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How to Master Storytelling (Beginner to Advanced) — Transcript

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0:00In this video, I'm going to walk through
0:01how to become a master storyteller.
0:03Storytelling is one of the most powerful
0:05skills you could learn in business and
0:08marketing today. So, if you want to get
0:09more views on your content, this video
0:11will be a masterclass for you. We're
0:13going to go over four main things, and
0:15this will be the whole arc from beginner
0:17to advanced level storytelling. First,
0:19we're going to start with six of the
0:20core beginner storytelling tactics.
0:23These are super important and very
0:24effective. Then, we're going to break
0:25down two powerful storytelling
0:27frameworks anchored in psychology
0:29specifically to help your stories more
0:32addictive to watch. And finally, I will
0:34break down the seven biggest
0:35storytelling mistakes that I see,
0:37exactly why they're a problem, and what
0:39to do to fix them. After watching this
0:41video, I guarantee you will think
0:43differently about the way you write
0:44scripts and make content. But, if you
0:46don't know me, my name is Callaway. I've
0:472 million followers. I've done billions
0:49of views, and content is all I do all
0:52day long. All right. Now, before we
0:53start this video, I'm hosting a live
0:54content growth challenge. It's 4 weeks
0:56long, and it starts on October 25th.
0:59This may be the only time I ever do it,
1:01so you're going to want to make sure you
1:02hop in if you're interested. In the
1:04program, I will break down everything I
1:05know about short-form content, systems
1:07and strategy. We'll cover ideation,
1:10formats, storytelling, scripting, hooks,
1:12editing, and all the AI workflows that I
1:14personally use. A lot of the stuff we
1:16cover I've never covered publicly, and
1:18we will go through the lessons as well
1:20as five live calls with me, where I can
1:23teach you the most important things
1:24across those areas, as well as open for
1:26Q&A. In the program, you will post your
1:29next 10 videos using the methods that I
1:31teach you. You're going to get all the
1:33AI cloud skills, and you get a free
1:35month of Sandcastles in the program. And
1:37like I said, this is live for 4 weeks.
1:38So, if you miss the deadline by October
1:4025th at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, you're out,
1:43and I may never do it again. If you're
1:44interested in taking this cohort with me
1:47and really ramping up your growth on
1:49social media, you want to learn how to
1:50make better videos so the views,
1:52followers, and conversions go up, I'm
1:54telling you this will be one one best
1:55programs you ever take. So, check the
1:57link below if you want to join and we'll
1:58see you guys in there.
2:01Tip number one is what I call the dance.
2:02All great stories are like a dance
2:05between context and conflict. You give a
2:07little context, the character is on a
2:09mission, they're doing something, and
2:10then oh no, here comes a conflict. You
2:12give a little bit more context, the
2:14characters have solved that first
2:15conflict, they're on their way, and then
2:16oh oh no, another conflict. This dance
2:19is how you keep the viewer locked in. It
2:21could be a feature film or short-form
2:23video. The dance is always there. Now,
2:25why does this work? Conflicts create
2:27open loops in the brain. And then
2:29context helps close those loops. The
2:31best explanation I've ever seen for how
2:32to tactically implement this dance idea
2:35is from Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
2:37They're the ones who created South Park.
2:38They were giving a talk at NYU. Watch
2:40this.
2:40>> We found out this really simple rule
2:42that maybe you guys have all heard
2:44before, but it took us a long time to
2:45learn it.
2:46But, we can take these beats, which are
2:49basically the beats of your outline,
2:51and if the words and then
2:54belong between those beats, you're
2:57basically. You got you got something
2:59pretty boring. What should happen
3:00between every beat that you've written
3:02down is either the word therefore or
3:05but.
3:06Right? So, so what I'm saying is that
3:08you come up with an idea and it's like,
3:09okay, this happens, right?
3:11And then this happens. No, no, no, it
3:13should be this happens and therefore
3:16this happens. But, this happens,
3:19therefore this happens. And that, as
3:21soon as we are able to and literally
3:22sometimes we'll we'll write it out to
3:24make sure we're doing it. Uh we'll we'll
3:26have our beats and we'll say, okay, this
3:28happened, but then this happens, and
3:31that affects this, and that does to
3:32that, and that's why you get a show that
3:34feels like, okay, this to that to this
3:35to that, but this, here's the
3:37complication, to that.
3:38>> So, tactically, it's as simple as using
3:40the words but and therefore consistently
3:43throughout your script that will create
3:45those open conflict loops. If you're
3:47using the words and then, it'll feel
3:49like you're piling on detail after
3:51detail after detail, and the viewer will
3:52lose interest. Now, let's quickly take a
3:54look at one of my best-performing
3:55videos. You'll notice there are four
3:57but-then conflict loops in the first 30
4:00seconds. Watch this. Something crazy is
4:02happening with Stanley cups.
4:04>> Have you ever seen one of these?
4:04>> Stanley cups.
4:05>> Stanley cup.
4:06>> Stanley cup rocking up 6.7 billion
4:08views.
4:08>> This 40-oz Stanley Quencher has become
4:10the Louis Vuitton of drinkware. It's a
4:12status symbol. New releases are selling
4:14out in seconds. People are flipping them
4:16for hundreds on eBay. Stanley, the
4:18company, 10x its revenue in 4 years off
4:21[music] this single product. But the
4:22real question is, how'd they do it? How
4:24did Stanley cups go from a construction
4:26worker's thermos to the dream Christmas
4:28gift?
4:28>> I GOT A STANLEY!
4:30>> [screaming]
4:31>> IT'S A WILD STORY. SO, IN 2019, Stanley
4:33was actually about to discontinue the
4:34cup. But this group of mom bloggers, The
4:37Buy Guide, knew they were making a huge
4:38mistake. So, they cut a special
4:40affiliate deal with Stanley to bulk
4:42order 5,000 cups with a twist. Stanley
4:44had to make them pastel colors. Those
4:465,000 cups sold out in [music] 5 days
4:49and completely changed their philosophy
4:50on design. But it gets even better. A
4:52few months ago, Stanley [music] had the
4:54burning car moment.
4:55>> So, I'm consistently setting up these
4:56head fakes to keep the storyline moving.
4:57Use this but-then framework next time
4:59you're writing a script. I guarantee
5:00it'll up-level that video. All right,
5:02tip number two is rhythm. I talk about
5:04this a lot, but there's this natural
5:05subconscious pacing and rhythm that is
5:08soothing to the brain. You can hear in
5:10my delivery, I'm pretty decent with this
5:11like natural ebb and flow. The rhythm of
5:14the syllables when I talk is soothing to
5:16listen to. Now, I used to be a rapper
5:18and I was a drummer growing up, so this
5:20pacing and rhythm is kind of embedded in
5:22me, which I think is why I'm naturally
5:24good at talking in this way. But I do
5:26have this tactical way that can improve
5:28anyone else at rhythm. Take a look at
5:30this image which was written by the
5:31legendary author Gary Provost. Now,
5:33listen as I read this. This sentence has
5:35five words. Here are five more words.
5:37Five-word sentences are fine, but
5:39several together become monotonous.
5:41Listen to what is happening. This
5:42writing is getting boring. The sound of
5:44it drones. It's like a stuck record. The
5:46ear demands some variety. Now listen, I
5:48vary the sentence length and I create
5:50music.
5:51>> [music]
5:51>> Music. The writing sings. It has a
5:53pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I
5:55use short sentences and I use sentences
5:57of medium length. And sometimes when I'm
5:59certain the reader is rested, I will
6:01engage him with a sentence of
6:02considerable length, a sentence that
6:03burns with energy and builds with all
6:05the impetus of a crescendo. The roll of
6:07the drums, the crash of the cymbals,
6:09sounds that say listen to this. It is
6:11important. So write with a combination
6:13of short, medium, and long sentences.
6:15Create a sound that pleases the reader's
6:17ear. Don't just write words, write
6:19music. You see how when all the
6:21sentences in the same row are about the
6:22same length, it creates this monotonous
6:24predictability? Subconsciously, people
6:26get turned off by this. This is what
6:28makes them turn to the next video. What
6:29you want is to use a variety of
6:31sentences and syllable combinations to
6:33create this unpredictable rhythm. Now if
6:36you look at my script document, I write
6:38every sentence on a separate line. If
6:39you look straight down, it'll look like
6:41a jagged edge and that confirms that I'm
6:44using different length sentences. Next
6:46time you're writing a script, try to
6:47look for this. If you see your document
6:48and all the sentences seem to end around
6:50the same point, you don't have enough
6:52diversity and it will feel like this
6:53monotonous plotting. All right, lesson
6:55three is tone. The most successful
6:57creators in every discipline are the
6:59ones with the most conversational tone.
7:01It really feels like you're right in the
7:02room with them. Emma Chamberlain
7:04ascended to stardom so quickly because
7:05she was naturally amazing at this. Casey
7:08Neistat, another one that's really good
7:10at this. When you watch his videos and
7:11you listen to him talk, it feels like
7:13he's right in the room with you. The
7:14person I learned from most about this
7:16was Steve Jobs. If you watch his
7:18original keynote from the first iPhone
7:20launch in 2008, he is amazing at
7:22creating this conversational room. Like
7:24you and him are just golf buddies
7:26shooting the Now this is very
7:28intentional and took years of practice
7:30for him to hone in. He's also very
7:31gifted at it. By doing this, Emma,
7:33Casey, Steve, and others are able to
7:34break down that conscious barrier of
7:37personal identity when you watch.
