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About this lesson
Successful stories resonate when they have a clear message and a setting that turns the abstract into something relatable.
Quick reference
The Real Reason We Tell Stories
Why do we tell stories in presentations? Not to entertain — but to make our message visual, memorable, and relatable. This lesson introduces the first essential elements of effective storytelling and explains how story supports message.
Start With the Message
- Before crafting a story, know the message you’re trying to communicate.
- A strong message is usually short: one subject, one verb, one object.
- Stories exist to bring that message to life — not the other way around.
- Without a clear message, a story might feel aimless or irrelevant.
Stories Make Your Message Stick
- A message alone can be abstract or forgettable.
- A story turns a message into something visual and concrete.
- Stories help audiences understand and remember your point — long after the presentation ends.
Always Set the Scene
- Describe the setting clearly: time, place, and physical environment.
- The goal isn’t that people remember every detail, but that they can visualize the situation.
- Visual elements create "hooks" in your audience’s memory.
- Without a setting, your story stays in the abstract — hard to follow and easy to forget.
Don't Skimp on Detail
- Amateur storytellers often rush through or skip details to be concise.
- That may save time, but it weakens the impact of your story.
- Take the time to describe how things looked, sounded, or felt.
- Slowing down makes the story more immersive and your message more powerful.
- 00:04 In this section, I really want to break down for you the specific elements you need in your stories.
- 00:10 Now, the good news is you don't have to have every single element, but the more you're aware of elements that can make up great stories, the more you can use them and the richer and more thorough your stories can be.
- 00:25 So let's dive right into what it takes to create stories.
- 00:30 Now, this first element I'm going to mention to you is going to sound a little bit odd, but bear with me.
- 00:37 The first person thing, conflict, emotion, I want you to think about when it comes to creating stories, your message.
- 00:47 That's right.
- 00:47 Before we even worry about all these story elements, I need you to step back for a moment and ask yourself, why are we really here?
- 00:55 We're not here to be professional storytellers.
- 00:58 We're here to communicate messages for business, for civic life, for some professional reason.
- 01:04 So a message is a simple idea, something you can say in one sentence, typically one subject, 1 verb, one object.
- 01:15 But a message can be abstract.
- 01:17 A message isn't necessarily memorable.
- 01:20 It's not necessarily understandable or relatable.
- 01:24 It's not something visual.
- 01:26 This is where the story comes in.
- 01:30 But I do want you to realize if you just get up and start telling people stories, some might find it interesting or entertaining, but others are like, where's this person going here?
- 01:40 Why is TJ wasting my time?
- 01:42 So you need to start off, I believe, with a clear cut message in your mind.
- 01:50 Then you can figure out what story will make that message come alive.
- 01:56 It's critical that you describe the setting of your story.
- 02:00 People in your audience need to see where you were, where the characters were.
- 02:06 It removes the whole concept from the abstract level to the visual level.
- 02:12 It's not important that your audience remember every aspect of the setting.
- 02:17 It is important that it slows down the onslaught of new facts and it creates little visual hooks for your audience.
- 02:25 One of the stories I'll tell you about later on in this course is the time when I was on a talk radio show and the host pulled a gun on me.
- 02:34 Now, I don't want to spill the beans on that yet, but I do take time to describe the setting.
- 02:39 I'm in Florida.
- 02:40 It's a talk radio show.
- 02:42 It's talk radio studio.
- 02:44 I'm sitting very low in this chair.
- 02:47 The host is staring down at me, leaning over.
- 02:51 I take the time to describe the setting so you can visualize it.
- 02:56 This is critically important when you're telling a story.
- 02:59 Amateur storytellers always leave out the details.
- 03:04 They just describe things in the quickest, fastest, simplest way.
- 03:09 Thinking, Oh well, I'm getting through it faster.
- 03:11 I'm being concise, yet you're being concise.
- 03:15 What good is that?
- 03:16 Your goal is to communicate messages and to get people to remember your stories so they can act on your messages.
- 03:25 So don't skimp on the details of your setting.
- 03:29 It's very, very important in really making your story take hold.
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