How to Tell Stories

• Make someone else the hero, not yourself. Start with characters, put them in an emotion-provoking conflict, then provide them with a conclusion. It’s the classic hero’s journey or quest. Characters with warts and complexities help your audience identify with them. Communicate their needs and desires. Inject conflict by putting obstacles in their path. Compelling stories often compel the hero to choose between two goods or two evils. Stories can have positive or negative endings, which are more effective for teaching. Your conclusion should transfer wisdom. If you have a negative ending, explore ways it could have been avoided. Be sure to let your emotions shine through and plan your emotional arc. Every key point should be delivered with a powerful one-two punch of story and fact. To many facts can be deadly.

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