7:39Instead of you questioning to yourself,
7:41am I getting sold to? You get out of
7:43your own mind and just feel like you're
7:44in a conversation, like you would have
7:46to answer a question that they ask you
7:48directly. In a way, you forget where you
7:50are, and that's the magic of this. Now,
7:51I'm still working on this myself. I've
7:53only been making content for like 18
7:54months, but if you go back to my first
7:5550 videos, it really does feel like I'm
7:58talking at you instead of with you. The
8:00best tactical way to get better than
8:01this, other than just 100 reps, is to
8:04write and film your videos as if you're
8:06talking to one close friend. If you have
8:08to, just print out a picture of them and
8:10tape it on the bottom of your camera
8:12lens, so you're literally looking at
8:13them as you record. And when you write
8:15your scripts, make it so like you're
8:17typing a text or recording an audio note
8:19directly to them. Over time, you'll get
8:21better at this conversational nature,
8:22but it will feel like you're having a
8:23one-on-one conversation. That's how you
8:25break down this barrier. Tone is one of
8:26those things that inevitably you will
8:28get better over time. The more you film,
8:29the more you forget that the camera is
8:31just a camera. All right, tip number
8:33four is direction. [music]
8:34This may seem counterintuitive, but the
8:36best place to start when you're writing
8:37a story is the end. Figure out what the
8:39end is going to be, and then work
8:40backwards [music] from there. I like to
8:42call the last line of my script the last
8:44dab, because I want it to be so
8:45memorable that if that's all someone
8:48heard, they'd be willing to share it
8:49with a friend. In short-form video
8:50especially, the video is designed to
8:52loop, so the last line is actually a
8:54setup for the first lines as it replays.
8:57I think of it as a lot like baseball.
8:58The nine hitter is supposed to set the
9:00table for the top of the order. It's the
9:01exact same thing with the last line or
9:04two of your video. When you're thinking
9:05about how to write the script, focus on
9:07where you want to take the viewer. What
9:08do you want to leave them with? What do
9:09you want the last thing they hear to be?
9:11Then you can work backwards from there
9:12and build up that dance [music] in the
9:14middle. When I think about someone that
9:15does this super well, it's Christopher
9:17Nolan. Think about his films, Tenet,
9:18Inception, Interstellar. These are
9:20extremely complicated plot lines that
9:22inevitably he had to work out the end
9:24before he could build up the conflict in
9:26the middle. Now, you're probably not
9:28shooting feature films, but this same
9:29logic can be applied to all types of
9:31content. Usually when I'm writing
9:32scripts, I'll write the first and last
9:34line. I'll go go create a bunch of
9:36space, and then I'll fill it in. That's
9:37a good tactical way to try to get better
9:39at this. All right, tip number five is a
9:40concept that I call story lenses,
9:42[music] and it's a way to get better at
9:44producing unique content for social
9:46media. In today's day and age, finding a
9:47cool topic is not enough. Unless you're
9:50super niche down, there's likely dozens
9:52of other people that are talking about
9:53that same topic. So, how do you
9:54differentiate? A story lens is your
9:56unique angle or spin on a particular
9:59story. Imagine a beam of light. The beam
10:00of light's coming across the screen. The
10:02naked beam everyone looks at and sees
10:04the same thing. It's like this white
10:05beam of light. But, as soon as you put a
10:06lens or a prism in front of the light,
10:09what people see will look differently
10:10than the main beam. Think of that prism
10:12or that lens as your story lens. It's
10:15your unique fingerprint and how you
10:17uniquely tell the story about that
10:19topic. Let's take an example. When
10:20Taylor Swift went to the Super Bowl, the
10:22most common lenses would have been to
10:23talk about what she's wearing or when
10:26she's getting there or what her facial
10:27reaction is to something. A lot of
10:29people covered those exact same stories.
10:31A less common lens would be to talk
10:32about a prediction for what you think
10:34might happen. Less people would have
10:36that. But, an even less common lens
10:37would be to talk about the business
10:39impact that she was driving on the NFL
10:41for being at the game. And that's the
10:43lens that I chose to take because I
10:44thought I could be a category of one.
10:46That's why I ultimately made this video
10:47and it pulled a million views. It was
10:49different. My story lens was something
10:50unique that people hadn't seen before.
10:52All right, the last tip, number six, is
10:54the hook. Now, I left this for last
10:55because everybody always talks about the
10:57hook first, and it makes sense. It is
10:59very important. If people churn on the
11:00hook, the rest of what I talked about
11:02doesn't really matter. So, I've got two
11:03ways to level up your hooks. The first
11:05is that your first line should be as
11:07punchy and as indicative of the plot as
11:09possible. If the video's about your best
11:11garden techniques, the hook should be
11:13some derivative of these are the best
11:14garden techniques for X or I've got
11:16these garden techniques or this thing is
11:18a garden technique that you should
11:19study. You shouldn't start your hook
11:21with some open opaque line like, "Wait
11:23till you see this." or "You're never
11:24going to believe this." Because if the
11:25first line doesn't immediately grab the
11:27viewer in short-form video, you're dead.
11:29The second point on hooks that's
11:30extremely powerful and something I
11:32overlooked for a long time is that
11:33visual hooks are 10 times more effective
11:36than audio-only hooks. What does this
11:38mean? When you're on the screen and
11:39you're saying something, but the only
11:41thing the viewer can see is your mouth
11:42moving and maybe the captions dancing,
11:44that's going to be way less effective
11:46than if you put a visual on the screen
11:48for them to look and react to because
11:50people's eyes perceive faster than their
11:52ears can hear. So, you want to
11:53compliment what you're saying with a
11:55visual on the screen. This is a visual
11:57hook. Somebody that's really good at
11:58this is my friend Kevin from Epic
12:01Gardening. If you watch his videos, he
12:02immediately shows a visual that confirms
12:05what he's talking about. Like this one
12:07about strawberries. Before I hear
12:08anything he says, I see a strawberry on
12:10the screen. It's vivid red. Immediately,
12:12I know this video is going to be about
12:13strawberries. If I like strawberries,
12:15I'm going to stick around to see what
12:16he's saying. Now, I've started testing
12:17this and I've noticed the visual hook
12:19aspect has been super helpful at
12:21retaining viewers. So, in summary, when
12:23you're thinking about your hook, get to
12:24the point and show while you tell.
12:27All right. Now that we've learned the
12:28six core storytelling techniques, the
12:31next best thing to study is a framework
12:33around how to make your stories more
12:35addictive. In this section, we're going
12:37to break down a framework called
12:38dopamine ladders, which is the easiest
12:40way to understand how you can
12:42progressively hack someone's attention
12:44with different techniques in your
12:46stories.
12:48There are six stages of a viewer's
12:49journey when watching content that
12:51release increasing amounts of dopamine.
12:53And if you can ascend them through all
12:54six stages, they will have watched your
12:56entire video and want to come back to
12:58watch more. Now, eventually, if you get
12:59them to the end of the dopamine ladder
13:01and you do that consistently, you will
13:03create a Pavlovian effect. And this
13:05really is the ultimate goal if you're
13:07making content. Pavlov is the famous
13:09scientist that proved classical
13:10conditioning. Every time he rang this
13:12bell, he gave a dog food so that
13:14eventually, whenever the bell rang, the
13:16dog's mouth would water because it
13:18represented that sound with getting
13:19food. You're really going after this
13:21same thing when it comes to content
13:23because the ultimate sign of attention
13:25mastery is when you can make dopamine
13:27release in the brain of a viewer just by
13:29seeing your name or face without
13:31actually watching any of your content.
13:32[music] And if you can do that, you've
13:34basically created a super fan that will
13:36watch every single thing you make. This
13:38is when you reach king status in
13:40attention land. Now, if you can learn to
13:41do this on command, you can pretty much
13:43build any business as big as you want.
13:45It's that powerful. Okay, so the
13:46question is, what are the six levels and
13:48how do you make your content so that the
13:50viewer ascends through the dopamine
13:52ladder and you instill the Pavlovian
13:54response? And that's what we're going to
13:56break down right now. All right, the
13:57very first rung in the dopamine ladder
13:59is the exact same for all visual
14:01content. Whether it's short-form or
14:02long-form, it applies the same. And this
14:04first rung is called stimulation. Okay,
14:07now the stimulation step is what happens
14:08in the very first 1 to 2 seconds of the
14:11video. Think of stimulation like a
14:12visual stun gun that gets someone to
14:14stop and lock in on one thing. It's like
14:16a deer in the woods noticing something
14:18out of the corner of their eye and they
14:19can't resist the urge but to pick up
14:21their head, look, and lock in on that
14:23one spot. Now, dopamine from comes from
14:26colors, motion, and brightness that is
14:28picked up initially from the eye. So,
14:31literally, if you show a combination of
14:32colors, motion, contrast, and brightness
14:35that is different from what the viewer
14:36typically sees, they're going to get a
14:37hit of dopamine and they will pause for
14:39a split second. And this is all you need
14:41to earn the space to get them to level
14:43two. Now, to prove this is how it works,
14:44I'm going to show eight 9 by 16 images
14:47on the screen with colors and motion,
14:48but I'm going to blur it out so you
14:50don't know exactly what they are. I want
14:51you to look at these and tell me exactly
14:53which one your attention goes to first.
14:55All right, now for most people, these
14:57were the two that they noticed and
14:59visually focused on. See, your eyes go
15:01to the ones that have more motion,
15:03color, and brightness. That's just how
15:04your subconscious brain works. You can't
15:06override it. And again, to prove it to
15:08you in another way, if you were to watch
15:09your social media on grayscale or black
15:11and white, I guarantee it just wouldn't
15:13be as interesting to you. What's really
15:15happening under the hood here in your
15:16neurochemistry is that your brain is
15:18processing things in two stages. The
15:20first stage is the rapid subconscious
15:22processing stage. It's called bottoms-up
15:24processing. And this processing happens
15:26so fast in like 200 milliseconds that
15:28your eye and brain are just catching
15:31vivid colors and motion. They're not
15:32actually comprehending what they're
15:33seeing. But knowing this is how you hack
15:35people on the treadmill to pause and pay
15:37attention for a split second. So for
15:39you, the tactical tip is that when
15:40you're making your own content, you need
15:42enough color motion and contrast to be
15:44able to visually stun them for the first
15:451 to 2 seconds. But here's the thing, if
15:47everybody copies the exact same motion
15:50color contrast pattern, the viewer will
15:52become desensitized because the whole
15:53feed will have it, and then that will
15:55stop working. This is why coming up with
15:57your own unique visuals, your unique
15:58color palette, the motion, the aesthetic
16:01that you want is really critical because
16:02it helps you cut through the feed and
16:04trigger this subconscious stimulation.
