Why Storytelling Is So Important (and Effective!)
Storytelling is the best way to capture people’s attention, forge personal bonds, and convey a strong message. People crave and seek out great stories almost as much as food and water. And the people who can tell the most compelling stories are able to command the most influence within their community.
Six Key Elements of Good Storytelling
1.
Capture immediate attention
Make your story stand out, grab your readers' attention. Your story needs a hook to quickly ignite curiosity.
2.
Know your audience
Leverage website analytics to identify your best prospects and their demographics. This may seem counter-intuitive, but you'll be surprised by what the data can show you.
3.
Be relatable & conversational
Touch on common human conditions. Make a connection with your audience by relating to their likes, dislikes, and even their frustration. Find common pain points. Illustrate with examples. Use simple, straightforward language & avoid jargon. Tell the story as if you were talking to a friend. Use humor (when appropriate).
4.
Keep it short & concise
In today's world, people have shorter attention spans. Keep your story short, stick to your overall message and don't get bogged down with unnecessary details.
Read & revise your story—at least 3 times.
5.
Follow a storyline
Stories have an intro, a protagonist, challenges (pain points) and how she/he found solutions, resulting in a positive outcome.
6.
Keep it real
You want to avoid coming across as disingenuous or salesy. Let the story—and its characters—speak for themselves.
The United States Government has a resource called plainlanguage.gov. plainlanguage.gov is an online resource which provides guidelines, tutorials, examples, and formal training for people who want to improve their writing (aka communication) skills.