Every story has a five second moment where the real change / magic happens

Change is universal. Talking about change is the best way to increase the universal appeal of a story

The story you are telling should be a slightly upscale version of a dinner story

You can’t tell someone else’s story. One of the key parts of story telling is being vulnerable about yourself.

Stakes are a key part of any story, it keeps an audience engaged / interesting. You can start the story with something intriguing. A police chase, etc. There should be an elephant at the beginning of the story. The audience should be worried about something. It doesn’t have to be what the story is about.

You can start with a backpack—let the audience in on your hopes and dreams so they can hope for you

You can offer breadcrumbs to offer a small insight into what is happening

You can do the hourglass which is where you slow down right before the climax and prolong the audience on the edge of their seats

You can use a crystal ball where you plan the idea of some hypothetical future

The ending of a story has to be inevitable and a surprise all at the same time

Stakes should build consistently throughout a story

People don’t remember platitudes, or facts, or numbers—people remember stories

You should always reveal something about yourself where possible, seem like a real person. That helps people connect with you.

People want to connect with you and then be offered something of value

There is a personal inventory of things that could be offered up in a given interaction that create surface area for conneciton

Four ways to keep people listening: stakes, surprise, suspense, humor

Nostalgia is almost inherently funny

Tell stories that create positive connection between your company and things in the world and you have infinite free advertising

You don’t have to match content to content, you can match themes to themes. Talk about getting apples instead of tubes. You can match theme, meaning, and message.