16:07Okay, so that's level one. Now
16:08stimulation is the weakest and the
16:09shortest of the dopamine releases, but
16:11it's a very important precursor like we
16:13said because if you don't trigger the
16:15focus, the rest of the levels don't even
16:17matter. All right, level two in the
16:18dopamine ladder is called captivation.
16:20And this is where the comprehension of
16:22what you say and how you say it really
16:24starts mattering. The first step was
16:25literally just visual brain hacking, but
16:27here, this is where the sauce really
16:29starts coming in. Now captivation is the
16:31curiosity stage. Massive amounts of
16:34dopamine are released in the viewer's
16:35brain as soon as they are captivated by
16:37an open question that they ask in their
16:39own head. Many people call this a
16:41curiosity loop. Your video must drive an
16:43open question that puts the viewer into
16:45a loop so that they hunt for the answer.
16:48Now the reason curiosity loops work so
16:50well for triggering dopamine is because
16:51the human brain is a problem-solving
16:54machine. It evolved to be really good at
16:56thinking critically and taking open
16:58complex questions and solving them. The
16:59bigger and more non-obvious the
17:01question, the bigger the curiosity, the
17:02higher the stakes, and the more dopamine
17:04that gets released. The more relevant
17:06the question to the viewer, the bigger
17:08the curiosity, the higher the stakes,
17:10and the more dopamine that gets
17:11released. For example, if you made a
17:12video that got a viewer to ask the
17:14question to themselves, "Hmm, I wonder
17:16when the aliens are visiting Earth?"
17:18Well, this is a pretty huge question, so
17:19it could be very curiosity-inducing.
17:21But, if they don't care about aliens,
17:22then it's not going to be relevant at
17:24all, and they're going to churn. They
17:25won't be captivated. So, tactically,
17:27it's important to ask yourself these
17:28couple questions as you're structuring
17:30the hook to make sure you're setting up
17:32the best possible question. First, what
17:34is the most curiosity-inducing question
17:36that I could ask about this topic to
17:39trigger in the viewer's mind? And
17:40second, how well will that question map
17:42to something the viewer cares about
17:44given the ideal avatar I think I'm
17:46attracting? And then, you have to figure
17:48out what words you say and visuals you
17:50show to try to get that question to pop
17:52in their head. Now, there's two ways to
17:53get a question to implant in a viewer's
17:55mind. You could literally ask it, like
17:58rhetorically, the way I just did, or you
18:00can imply it with details and try to get
18:02them to put it in their own head. Either
18:04way, as quickly as possible in the
18:05video, you need the viewer to pop a very
18:08interesting question in their mind, or
18:09they're not going to be captivated. And
18:11if the question doesn't pop, or it's
18:12just not that interesting, then they're
18:14going to bounce, and you have no chance.
18:15So, for example, let's say I was
18:16scrolling the feed, and I saw this
18:18really attractive person with this red
18:20and orange vivid graphic behind them
18:22that was moving. I might be stimulated
18:24enough from level one to pause for a
18:26second and see what they have to say.
18:27But then, if that person starts the
18:29video saying, "Here's how you do your
18:30makeup for the holidays," the questions
18:32that are going to pop into my mind are
18:34the following: How does she do her
18:35makeup? Why is she doing it like that?
18:37These are the types of questions that
18:38pop into a curious mind, regardless of
18:40who it is. But for me, I don't obviously
18:42care about the topic of makeup at all,
18:43and so that's not relevant and I'm
18:45churning immediately. Basically, she got
18:47me on the stimulation and bought me into
18:49the first kind of question-posing
18:51period, but then, she didn't get me on
18:53the captivation. The reality is, if your
18:55hooks are not hooking, it means that the
18:56question that popped in the viewer's
18:58mind is either not relevant to them, or
19:00just not interesting enough to hold
19:02them. So, that's level two of the
19:04dopamine ladder. If you want to
19:05captivate the viewer and get them to
19:07keep watching, you have to pop a
19:08curiosity-based loop in their mind from
19:10the question. The act of opening that
19:12loop will release dopamine. Now, here's
19:14a few pro tips for triggering a massive
19:16amount of curiosity in this process. For
19:18one, you can use contrast where you
19:20compare a known thing to an unknown
19:22thing. Or two, you can frame a super
19:25shocking or weird premise that they've
19:27never seen or heard before. Typically,
19:29unknown things pop curiosity better than
19:31anything else because curious people
19:33want to know what the thing is they've
19:34never seen. All right, level three in
19:36the dopamine ladder is anticipation. So
19:38far, you've stimulated them initially to
19:40get them to give you a chance, and then
19:42you've captivated them by opening a
19:44curiosity-based question in their head.
19:46This next step, anticipation, is super
19:48powerful. And this is really where
19:49people get locked in into the video.
19:51Anticipation is what happens when a
19:53viewer begins to guess in their head
19:55what the answer might be to the question
19:57you just posed in level two. This is
19:59essentially a mystery novel playing out
20:01in their head in real time as they watch
20:03the video. Typically, what happens is as
20:05soon as a question pops in someone's
20:06head, they immediately are trying to
20:08anticipate what the answer might be.
20:10It's kind of like this subconscious
20:11guessing game that goes on. Now, the
20:13more information you give someone that
20:14helps them anticipate what the answer
20:16might be, the more curious they're going
20:18to become right up until the answer is
20:20revealed. The highest level of dopamine
20:21is achieved just before the answer
20:23comes. So, what you want to do is give
20:25them details to get that anticipation
20:27close, ratchet up that curiosity, and
20:29then just before you deliver the answer,
20:31yank it away and head fake them in
20:33another direction. Typically, adding
20:34misdirections, non-obvious twists, and
20:36head fakes is a great way to reset the
20:39curiosity-based anticipation loop. And
20:42this will make them guess the answer or
20:43get distracted, pop a new question, and
20:45then restart the process. This is why
20:47it's called a curiosity loop. The loop
20:49is them seesawing between question,
20:51anticipation, and answer. Or if you
20:53don't want to yank away the answer, you
20:54could give them the answer and then pop
20:55a second question right after that.
20:57Either way, this looping game of new
20:59questions and new answers is how you
21:01build anticipation. Now, here's a big
21:03pro tip on anticipation. The viewer's
21:05only able to anticipate what the answer
21:07might be if they're clear on the facts
21:09that you're giving them. If you throw a
21:11bunch of rogue details in that don't
21:12really make sense with the question or
21:14they can't understand the facts that
21:15you're presenting, they're going to get
21:17confused and bounce. So, tactically for
21:19you, as you develop your story, if you
21:21want to ratchet up anticipation, you
21:22want to ask yourself this. Based on the
21:24question the viewer should have in their
21:26head from level two, what should they be
21:28anticipating the answer to be? And based
21:31on that answer, what additional facts or
21:33context can we give them to get them
21:35closer to it? From there, should we give
21:37them the answer or is there a way to
21:38head fake or tease them away from it to
21:41reset that curiosity loop? This
21:43curiosity anticipation process is kind
21:45of like the edging of the storytelling
21:47world. Now, if you've ever seen those
21:49visual hooks where it looks like
21:50someone's about to get hit by a car, the
21:52car's like slowly approaching, this is
21:54using anticipation to get you to hold
21:56on. The reason these work so well is
21:57because you originally see the person
21:59and the car coming and it pops the
22:00question, is that person going to get
22:02hit by a car? Is that car really going
22:03to run them over? And then as the car
22:05slowly approaches, you start
22:07anticipating, wait, there's no way. Oh
22:08wait, I think they might they might be
22:10getting hit by the car. Ah, and it comes
22:12really close. That anticipation building
22:14is in real time working to drive that
22:17curiosity in you. It releases dopamine
22:19as you anticipate what might happen.
22:22These are the types of hooks that play
22:23on the anticipatory instinct in your
22:25brain and they work super well at
22:26driving dopamine. All right, the next
22:28level in the dopamine ladder, level
22:29four, is called validation. Validation
22:32comes when you do end up giving them the
22:34answer to the question that you popped
22:36in level two. words, level four is you
22:38closing the loop. Now, the goal with
22:40validation is to make sure you reward or
22:42answer with something that was
22:43non-obvious that they wouldn't have
22:45expected before. Typically with
22:47entertainment content, this is the
22:48resolution of the story. You don't end
22:50it on a cliffhanger, you actually wrap
22:52up the loose ends and close the loop
22:53nicely. For example, in the case of the
22:55incoming truck hook, usually they don't
22:57get hit by the truck and they end up
22:58being safe and that's how you close the
23:00loop. Once that loop is closed, you
23:02realize the story is complete and more
23:04dopamine gets released as that's
23:06finished. On the education side, the
23:08validation or reward in this case would
23:11be you actually sharing the tip or the
23:13story or the recommendation that gives
23:15them concrete value that they can use to
23:17solve a problem. If the viewer leaves
23:19this flow without the loop being closed,
23:21they're going to be unsatisfied and they
23:22won't release that final dopamine. So,
23:25it's curiosity, question, anticipation,
23:27what could the answer be, and then
23:29validation, giving the actual answer.
23:31All three phases release dopamine at
23:33each time. Under the first four levels
23:35we just went through of the dopamine
23:36ladder, these are kind of like the base
23:38levels that you can pull with any script
23:40and visual storytelling. And again,
23:42those were stimulation, captivation,
23:44anticipation, and then ultimately
23:45validation. But the last two levels of
23:47the dopamine ladder is really where you
23:49start building cult fandom. This is
23:51where you ascend beyond the individual
23:53story and into the storyteller. The
23:55first four have to do with the video
23:56itself. We'll call that the message. The
23:58last two are more with the messenger.
