The #1 Killer Of Storytelling Content
It didn’t take more than 10 seconds for my journalism professor to let out an audible yawn if our stories bored him.
It was all he needed to hear to know if rest was worth his time.
He listened for the same two things your audience wants to know at the start of a story:
What’s happening?
Why does it matter?
In storytelling, these two elements are called:
Context
Stakes
The first sets up the second.
Together they give your audience a compelling reason to read until the end, where the message is shared. Context is where most storytelling goes awry.
People spend too much time on the set up.
Often in an attempt to be descriptive. It’s good advice to show not tell, but too much detail sucks the momentum from the story.
A lot of storytelling content marketing advice you see online is borrowed from the literary world.
But storytelling marketing is not the same as storytelling in books or movies.
The hero's journey is far too long and overly descriptive prose distracts.
Great storytelling marketing has zippy pacing.
It’s a lot to ask from a few sentences.
They have to be as emotionally resonant as they are informative to hit that sweet spot at the intersection of engaging and helpful.
Context done right does both, and makes you better at storytelling marketing than most.
Context is setting. The who, what, where, and when of your story.
Here’s an example of concise context from a viral story I shared this year.
“In January, my highest paying client ghosted me.”
Pay attention to what's not being said as much as what is.
Who: The character (implied "I") and their highest paying client.
What: The client "ghosted" the character. Ghosted is one emotionally charged word that describes what’s happening without a long explanation. It implies all communication ceased without explanation. When I say ghosted, you feel it. I don’t need extra words.
Where: Not explicitly stated, but “client” implies it took place in the context of a business. This matters because business owners are the audience, they can imagine this nightmare moment, even if it never happened to them.
When: January. Specific locations, dates, and times add to the credibility of the story. This detail makes it trustworthy so readers listen to what you're saying instead of questioning it.
Long is not the same as descriptive. Three sentences or less is often enough for the context to do its job: Set up the stakes.
Stakes are the consequences of what’s happening in the context.
It answers the question: Why does this matter?
And raises the question: What happens?
To continue the example, 'If I didn’t figure out how to bring in revenue, the business wouldn't survive the winter.”
In this sentence we realize the real problem isn’t the client ghosting, it’s revenue. I don’t need to talk about how long I waited for the invoice to be paid. I didn’t need to say that the client never did anything like this before. I just cut to why it mattered what I did next.
The goal is to keep the story moving so people get to the bigger takeaway.
Stakes can be used as a filter to save you from overthinking what details to include. If the detail doesn’t directly relate to the stakes, it can be cut.
Brevity is your friend in sales and social media storytelling.
Because it’s not just grabbing attention, it’s focusing attention on the message you want to convey.
I go into this in actionable detail on the Unconventional Leaders podcast.
We discuss:
Identifying stories worth reading
The #1 killer of good stories
Why the hero’s journey is 💩 for social media storytelling, and what to do instead.
Give it a listen here, and let me know what story ideas it inspires.
Thanks for reading,
Cyndi
P.S. If you’re tired of hearing how great storytelling is but not finding resources on how to do it in your real-life marketing, join the StoryCraft course waitlist.
This storytelling course is all about practical short-form storytelling frameworks to help you write stories for social media and newsletters. Sign up for early access and introductory pricing.
