The Only Thing That Matters in a Story

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Storytelling has been making its way through the business world in the past decade.

In marketing, in communications, in every facet of the professional realm, we hear about using story to convey our ideas. While there are many frameworks out there, it doesn’t have to be complicated.

The frameworks for storytelling are plenty:

1. The Rags-to-Riches framework

2. The Big Idea framework

3. The Story Cycle framework

4. The Hero’s Journey framework

5. The Pixar’s Once upon a time framework

6. The Mountain framework

7. The Nested Loops framework

8. The In Medias Res framework

9. The Converging Ideas framework

10. The Petal Structure framework

11. The False Start framework

Wow. That’s a lot of frameworks. Maybe you want to spend the time to learn every one of them and figure out which one to use when, but maybe you don’t.

If you do, just google them and find out more! But if you don’t read on…

Storytelling can be simple

The simplest story can be conveyed in a few words. Six word stories do just that:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

He got diagnosed, I got married

Together, they whispered, only one jumped

Why do these simple stories work? They make you feel something. You want to find out the meaning behind those words. Your brain almost immediately concocts an entire story to make that statement true.

But how these simple stories do that? It introduces a gap in the mind. How? Why? When? A gap is what’s between an expectation and a result. Your mind can’t help itself even if it tried…

We are meaning making machines

The human mind is made to fill gaps. Its basic function is to make meaning from the data it receives. A simple example of this is how the mind fills the gap of our literal blind spot or the way it tries to make out animals in the clouds or faces on the surface of Mars!

Image courtesy of https://www.smithsonianmag.com/

By introducing gaps in your narrative, you move the audience to engage, to lean forward. This is inevitable because that’s how the human mind works. It wants to see patterns, it wants to make meaning out of data. And that’s how you get your audience to engage, introduce a gap.

The power of the gap

By introducing a gap, your brain just can’t help but want to close it. Why do you think you spend hours everyday consuming reels and videos? Gaps are extremely evident in today’s “viral” videos and social media posts:

After reading 100 books on stories, this is the ONE thing that matters

The three things I changed to go from breaking even to 6 digit profit

The 5 health foods no one is talking about

This is truly the only thing you need in your arsenal when telling a story. Sure, does it help to have a storyline, characters, inciting incidents, showdowns, resolutions? Of course! But when all else is getting complicated, just focus on introducing gaps at every stage.

Our healthcare experience is terrible, and it’s a complicated mess

But we think we’ve cracked the puzzle and it doesn’t take millions of dollars

In fact, it gives back millions. Let us show you how…

I hit the send button and I realized I made a grave mistake

Sweat beaded on my forehead and my hairs stood on ends

Was it too late?

Practice the gap everyday

In your social posts, in your pitch decks, for your kids and your friends, practice introducing gaps in your stories. Make your audience want to lean in and complete that gap.

It doesn’t have to be complicated, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. It just takes some thoughtful application of the concept.

Good luck story tellers!

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