24:00Level five is called affection. Now,
24:02affection is a stage where the viewer
24:04starts taking a liking to the creator or
24:07personality that was delivering the
24:08story. And this is why it's kind of hard
24:10for faceless content to fully ascend to
24:13that Pavlovian peak. It's easy for
24:15faceless to get those first four levels,
24:17but it's hard when there's nothing to
24:18like, when there's no personality to
24:20attribute that taste, trust, and like
24:23to. And this is what happens in the
24:24brain. As the viewer begins to realize
24:26they like and trust the person that's
24:28delivering the message, more dopamine is
24:30released. And think about it. If you
24:32already like someone, you're going to
24:33give them a lot longer leash when you
24:35watch their content. For a stranger, you
24:36might churn right away, but if it's
24:38someone you like and you already know,
24:40there's dopamine that's being released
24:41there that buys a lot more time of your
24:43attention. Now, as long as that viewer
24:45recognizes it's you, that likability
24:47will carry over from video to video. So,
24:49of course, the million-dollar question
24:50that everyone asks is how do I improve
24:53my likability so that I can speed up
24:55that process to get through level five.
24:57And here's four ways to improve your
24:58likeability. The first one,
25:00attractiveness is a massive factor. Now,
25:02I hate to say it as someone who has a
25:03face for radio and a voice for
25:05vaudeville silent films, but the reality
25:07is when you're attractive, people just
25:09like you more. It's subconscious and
25:11it's how humans behave. So, if you're
25:13good-looking, lean into it, show
25:14yourself more, and I guarantee the
25:16likeability will go up. The second thing
25:18that improves likeability is your
25:19overall vibe. The way you look, the way
25:21you dress, the way you sit, your
25:23posture, the way you carry yourself, all
25:24of that signals silently to someone and
25:27it goes into them deciding if they like
25:29you more or not. The third thing,
25:30smiling is great for subconscious
25:32likeability. Joy is an emotion that
25:35transfers through the camera lens. So,
25:36if you look like you're happy or
25:37passionate, people will feel that warmth
25:39themselves when they watch you. And then
25:41fourth, and this is the easiest one, if
25:43you're making education content, if you
25:45actually solve a problem for them, max
25:47trust and likeability will be
25:49transferred. The easiest way to get
25:50somebody to like you and trust you is to
25:52actually help them with something
25:53they're struggling with, agnostic of how
25:55attractive you are, how smiley you are,
25:57etc. Number four is the strongest one.
25:59So, likeability is one of those things
26:01that you want to try to improve over
26:02time, but the reality is you don't want
26:03to force it. Just be yourself, be
26:05authentically passionate in what you're
26:06doing, and then try to live that out.
26:09The more value you can deliver and the
26:10more valuable you can be, the more
26:12likable and trustworthy you will seem to
26:14the viewer. All right, we've approached
26:15level six and this is really where the
26:17Pavlovian response really starts kicking
26:19in. But before we go into that, let's
26:20just recap where we were. The first
26:22level was stimulation. This was
26:23subconscious. It's motion, colors,
26:25brightness. All you have to do is get
26:26somebody to focus, a little bit of
26:28dopamine released, but that's what locks
26:30them in, right? So, that's the
26:31precursor. Then we talked about the
26:32three levels that really have to do with
26:34the specific video and the storytelling
26:36in it. And that was captivation with
26:38initial curiosity, anticipation, getting
26:41them to guess what's going to happen and
26:43maybe leading them through a head fake
26:45or zigzag on that curiosity, and then
26:47ultimately, validation, giving them the
26:49answer and closing the loop so that they
26:51get that dopamine release on the full
26:52cycle. Those were two, three, and four.
26:55Then, level five is likability, right?
26:57So, you've got the answer from the
26:59video, but now we've ascended beyond the
27:01message into the messenger, and we're
27:02going to likability. If the viewer likes
27:05you, they'll give you more leash,
27:06they'll have dopamine release every time
27:08they see you because they'll remember
27:09that they like you, and that'll be
27:11helpful. Level six, the final level, the
27:13final frontier, is called revelation.
27:16And this is really where the viewer
27:17begins to realize that you're going to
27:18be a continued source of value for them
27:20over time. Now, typically, both
27:22entertainment and education content can
27:24ascend from level one to five, but it's
27:26much easier for educational content to
27:28ascend from five to level six,
27:30revelation. Entertainment content can
27:32only get to level six if the viewer
27:34decides that that creator is going to be
27:36a consistent source of maximum
27:38entertainment for them, meaning every
27:40piece of content they see is going to
27:42for sure be above their line when it
27:44comes to entertainment. And this is just
27:45a really hard bar to achieve. Maybe Mr.
27:47Beast has this level of Pavlovian
27:49response anytime someone sees his face,
27:51they know it's going to be entertaining.
27:52But, if you're an entertainment creator
27:53and you're not Mr. Beast, you're
27:55competing with Netflix, the NFL, Kai
27:57Cenat, Mr. Beast, it's just hard to beat
28:00the best maximum bar in the
28:02entertainment category. But, on the
28:04education side, if you solve specific
28:06problems for people that they have in
28:07their life, they will tie you with a
28:10consistent source of value for solving
28:12in that area. And when they have this
28:14revelation that you're going to
28:15consistently help them, it releases max
28:17dopamine whenever they see you because
28:19you've trained that you equal value.
28:22That is the Pavlovian response. As a
28:24corollary, imagine dating someone and
28:25then realizing that over time, after
28:27spending a lot of time with them, you
28:29always feel good and you always feel
28:31love. That means in the future, whenever
28:33you hear their name, you're going to get
28:34a huge hit of dopamine because you're
28:35going to think positively and feel those
28:37feelings again. It's the same way here
28:39with content. Now, the way to achieve
28:41this level six revelation, especially
28:43with education content, is to deliver
28:45non-obvious, differentiated value over
28:48and over and over. If they are deeply
28:50struggling with a problem that you talk
28:51about, it might only take a couple of
28:53pieces of content for them to ascend
28:55from level one to six and then build
28:57that Pavlovian response. If they're not
28:58really struggling with your topic area
29:00that much and it's more of a
29:01nice-to-have, it might take a lot more
29:02pieces of content for you to build that
29:04Pavlovian bond. But either way, when you
29:06can hit this level six state, you have
29:08won the attention game because it means
29:10if they hear your name, see your face,
29:12or see your name even without watching
29:14the content, they're going to get the
29:16dopamine hit that leads them to watch
29:18it. All right. Now, super quick before
29:19we end this video, I just want to show
29:20you one live example of an actual
29:22short-form video and break down as I
29:25narrate through the dopamine ladder and
29:27the different levels as we ascend
29:28through them. I'm just going to do
29:29short-form video because it'll be easier
29:31to watch and because I always do
29:32education examples, I'm going to do an
29:34entertainment example on this one. All
29:36right. So, this example is from a
29:37creator named Citizen. If you don't know
29:39him, he's kind of like a musician that
29:41uses these viral stitch clips to market
29:43his music. So, we're going to pull the
29:44video up on the side. We're going to
29:45watch it and then pause it a lot as I
29:47narrate through the different pieces.
29:51Okay. So, the first step in the dopamine
29:52ladder, as we know, is stimulation. And
29:55this happens fast. Right away, there's a
29:56slight zoom in. You see two people
29:58hugging. You kind of see this like
30:00perspective from a car of a car. It's
30:02something you don't normally see on the
30:03feed. That alone is all that's needed to
30:06give me a slight hit of dopamine and
30:07narrow my focus on the video. Next, we
30:09go to level two, which is captivation or
30:12curiosity.
30:16Now, as I'm watching this unfold through
30:18the first like two, three, four seconds,
30:19the questions that are popping in my
30:20head is this. First, who are these
30:22people? Why are they hugging? Do I care?
30:24This almost made me churn cuz I was
30:26like, why do I care about this?
30:30Then I look down and I read that little
30:31text across that says, "Bro, what did I
30:33just witness?" And that pops the
30:34question in my head, "What are we about
30:36to see?" Now, I'm curious again.
30:40Then, as the girl walks away and gets in
30:42the car, I notice the shoelace stuck in
30:44the door, and I notice him noticing it.
30:46And that pops the question, "Oh, no, is
30:48he aware? Is she going to drive away?
30:49What's going to happen?" Right? Three or
30:51four rapid questions in succession. So,
30:53at this point, my curiosity is pretty
30:54high. I've got all these open questions,
30:56and I'm really curious to see what's
30:57going to happen. Next, level three is
30:59anticipation.
31:03So, because I see the main character and
31:04he sees that he's stuck, I'm
31:05anticipating, "Is he going to get out or
31:08is he going to get dragged by the car?"
31:09I'm trying to figure out what's going to
31:10happen. That's me anticipating the
31:12solution.
31:16Now, as the car starts pulling away, I
31:17can see he's going down, so I'm trying
31:19to anticipate what's going to happen. Is
31:20he going to be dragged? Are they
31:21actually going to film this, right? I'm
31:23still really curious. Now, level four is
31:25validation, where I find out the answer.
31:27>> You just swept me off my
31:28>> And in this case, he falls backwards
31:30like I would have expected, but then it
31:32hard cut match cuts away to him getting
31:34dragged singing a song. The audio comes
31:36in and he starts singing. That's not
31:38what I was expecting. So, I get the
31:39validation of closing the loop that he's
31:41okay, but also this shocking head fake
31:44moment where the answer is not what I
31:46expected. And because now I know he's
31:48not hurt, I get that dopamine release of
31:50that initial anticipatory loop closing,
31:52but also I'm kind of interested in why
31:54is he doing this? Does this music video
31:56strategy work, etc. All right, level
31:57five now is affection. Now, here,
32:00assuming this is the first video you've
32:01seen of this guy, you probably haven't
32:02seen enough to determine if you like or
32:04trust him or not. And with entertainment
32:06content, as I mentioned, it's a lot
32:07harder to determine affection and
32:10revelation than it would be with
32:11education content. But, I will admit I
32:13found this pretty funny and shocking,
32:15and I kind of give a hat tip to him. So,
32:16if I saw another video from him, I'd
32:18probably watch it because I wanted to
32:19see what crazy stunt is he going to come
32:21up with next. Now, level six, the last
32:23one, is revelation. And it would have
32:25taken me probably several other videos,
32:26but eventually I would have realized
32:27this guy is like a viral marketer meets
32:30music, which is kind of an interesting
32:31category. And if I like marketing or
32:33music or his music, I might realize
32:36every time I see one of his videos, I
32:37get entertained in this unique way and
32:39also get to see his song. So I may
32:41associate this like entertainment value
32:43drip with him. Now in this case I'm not
32:45going to have the full Pavlovian effect
32:46because this is an entertainment use
32:47case, but you can imagine how this
32:49ladder would work for educational
32:51content and if he was giving me a tip
32:53that I could use in my life, I might
32:55have that Pavlovian effect much faster.
