When I was a child, I loved to hear stories.
As I grew up, I started reading story books.
As I grew older, story books took a back seat and were replaced by school and later college books.
And then the pandemic happened.
I started reading all those books which lied idle on my bookshelf. As I read more books, I realized that all books are not to be read. Some have to be schemed through or downright rejected.
Here is the thing. You need not force yourself to read a book, if you don’t like it.
If I read a lot of business books in 2020, I moved on to to self help and business operations related books in 2021. And then in 2022, I read a lot of memoirs and autobiographies.
I realized one thing, the best stories are sticky and they are remembered.
And that’s the beauty of storytelling.
You have stories inside you but you don’t tell them.
There are many reasons but two most important are:
1. Not having the confidence to write in public
2. Lacking a framework and hence you stop writing after not getting enough traction.
Here is a simple guide on storytelling.
Create a character (hero)
The hero has a problem
You enter as a guide in the story.
You show the path on why, how, what the hero needs to do to reach his goal.
You also show him if he doesn’t follow these methods – problem will persist or he will fail
And if he follows the path what a bright future lies ahead
Finally the hero wins
This 7 step process can be further simplified by following another 3 step process.
Current situation > Twist > Beautiful world
I am a frequent road traveler. And one of the most boring moments on Indian roads used to be these toll booths where I used to lose all momentum due to the serpentine lines approaching these booths.
Enter Fastag – a device that employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly while the vehicle is in motion.
Now I breeze through these toll booths and my road travels are more enjoyable.
So the “current situation” was where manual counters used to collect the toll taxes which led to big lines and created a jam like situation. Here “I” am the hero.
Government entered as a guide and created a product FASTag which solved my problem. (Twist)
And now I am happy again travelling on the Indian roads. (Beautiful world).
Each of your customer engagements has a story.
Each of your projects has a story.
Everyday we create stories and see stories around us.
By formatting them using the above framework, you can create your own story too.
Most of the time you fail to note down these happenings. And by the time the next day arrives, you forget the story. Some new story happens and the old story is lost somewhere in your brain.
That’s why the best thing to do is to note down these happenings on a digital notepad or Notion app. You can also have a WhatsApp group with yourself and note the points there.
Then when you have time to write them in a storytelling framework, you have your notes to fall back upon.
Not all stories will “stick” but by following the process, many will and you will be able to create your own brand that’s memorable and “sticky”.
Do you struggle in telling your stories?
