the lecture, I came up to him and asked about the reason for his apparent incredulity. He looked down his nose at me and said: “What do you take me for, Osnat? Telling us to find and not to invent! In your life, something is always happening – everyone knows that. Do you think that we are all like that?”

I looked him straight in the eye and retorted without a moment’s hesitation…

That he was right. That my life is really like a movie, and I would beat the bejeezus out of the director if I should ever manage to lay my hands on him!

“But the truth is,” I went on – and quoted the famous American radio broadcaster Ira Glass, “Great stories happen to those who can tell them.”

Why am I telling you all that?

Because the most appealing spice in our stories is precisely that we find rather than invent them. It is a seasoning that includes a little bit of everything. If you have this seasoning, you won’t need to add anything else, except maybe salt.

Authenticity

Authenticity is effortless if your story is not a replica, because it is an original product. Moreover, authenticity is expressed not only in what you have to say but in the way you say it.

Simply put, do not copy others.

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