32:57So this is a great example of how the
32:59dopamine ladder works in content and
33:01when Citizen made this video, he
33:02specifically engineered those pieces to
33:05trigger you through those loops so that
33:07you kept watching. And I promise you if
33:09you take any piece of educational
33:10content that has worked on you and you
33:12analyze it in this way going through
33:14these levels in the dopamine ladder,
33:15it'll all be there clearly why you liked
33:18it and why you kept watching. All you
33:20have to do is figure out how to reverse
33:21engineer that when you make your content
33:23and you'll be good to go.
33:25Now that you understand how the dopamine
33:26ladder works, we can parlay that into a
33:28more advanced storytelling framework
33:30called the dopamine addiction loop. This
33:33really anchors in the base psychology
33:35for how casinos keep gamblers gambling.
33:37That same addictive nature is what you
33:40can use in your own stories to make them
33:41way more compelling. So let's go add
33:43that framework to our foundation on top
33:45of dopamine ladders.
33:48Now the key to all this is understanding
33:50how your brain's reward center actually
33:53works. Cuz once you know the
33:54neuroscience, the storytelling part
33:56becomes pretty easy. Most people think
33:58dopamine is the pleasure chemical. You
34:00eat good food, you get some dopamine.
34:02You win some game, you get some
34:04dopamine. But it's not actually how it
34:05works. Dopamine is not the pleasure
34:08chemical. It's the prediction chemical.
34:10Dopamine fires in your brain when you're
34:12trying to predict what might happen
34:14next. Not when you're getting a reward,
34:16but when you're anticipating getting it.
34:18And that distinction is super important.
34:20Think about it like this. Imagine you're
34:21at a casino and you're sitting at a
34:23blackjack table. You've got chips in
34:25front of you, fingers on the felt and
34:26the dealer flips over one card face up.
34:29Immediately your brain starts running.
34:31Should I hit? Should I stay? What's the
34:33dealer hiding? That feeling right there,
34:35that tension, that pull of anticipation,
34:37that's dopamine. Not the moment you win,
34:39not even the moment you lose, the moment
34:41you're waiting to figure out what's
34:42going to happen next. This is why nobody
34:44feels happy the second after they
34:46accomplish a goal. The anticipation is
34:49the high. And that one takeaway is the
34:50key to understanding why certain things
34:52become addictive and certain things
34:54don't. For example, a vending machine is
34:56not addictive. You put a dollar in, you
34:58get a snack out, it works the same way
35:00every single time. But a slot machine is
35:02very addictive. As soon as you pull that
35:04lever, you have no idea what's going to
35:06happen next. Your brain is running
35:08predictions the entire time those reels
35:10are spinning. It's the same general
35:12action, but a completely different
35:14neurological response. And the only
35:16difference is uncertainty. It turns out
35:18the science behind addicting stories
35:20uses the exact same brain chemistry that
35:23a casino uses to keep you gambling. And
35:25it all breaks down to a super simple
35:27four-step addiction loop. Step one is
35:29called the stakes. Stakes are what turn
35:31your brain's prediction machine on in
35:34the first place. Without the stakes,
35:35without a real reason for you to care,
35:37the brain doesn't start predicting
35:39anything. No predictions, no dopamine.
35:41No dopamine, no addiction. So think of
35:43stakes as the setting, the context, the
35:46housing of the story. In my casino
35:48analogy, it's the casino itself. The
35:50lighting, the energy, the sounds of
35:52winning, your specific money on the
35:54table at risk. It's the context that
35:56makes everything inside it matter to
35:59you. Now step two is where the addiction
36:01loop really begins. And this is called
36:03the big question. Now that your brain is
36:05activated from the stakes, you need
36:07something to pay attention to. So the
36:09dealer flips one of their cards face up.
36:10You can see your cards and one of the
36:12dealer's cards. And now your brain can't
36:14help itself. It just starts guessing
36:16what might happen. I've got 16, the
36:18dealer's showing a 10. I should probably
36:20hit, but what if I bust? That internal
36:22calculating, that's the big question.
36:24Essentially, you've loaded in a question
36:26that your brain wants to solve and
36:28you're running predictions to figure out
36:30what the answer might be. Now, here's
36:31what's going on chemically when this
36:32happens. Your brain is releasing a
36:34sustained low-grade stream of dopamine.
36:37Not a spike, a steady drip. And this is
36:39the part of gambling that people get
36:41addicted to. It's not the winning that
36:43they get addicted from, it's the
36:44anticipation between placing the bet and
36:47finding out what happens. The big
36:48question is this first hit of dopamine.
36:51All right, let's keep going. Step three
36:52in the loop is called the head fake. And
36:54this is where things get really
36:55interesting. You're sitting on a 16.
36:57You're pretty sure that if you hit,
36:59you're going to bust. But you hit
37:00anyway. And boom, you pull a five. 21.
37:03Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Or the
37:05reverse. You're sitting on an 18 feeling
37:07really good, and then the dealer flips a
37:0921 and you lose back door on a
37:12heartbreaker. Either way, crazy win or
37:14crazy loss, the outcome that happened
37:16broke your prediction. Neuroscience has
37:18a name for this. It's called prediction
37:20error. And prediction error triggers the
37:22single largest spike of dopamine you're
37:25capable of producing. This time, it's
37:26not a drip, it's a full burst. And the
37:29size of that burst is proportional to
37:31how crazy the outcome actually was. A
37:34small surprise is a small spike of
37:36dopamine. A large surprise is a large
37:38spike of dopamine. No surprise, no
37:40spike. This is why gambling is so much
37:43more addicting than a vending machine.
37:44The vending machine gives you exactly
37:46what you'd expect every single time.
37:48There's no surprise, so there's no
37:50dopamine. But every once in a while, the
37:52slot machine gives you something you
37:54didn't expect. A jackpot. And your brain
37:57treats those two outcomes, vending
37:59versus slot, as completely different
38:00experiences chemically. Now, the final
38:02step in the loop, step four, is the
38:04re-hook. And this one is super simple,
38:05but it's the reason why people cannot
38:07get up from the table in a casino. You
38:09just saw the result of your hand and
38:11your prediction was wrong. Your brain is
38:12still reeling and trying to figure out
38:14what happened. And before you've even
38:16finished thinking about it, a new hand
38:18is dealt and the loop restarts. The new
38:20hand comes, there's a new set of
38:21unknowns, a new big question gets
38:24released. And your brain automatically
38:26starts jumping into predictions for the
38:28next round. The re-hook is the moment
38:30where one loop closes and another loop
38:32opens at the same time. There should
38:34never be a gap. There should never be a
38:35moment where the listener or the viewer
38:37thinks, "Okay, I'm done." This is why
38:39one of the most important metrics a
38:40casino tracks is time per hand. Their
38:43only goal is to decrease the distance
38:45between dopamine hits. And that's why
38:47people sit at blackjack tables for 6
38:49hours straight. Not because they're
38:50winning, not because they're having fun,
38:52because their brain has been hijacked to
38:54always have an unresolved prediction
38:57going. So, those are the four steps in
38:58the addiction loop: the stakes, the big
39:01question, the head fake, and the
39:02re-hook. Over and over and over it goes.
39:05And here's the thing that will tie all
39:06this together for you. Every great story
39:08you've ever been told has been running
39:10this exact same loop on you. Every movie
39:13you couldn't pause, every book you
39:14stayed up till 3:00 a.m. reading, every
39:17video you watched all the way through
39:18even though you had somewhere else to
39:20be. It wasn't because the storyteller
39:21was so gifted. It wasn't black magic. It
39:24was this addiction loop running on
39:26repeat, hacking your prediction system
39:28so effectively that you had no choice
39:30but to keep watching. And the best part
39:32is for you, once you know this system
39:34and how it works, you can't unknow it.
39:36So, next, let's walk through the
39:37tactical process for how you can apply
39:39this four-step loop to every story you
39:41write moving forward. By the way, before
39:43I explain this, you can tell I
39:44absolutely love storytelling. To help
39:46you improve your storytelling in your
39:48content, I actually put this doc
39:50together breaking down all the best
39:52storytelling structures that tend to
39:54work based on the research we've done on
39:56social media. Each one of these is built
39:58out as a plug-and-play template. So, you
39:59can just take it and fill in the blanks
40:01or feed this document into Claude or
40:04ChatGPT, save it as a skill, and it will
40:06just automatically improve your
40:08storytelling. It's completely free, my
40:09gift to you. I've got it linked below if
40:11you want it. All right, so now you
40:12understand the science. You know how
40:14addiction works in the casino. But
40:16obviously, you're not running a casino.
40:17You're telling stories. So, let me show
40:19you how this exact same loop works when
40:21you apply it to a narrative and how you
40:22can use it to tell better stories. The
40:24easiest way is to hear the same general
40:26story told two different ways. So,
40:29first, I'm going to tell you the full
40:30story with no addiction loop, and then
40:32I'm going to retell it with the
40:33addiction loop, but I'm going to explain
40:35each step as we go. And you'll feel the
40:36difference immediately. All right, here
40:38we go. This is the flat version. A
40:39prince's kingdom is in trouble, but he
40:41learns there's a valuable resource
40:43locked at the top tower that's being
40:46guarded by a dragon. He realizes he must
40:48go. So, he rides to the tower, he
40:50confronts the dragon, he acquires the
40:52resource, he comes home, and the kingdom
40:54is saved. The end. Now, that was quick,
40:56but do you care about that story at all?
