DEVELOP YOUR BLUEPRINT
Before you set out to craft your story, you need to design a brief. The brief will serve as your blueprint for storytelling success. For even the most seasoned storytellers, this is where it all begins.
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Let's say you have a project you are working on where you need to convince people to go along with your vision, you're going to want to tell a story that’s smart, persuasive and emotional. You want to focus on what it is you are really excited about, so you can get others excited. It’s about painting a clear and compelling picture for the problem you want to solve, of the new future you want to create.
It's all in the plan...
So you sit down to write your story, and..... You sit there! Stuck! Because it’s really hard to know where to start, what to say or how to say it. Why? Because it’s really hard to build something without a plan, you wouldn’t decide to build a house and start banging nails into bits of wood randomly, you’d start with a blueprint.
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The same goes for story telling, you will save yourself a lot of frustration and tell a way better story that truly moves people by doing just a little bit of pre-planning. First off, you’ll need a brief which is basically an action plan that clarifies who you are talking to, what they care about and what you are trying to achieve. Setting the stage for your story isn’t hard, but it’s important in that it helps you focus and deliberately design your story so it has maximum impact.
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All you need to do is answer a few key questions:
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Let’s start with a seemingly easy question, who is your audience? Most of the time you will have a general sense of who they are, but zeroing in on specifics is important. Are they members of the senior leadership team who are based around the world? is it the entire HR department, people you have know for years but have never presented to? The more specific you can be the better.
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The second question gets tougher, what does the audience care about? In other words, what is the underlying human need or needs that will be present in the room. Will you be telling your story to a bunch of new hires that will be nervous about doing well and looking capable, or are you talking to a group of managers who are desperately looking to improve sales and efficiency.
The key here is empathize with your audience, try to imagine
what’s most important to the people you are presenting to.
Don’t just stop at the first thing you think of, the more you can
empathize with their situation, the more connected you will feel
and the more compelling your story will be.
What's the big idea?
Now that you have a sense of who you will be talking to, what they care about and what you want to achieve, there is just one more question to answer.
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What’s the story really about?
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What is the one thing you want your audience to remember from your story, think of it like you are the director of a film people have already shown up to see. What do you want them to remember when they are driving home? At the end of the day, your story will be clearer and more impactful if you focus on just one idea.
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Let’s imagine you are writing a screen play for a big Hollywood block buster, you have to summarize a one hundred page script in a single sentence. Screen writers call this a log line, and when you get a good one, you get a clear idea of the story immediately. Can you guess these films from their log lines.
“After a series of shark attacks, a sheriff struggles to protect his small beach community against the bloodthirsty monster”
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“A psychologist tries to cure a young boy of a bizarre affliction - he sees dead people”
You can see how everything that happens in these movies relates back to that one single line. It doesn’t tell you the whole story, there are other characters, twists and turns and emotional challenges, but it offers a clear and memorable point.
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Three questions for testing if your Big Idea is good to go:
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Does your big idea capture a problem you’re trying to solve?
The problem might not be a blood thirsty shark, but there is probably something you are trying to change.
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Is it compelling? People should be inspired towards action after hearing it.
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Is it clear and concise? Movie log lines are just a single sentence long but they say so much.
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REMEMBER: Your sharing a vision for the future that you want
people to get on-board with, so make it easy for them to remember by staying focused. When you are tempted to add stuff or take it away, remember to ask yourself, is this supporting my big idea?
Ways to convey your story...
As you get ready to put pen to paper and craft your story, remember that there are many ways to tell it.
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Slide Deck – Decks are portable, familiar and easy to pace, so you can let your story unfold naturally. But there is no one size / style fits all slide. You’ll need to consider what style is fit for your audience. So go back to your brief and think about your audience and what they really need.
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Video – When concepts are challenging or abstract or you really need to strike an emotional chord video might be your best bet.
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Experience / Physical – If your project allows, get your audience to experience your future vision and let your audience interact with your story and build an emotional bond.
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Digital Interactive – Let your audience decide what happens next, when you have lots of layers of information to share and some audiences want more information than others this is a great way to go. Use interactive prototypes and let your audience explore your story the way they want.
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REMEMBER: However you deliver your story to the world, feedback can help you improve your story to make it stronger each time you tell it!
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Why not read Storytelling Prototypes >