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 makes 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. 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, “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 said, “I don’t know, man. Her name’s Emily Blunt.” He goes, “You?” And I went, “Yeah.” And he goes, “You… you married Emily Blunt?” And 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.
Now, here are five techniques that you can use in all of your stories.
First Technique: Location
Say where you are.
The best stories start by stating the location.
Where are you physically?
Examples:
- Two weeks ago, I’m sitting on my couch in my living room, taking a deep breath.
- 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, “Oh yes, I know a conference room.” And they start to visualize their version of that conference room.
Now, beginner storytellers often make the mistake of giving too many details.
They say:
“Oh, in that conference room, there was a big table, a television, and a wooden floor.”
Don’t do that. It doesn’t matter.
Just state the location.
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 you are doing in that specific moment.
It could 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.
- Two weeks ago, I’m at the airport, waiting and lining up 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 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.
Examples:
- 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.’ “
- 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 see the difference?
It’s a tiny tweak, but it makes any story more interesting.
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?
So what you want to do is, when sharing thoughts, give the raw, unfiltered ones. Give those a little bit like ranchy, juicy, a little bit neurotic thoughts.
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.
Now, with the thoughts (from the previous technique), you know one technique to make it more emotional.
But there’s another one.
The simplest way is to just state an emotion.
- “I was disappointed.”
- “I was relieved.”
- “I was happy.”
Now, that is pretty standard, right? But it’s not ideal, because it is not really visual.
A better way is to show the emotion.
Examples:
- Instead of saying, “I was relieved,” say:
“In that moment, I leaned backward and let out this big sigh.”
- Instead of saying, “He was anxious,” say:
“He kept tapping his pen on the table and kept glancing up at 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.
Fifth Technique: Dialogue
What are you hearing?
Many of your stories will have more than one character—maybe a manager, a friend, a coworker, a dog—whoever it is.
Now, what did the character say in that crucial moment of the story?
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?!’ “
- Instead of saying, “My manager was very happy with my work,” say:
“In that moment, my manager looked at me and said, ‘Wow! That was really the best presentation you’ve ever given!’ “
Do you see the difference?
This is how to tell insanely good stories.
Now, start practicing and applying these techniques right away.