40:59Obviously not. You probably didn't even
41:00have enough time to get curious. You
41:01really weren't anticipating anything.
41:03You had no reason to buy in. And it's
41:05not because the core bones of that story
41:07are bad, it's because there was no loop
41:09running to hijack the chemicals in your
41:11brain to want to care. No stakes, no big
41:14question, no head fake, no re-hook,
41:16nothing. That was a vending machine
41:17story. Now, let me tell you the exact
41:19same story with a little more sauce, and
41:21I'm going to turn the addiction loop on,
41:23and I will call out each step in the
41:24flow as we do it. All right, here we go.
41:26Once upon a time, there was a prince,
41:28and his kingdom was dying. A plague had
41:30been spreading for months across the
41:32country, and it had almost reached the
41:34town where his castle and his family
41:37were staying. The only cure for this
41:38plague is a flower that grows at the top
41:41of an ancient tower buried away deep,
41:43deep in the mountains. But, the tower is
41:45guarded by a dragon that hasn't been
41:47defeated in thousands of years. Every
41:49knight that has gone to try to defeat
41:51this dragon and get this flower has
41:53never come back. But, the prince has to
41:55go. His father, the king, is begging him
41:57to do so. If he doesn't, everyone he
41:59loves will be dead by the end of the
42:00week. Now, that was the stakes. And even
42:02though I already told you what was going
42:04to happen in the story the first time,
42:05you still kind of care. Not because I
42:08told you to care, but because I gave you
42:09a character with something to lose, a
42:11ticking clock, and a consequence if he
42:14failed. And by doing this, the brain
42:16just naturally turns on and locks in.
42:18It's been activated, and now the
42:20predictions are starting to run in your
42:22head for what might happen next. Okay,
42:24let's keep going in the story. The
42:25prince arrives at the base of the tower,
42:27and the dragon is massive, way bigger
42:29than anything he's ever seen, 10 times
42:31the size of what he thought. He has one
42:34sword, no armor, and no backup. How is
42:36he possibly going to get past this
42:38thing? All right, that is the big
42:40question. Now, I put that question in
42:42your head explicitly. I said the
42:43question, but either way, your
42:45prediction mechanism is now firing, and
42:47you're wondering what's going to happen.
42:49Maybe you think he finds a weak spot in
42:51the dragon's belly. Maybe you think he's
42:52going to outsmart the dragon somehow.
42:54Maybe you think he actually might lose.
42:56It's a dark story, he's going to die and
42:57he'll never come back. Whatever you
42:59predicted, you're now locked in until
43:01you figure out what the answer is.
43:03Because your brain has loaded in a
43:05question that it wants to resolve. That
43:07is the sustained dopamine drip, that
43:09anticip- pation, the wanting to know the
43:11answer. Okay, let's keep going, back to
43:12the story. The prince draws his sword
43:14and starts approaching the dragon. But
43:16as he gets closer, he notices something.
43:18The dragon isn't attacking him, it's
43:20pulling away, it's scared. And then he
43:23sees it, there's a massive chain around
43:25the dragon's neck, and it's bolted to
43:27the base of a metal plate. The dragon
43:29isn't guarding the tower, it's a
43:31prisoner of the tower. So he puts his
43:33sword down, he walks up to the chain,
43:35and he breaks it. The dragon looks back
43:37at him, stretches its wings for what
43:38feels like the first time in centuries,
43:40and flies away. The path to the tower to
43:43get to the flower is now wide open. That
43:45right there is the head fake. You
43:47probably predicted a fight, or at least
43:49some way around the dragon, but instead,
43:51you got a rescue, something you weren't
43:53expecting. [music] And notice, you
43:54didn't just feel confused, that clicked
43:57when I said it, because it makes sense.
43:59There were clues, he was pulling away,
44:00he was scared, it's possible for that to
44:02have happened. That's what separates a
44:04great head fake from a cheap one. A
44:06cheap surprise is just random. It comes
44:08out of nowhere, it doesn't have anything
44:09to do with the lead-up, and it just
44:11doesn't make any sense. A great head
44:12fake is one that you would never have
44:14expected, but as soon as you hear it,
44:16you immediately understand why it's
44:18true. That prediction error, the head
44:20fake between thinking he'll fight and
44:22actually rescuing, that triggered the
44:24biggest dopamine spike you could
44:25possibly get. Now, your brain is paying
44:27more attention to the story than it was
44:29before, cuz you don't want to get caught
44:30flat-footed making a mistake again. All
44:32right, let's keep going and finish the
44:34story. Now that the path is cleared, the
44:35prince starts walking towards the tower,
44:37and he starts climbing the stairs. He
44:39reaches the top floor, and the magical
44:41flower is just sitting there in the
44:42middle of the room. But standing next to
44:44it is the king, his father, the one who
44:46sent him on this mission in the first
44:48place. Now, suddenly a new question just
44:51hit you. Wait, why was the king there?
44:52What does the king have to do with this?
44:54Did the dragon actually bring the king?
44:55How did he get there so fast? That's the
44:57re-hook. Before your brain even finished
44:59the head fake that the dragon was a
45:00prisoner and not a guard, immediately we
45:02reopen a new loop by posing a new
45:05question you didn't see coming. One loop
45:07closed, the next loop opened at the same
45:09time. And now you're more invested than
45:11you were at the start. That is the
45:13addiction story loop. Stakes, the big
45:15question, the head fake, and the
45:17re-hook, on repeat over and over. And
45:19notice what just happened to you. I told
45:21you the first version, the flat version,
45:22the dragon, the prince, the castle, the
45:24flower, pretty basic, and you felt
45:26nothing. Your brain was on autopilot,
45:27complete vending machine story. But when
45:29I told the loop version, you probably
45:31leaned in. You made predictions for what
45:33would happen. You got surprised when it
45:35didn't. You got re-hooked with a new
45:36question. Same characters, same setting,
45:38but a completely different neurological
45:40experience. And here's the thing, it
45:42doesn't matter whether the story is
45:43about a prince and a dragon or the path
45:45for your business to get to a million
45:46dollars or some client story that went
45:49awry, the same loop works for every
45:51scenario. All you need are the stakes to
45:54make the person's brain care in the
45:56first place, a big question to force an
45:59initial prediction, a head fake reveal
46:01that breaks the initial expectation and
46:04a re-hook to start the next cycle again
46:06before the previous one ends. As long as
46:08that loop is happening, the person
46:10listening to the story chemically cannot
46:12disengage because there's always an
46:14unresolved prediction that's consuming
46:16their attention. Now, the million-dollar
46:18question is how do you tactically use
46:21this in your own stories? Not a fairy
46:22tale, not a casino, but when you write
46:24your stories, what are the tactics that
46:26must be true to make those four pieces
46:28of the loop come alive? We're going to
46:30break that down right now. And by the
46:32way, if you like how I'm systematically
46:33walking this through, first theory with
46:35the casino, then a real example, then
46:37the tactics, I actually put together my
46:39full short-form content system in the
46:41same way. It covers how I come up with
46:44ideas, how I research them, how I write
46:46hooks, but most importantly, the actual
46:48monetization funnel that I use to turn
46:51views into dollars. And I explain it
46:53very clearly using this type of logic.
46:56If you want to get that full system,
46:57it's also completely free. You can get
46:59it at shortformsystem.co
47:01or at the link below. It'll make your
47:03content system way better. All right, so
47:04now you know the science and you've seen
47:06the loop in action for some fairy tale
47:09type story. This last part is going to
47:11be way more tactical and less
47:12theoretical. I'm going to walk through
47:13each of the four steps in the loop and
47:15give you the tactical playbook for how
47:16you can use this in your content.
47:18[music]
47:18Whether you're making YouTube videos,
47:19shorts, writing emails, tweets, or even
47:21talking to a customer on a sales call,
47:23these tactics work every time. All
47:25right, let's start with the stakes. Now,
47:27stakes is the simplest step in the loop,
47:29but it's the one people mess up the
47:31most. [music] And they mess it up by
47:32skipping it entirely. You only need
47:34three things to make the stakes matter
47:36for anyone in any story. One, a
47:39character someone can root for. Two,
47:41something at risk. And three, urgency.
47:44Now, character doesn't have to mean a
47:46fictional person. It could be you. It
47:47could be your client. It could be I was
47:49talking to some creator the other day.
47:51As long as the viewer can picture a real
47:53human in a real situation, you've You've
47:55your character. Something at risk means
47:57there's a consequence if things go
47:59wrong. I was about to lose my biggest
48:00client or the whole launch was on the
48:03line. Because the brain needs to know
48:04what failure looks like so it can start
48:06predicting if something will succeed or
48:08not. Now, urgency, the third piece, is
48:10the multiplier. Saying within a week
48:13hits harder than saying eventually.
48:15Saying the call was in 2 hours hits
48:17harder than saying the call was later in
48:19the day. If you add a ticking clock and
48:21some urgency, it compresses the stakes
48:24and makes the brain predict faster. Now,
48:26here's the thing most people don't
48:26realize. You don't need to be dramatic
48:29about setting the scene to build the
48:31stakes. Stakes don't mean life or death,
48:33they just mean personally relevant for
48:35your ideal viewer. For example, I had 48
48:37hours to figure out why our paid budget
48:39wasn't working or I was going to blow
48:41through the whole thing. That's an
48:42example of stakes. Nobody's dying, but
48:44if you're a business owner and you care
48:46about paid spend, well, that taps into a
48:48real scenario with a real character,
48:50real stakes, and real urgency that
48:52you've experienced. So, the tactic is
48:53very simple. Before you start your
48:55story, the viewer has to know what is at
48:57risk, who it's happening to, and why it
48:59matters right now. If the answer to any
49:01of those is confusing or not apparent,
49:04before you start the story, you need to
49:05establish those to build better stakes.
49:07All right, the second step in the loop
49:08is the big question. And the big
49:10question is where content goes from
49:11decent to really addictive. The mistake
49:13people most often make here is they're
49:15being way too vague. They say,
49:17"Something crazy happened." or "You're
49:19not going to believe it." or "Things
49:21were about to change." Those kind of
49:23statements don't prompt big questions.
49:25of empty teasers. The viewer's brain
49:27won't be able to predict what happens
49:28cuz you haven't given them enough
49:29specific information for them to make a
49:31guess. And remember, if they don't
49:33predict what's going to happen, well,
49:34then the head fake won't hit because it
49:36has nothing to contrast against. The
49:38setup for a great big question gives the
49:39viewer just enough information to make a
49:41prediction, but not too much to
49:43overwhelm them. That's the sweet spot
49:44you're going for. Here's an example of
49:46this in practice. So, I get on the call
49:48with my client and within 30 minutes,
49:50she tells me something that completely
49:52changes my strategy for the next 6
49:53months. Now, as a listener or a viewer,
49:55your brain is running. What did she say?
49:57Was it a complaint? Was it some new
49:58trend that nobody knows about? You start
50:01asking yourself those questions and
50:02subconsciously forming the prediction.
50:04And now, you're locked in. If you
50:06compare that with something like, "I had
50:07a call with the client and it went
50:09well." Well, there's nothing to predict
50:10there, so the question never happens and
50:12there's nothing to head fake against.
50:13So, the tactic is this, whenever you're
50:15about to reveal something important in
50:17your content, stop, back up, and before
50:20the reveal, give the viewer more context
50:22so they can make a prediction before you
50:25give that answer. This will pop a
50:27question that your answer will then head
50:29fake against. Not every moment in the
50:30story needs one of these big questions,
50:32but every great story has a massive big
50:34question towards the beginning that
50:36viewers will chew on. And the earlier
50:38you load it in, the longer that dopamine
50:40can drip in before the answer is
50:42revealed. All right, step three is the
50:44head fake, and this one is the hardest
50:46to get right of the four. Because, like
50:48I said earlier, there's a big difference
50:49between a surprise that's addictive and
50:51a surprise that's just confusing. A bad
50:54head fake comes out of nowhere with no
50:56setup or connection to everything else.
50:58It might be shocking, but it just
50:59doesn't make sense based on what you've
51:01already shared. And when it doesn't
51:03click, the viewer won't get that
51:04dopamine spike, they don't feel the aha.
51:06They just get frustrated and confused.
51:08So, the great rule of thumb for a head
51:09fake is this, figure out what a normal
51:12viewer should believe, what they should
51:14be predicting based on what you've
51:15already said, and then contrast against
51:17it. Think about how a magician works.
51:19They don't just pull the rabbit out of
51:20the hat in the first minute. They show
51:22you the hat, they show that it's empty,
51:24they tell you look over here, and then
51:25boom, they pull the rabbit out of the
51:26hat over here. When the rabbit appears,
51:28you're surprised, but the logic checks
51:31out and you know you missed something
51:33that was clearly there. That is what a
51:35good head fake looks like. So, here's
51:36the practical framework for building
51:38head fakes. Step one, figure out what
51:40the viewer will naturally predict based
51:41on the context. Step two, deliver an
51:43answer or reveal that contrast what they
51:46believe, but is clearly logical in a way
51:49that they can accept to be true right
51:50away. All right, the last step, number
51:52four, is the re-hook. And the re-hook is
51:54the simplest tactic in the loop, but
51:56it's the thing that separates the good
51:58storytellers from the great ones.
52:00Because the re-hook isn't just about
52:01what you say, it's when you say it.
52:03Remember the casino metric, time per
52:05hand is everything. The casino's entire
52:07goal is to decrease the time between
52:10dopamine hits. Your goal as a
52:12storyteller is the exact same thing. So,
52:14the moment the head fake lands and the
52:15viewer is trying to figure out what
52:17happened, that's when you open a new
52:18question with a re-hook. And here's what
52:20this sounds like in practice. And that's
52:22when she told me she was doubling her
52:23budget, which would have been amazing if
52:25I hadn't just signed an exclusivity
52:26agreement with her competitor the night
52:28before. That's a re-hook. The head fake,
52:30she's doubling her budget, is resolved,
52:32but then a new loop, I just signed an
52:34exclusivity agreement with her
52:35competitor, opens on the other side.
52:37Compare that with something like this.
52:38She doubled her budget, and that was a
52:39great call. Anyways, now I'm on to See
52:42how much dead air there is between
52:44closing that and then transitioning into
52:45the next. You want it to be much faster.
52:47Phrases that make re-hooks work and feel
52:49like connective tissue are things like
52:51this, which would have been great
52:52except, but here's the problem with
52:54that, and that's when I realized, which
52:56is exactly why {dot} {dot} {dot} Each of
52:58these phrases closes a loop and opens
53:00another one in the same breath. So, the
53:02tactic really is this. Go to the points
53:04in your story where you feel like you
53:06close down a loop and you're going to
53:07begin a new section. Those are the
53:09danger zones for dropping attention.
53:11Right at that moment, you need some
53:13re-hook, some new question, some new
53:14complication, some new implication,
53:16something new to re-trigger attention.
53:19Think of it like a relay race. The baton
53:20has to transition between runners when
53:22they're both moving. If runner one comes
53:24to runner two and they were at a dead
53:26stop, it would lose all momentum.
53:28Storytelling works in the exact same
53:29way.
53:30All right, at this point you now have
53:31the storytelling fundamentals as well as
53:33two advanced storytelling frameworks,
53:35dopamine ladders and the dopamine
53:37addiction loop. The last thing that's
53:39very important to learn are the common
53:41mistakes that beginners make when they
53:43start trying to improve their stories.
53:45So, in this next part, I'll break down
53:46all seven mistakes, why they're a
53:48problem, and how you can adjust your
53:50stories differently to make them more
53:51compelling.
53:54Now, the first storytelling mistake is a
53:55big one, and it will shock you. You've
53:57probably seen this visual, the story
53:59arc. We all learn this in school. It was
54:01touted as the best way to tell a story.
54:03You start with some background, initial
54:05conflict, rising action, some climax,
54:08falling action, and a resolution. This
54:10is the prototypical structure of a great
54:12story. Well, it turns out in this era,
54:14that structure is completely wrong. It's
54:17kind of like the food pyramid. Remember
54:18when you were taught that 50% of your
54:19diet should be bread? Yeah, exactly.
54:22Turns out that was outdated thinking as
54:24well. Same thing here. The traditional
54:26story arc is not the best formula for
54:28telling winning stories in the internet
54:30era. And I want to tell you exactly
54:32what's wrong with it. The story arc is
54:34basically a single bell curve. Start
54:36low, rise high, come back down. This is
54:39what Pixar does. This is what Hollywood
54:40does. This is how many of the greatest
54:42novels were written. But, it won't work
54:44online, and that's because people have
54:46experienced time compression. Whether we
54:48like it or not, because of the internet,
54:50the storytelling pace required to hold
54:52someone's attention is much faster than
54:54we think. Our brains have just sped up,
54:57and this means the traditional story arc
54:58won't work because 80% of your viewers
55:01will bounce before the rising action
55:03even gets interesting. It's just way too
55:05slow to hold attention. That old story
55:07arc was built when the only options for
55:09entertainment were 2-hour movies,
55:11300-page books, or a drunk uncle around
55:13the fire at a family function you
55:15couldn't leave. They had you captive.
55:17And if you don't believe me, when was
55:18the last time you were able to sit down
55:20for a full movie in theaters?
55:22Exactly. Now, the movies may have gotten
55:24worse, but it's really because
55:25subconsciously, you just prefer a faster
55:27speed. This is years and years of slowly
55:30increasing your baseline processing. So,
55:32as a storyteller in the internet era,
55:34you have to take a completely different
55:36approach. The modern story arc, I
55:38debated calling it the Callaway story
55:40arc, looks something like this. First,
55:42it's initial intro hook with context and
55:44characters, but it doesn't start at zero
55:46intensity. It starts at about 70 out of
55:48100. The full intro has to be delivered
55:50at this level. Then, very quickly, in
55:53the first minute or two, there is some
55:54conflict or contrast introduced, where
55:57the intensity graph spikes even higher
55:59to about 90 out of 100. This is actually
56:01the first major conflict moment and sets
56:03the stage for maximum attention capture.
56:06Over the next couple minutes, the
56:07tension finally releases, slowly heading
56:09back down to somewhere around 30 out of
56:11100. This is like a wave, the tide is
56:13going out, finally releasing some of
56:14that tension. But then, the story starts
56:16to build back up again, until it peaks
56:18back with another conflict or head fake
56:20somewhere around 75 out of 100. And then
56:22again, release. And this cycle of peak
56:25and release continues on a 2-5 minute
56:27cadence until the video is over. Now,
56:28the biggest peak can either be the first
56:30one, with subsequent peaks ramping down,
56:32or the last one, with all the peaks
56:33leading up. But either way, there are
56:35some massive differences between the
56:37traditional story arc and the modern
56:39one. First, the intros are completely
56:41different. On the internet, you have to
56:43hook somebody initially, or the rest of
56:45the story doesn't really matter. None of
56:47the last 95% of the work is even seen if
56:49somebody bounces after the first 5%. So,
56:52in modern stories, that intro has to be
56:54above zero, and then you can release
56:55tension later. Second, the timing of
56:57that first conflict or contrast or
56:59stakes moment has to be earlier, for the
57:01same logic as the intro. Because now,
57:03since there are infinite content options
57:05for people to choose, you have to give
57:06them a reason to stay immediately. And
57:09then third, you'll notice that the rise
57:10and fall around the conflict is similar,
57:12but there are many more peaks in the
57:14modern version than traditional. This is
57:16called re-hooking. It's super important.
57:17I'll explain more later how to do it.
57:19So, in summary, stories have changed
57:21because attention has changed. You can
57:23no longer hold people captive. You have
57:25to earn the right to their attention in
57:275-minute increments. And I got to say,
57:29there will always be room for the Pixars
57:31and the Hollywood classics that still
57:33follow that traditional story arc. But
57:35unless Christopher Nolan is watching
57:36this, and Chris, if you are, please
57:38leave a comment, the rest of us are not
57:39in the business of making movies. We're
57:42trying to hold attention on our content
57:44to help our viewer accomplish some task.
57:46So, mistake number one for beginner
57:47storytellers is not realizing that the
57:49strategy and arc of modern stories has
57:52changed because of time compression.
57:54Now, for the rest of this video, I'm
57:55going to walk through six more tactical
57:57ways that you can reposition your story
57:58to take advantage of this. The second
58:00mistake beginner storytellers make is
58:01that they build their intros in the
58:03wrong order. I call this jumbling the
58:05W's. You have who, what, where, when,
58:07why, and how. I just mentioned how
58:09important the intros are to a modern
58:11story. While traditional stories build
58:12their intros like this, first they use
58:14where and when. It was a long, cold,
58:17windy night in December. Or, last month
58:19I was at a conference in Miami. So, they
58:21start by setting the scene context. Then
58:23they go into the who and the what. Billy
58:26was walking down the street. Or, I saw
58:29the CEO of Disney speak. And then
58:31finally they go into the how and the
58:33why. He fell because it was slippery. He
58:35is worried about the future of
58:36entertainment because of regulation.
58:38That's the traditional story arc in this
58:40order, where, when, who, what, how, why.
58:43So, it sounds something like this. It
58:44was a long, cold, windy night in
58:46December. Billy was walking down the
58:48street. He fell because it was slippery.
58:50Or, in a business context, last month I
58:52was in a conference in Miami. I saw the
58:54CEO of Disney speak. He is worried about
58:56the future of entertainment because of
58:58regulation. And it sounds decent to our
59:00ear, but it's just not that interesting.
59:02And that's because you're leading with
59:04facts that don't matter to the viewer. I
59:06don't care that you were at a
59:07conference, just tell me what the CEO
59:09said. So, the modern hook stack looks
59:11more like this. First, it's what and
59:13why. The future of entertainment is
59:15going to look super different. Then it's
59:17who and how. The CEO of Disney is
59:19worried about it. And finally, it's when
59:22and where. He was talking in a
59:23conference in Miami about it. So, it
59:25reads like this. The future of
59:27entertainment is going to look super
59:28different. The CEO of Disney is really
59:30worried about it. He was talking about
59:32it at a conference in Miami. Now, this
59:34seems like a really subtle change,
59:35right? But, think about it like this. In
59:37your videos, you will lose 50% of
59:39viewers in the first 30 seconds. Think
59:41about all that work you did after the
59:43first 30 seconds, half of your viewers
59:45will not see. Every sentence matters.
59:47The order of the sentences matters. You
59:49want to first start immediately with
59:51what is happening and why it matters to
59:53viewers. This is critical. They need to
59:55opt in to your story. If you don't start
59:57with this, they're still uncertain
59:59whether this is for them or not. And
1:00:01every second that goes by where they're
1:00:02uncertain, you're losing a portion of
1:00:04them. Next, you need to contextualize
1:00:06who it's for and how you know or how
1:00:08they should trust. Essentially, once you
1:00:10say what is up and why it matters, you
1:00:12need to prove that the information is
1:00:13coming from someone credible, you or
1:00:15some source. And then lastly, you can
1:00:17use some personal details like where and
1:00:19when to add color. But, that's all it
1:00:21is, color. The where and the when is the
1:00:24icing. You don't lead with the icing,
1:00:25you lead with the cake. You need to
1:00:27operate on an assumption that everyone
1:00:28listening to your story has an invisible
1:00:30timer in their head. Some are 5 seconds,
1:00:32some are 15, some are 30. But, when that
1:00:34timer strikes zero, if they don't
1:00:36understand what's in it for them, or at
1:00:37least the stakes of why they should
1:00:39care, they're bouncing and you've lost.
1:00:41Don't jumble the W's. Okay, storytelling
1:00:44mistake number three is that you get
1:00:45somebody to buy in with the hook, but
1:00:46then you don't get them to rebuy in.
1:00:49Think about poker. Remember in Casino
1:00:50Royale when James Bond initially loses
1:00:52the 10 million, but then rebuy's in and
1:00:55wins the game? Essentially, he could
1:00:56have bounced, but that rebuy saved him.
1:00:58He stayed hooked on the game. You want
1:01:00to think of your stories in the exact
1:01:02same way. You have an initial conflict
1:01:04or contrast moment. It rises, it peaks,
1:01:07you release. But, you don't want to let
1:01:08the viewer off the hook right there. You
1:01:11need them to rebuy in with their
1:01:13attention. And to do this, you need to
1:01:15rehook them. The way to reintroduce them
1:01:17is to tee up new stakes or reintroduce a
1:01:19new pain point after you've solved the
1:01:21first one. So, for example, let's say
1:01:22you're a marketing startup and you're
1:01:24trying to make content to educate
1:01:25startup founders on why they should run
1:01:26their paid ads a certain way. Maybe the
1:01:29most critical pain point you're talking
1:01:30about is the creative and how if they
1:01:31don't have the creative solved, they're
1:01:33going to lose all this traction. So, you
1:01:35crescendo first to the solve for the
1:01:36creative and then right as you tell them
1:01:38how to fix it, you say something like,
1:01:40"But the truth is, if you have great
1:01:41creative, it'll be underutilized unless
1:01:43you solve for this." See, so you gave
1:01:45them something, but then you created a
1:01:47new problem that they have to stay to
1:01:49solve. This is called re-hooking. You
1:01:50just keep closing existing loops and
1:01:53opening new ones until the end of the
1:01:54video. And after three to four loops
1:01:56closed, they will trust you more because
1:01:58it feels like you solved four of their
1:01:59problems in one. But the reality is, you
1:02:01just solved their one main problem and
1:02:03then created three new ones to then
1:02:05solve. But the whole time, they would
1:02:06have stayed watching. And this is
1:02:08critical because social algorithms push
1:02:09your stuff largely based on average view
1:02:12duration. How long did someone stay on
1:02:14the video? If you want AVD to go up, you
1:02:16need to re-hook throughout the video so
1:02:17they watch for longer. Okay, so far
1:02:19we've talked about the general arc of
1:02:20the story, the hook layering with the
1:02:22jumbled Ws, and then re-hooking
1:02:24throughout. Now, let's get into some
1:02:25specifics around character and plot that
1:02:28can help improve your stories. The
1:02:29fourth big storytelling mistake that
1:02:31beginner creators are making is that
1:02:32they're missing a villain. Stories are
1:02:34great when they have contrast. The hero
1:02:36alone is cool, but the hero versus the
1:02:39villain, now that's blockbuster. And
1:02:40it's better with a villain because the
1:02:42distance between hero and villain is
1:02:44bigger than hero and nothing. This is
1:02:46contrast. Now, you don't actually have
1:02:48to have a character villain in the human
1:02:51sense. The villain can be anything. For
1:02:53example, if you make videos for startup
1:02:54founders, the villain could be corporate
1:02:56America. If you make videos for one
1:02:58career path, the villain could be the
1:02:59other. You want to pick the thing,
1:03:01person, group, or brand that is the
1:03:02antagonist of your hero and paint them
1:03:04as the villain accordingly. You could
1:03:06use frames like, "They do this, but we,
1:03:08we do that." This contrast makes it
1:03:10easier to build up the hero and get
1:03:12people more interested. And this speaks
1:03:13to the fifth storytelling mistake.
1:03:15You're not giving the viewer something
1:03:17[music] to root for. Stories are great
1:03:18when they have stakes. The more likable
1:03:20the hero or relatable the situation, the
1:03:23more people have something to root for
1:03:24and get invested in watching. You want
1:03:26the viewer to see themselves as the
1:03:28protagonist, whether it be a character
1:03:30or a movement. The best way to do this
1:03:32tactically is to make the hero subject
1:03:34likable by building common ground. The
1:03:36more you can contextualize why your
1:03:38story matters for the target viewer, the
1:03:39more they're going to root for the hero.
1:03:41For example, I make these videos because
1:03:42I genuinely want entrepreneurs to be
1:03:44able to make more money from content.
1:03:46Because of that, I can share examples in
1:03:48my videos that directly relate to
1:03:50entrepreneurs. And when they hear this,
1:03:51that makes them want to root more for me
1:03:53as the creator and for the formulas and
1:03:54frameworks that I'm sharing that can
1:03:56help them. When people root for you,
1:03:58they get optimistic and optimism always
1:04:00wins. So, give the viewer something to
1:04:02root for. Now, the sixth biggest
1:04:03storytelling mistake you're making is a
1:04:05massive one as well. If you can solve
1:04:07for this, you are golden in the internet
1:04:09world. And the mistake is that you're
1:04:10lacking atomic shareability. So, what
1:04:12does this mean? Atomic shareability is
1:04:14the ability to condense a story or idea
1:04:17or plot down to a single unit so small
1:04:20that a viewer can take it and go share
1:04:21with their friend after just a single
1:04:23watch. I think of this as the Paul
1:04:25Revere effect. Think about it. Paul
1:04:27rides through Massachusetts and he's
1:04:28screaming, "The British are coming. The
1:04:30British are coming." A full story in
1:04:31just four words. Immediately, I imagine
1:04:34everyone in the town is scurrying
1:04:35around. "The British are coming. The
1:04:36British are coming." That is 1700's OG
1:04:38virality. Now, the reason this message
1:04:40and that story was able to spread so
1:04:42quickly is because it was said in the
1:04:44most concise unit possible. The atomic
1:04:47form of the message. This means others
1:04:49can pass it on super easily. So, when
1:04:50you tell stories, cut all the
1:04:52unnecessary fluff. Simple words, simple
1:04:55ideas, punchy sentences. Tell your
1:04:57stories in a way that others could
1:04:59retell. Now, I find a tactical way to do
1:05:01this if you're talking about a complex
1:05:02or niche topic is to say your points
1:05:05twice. The first time, explain it like
1:05:07you would explain to a colleague. But
1:05:08then the second time, restate the point
1:05:10and use a metaphor like you were
1:05:11explaining it to a child. This will help
1:05:13contextualize the point and reframe it
1:05:15in an easier way to digest. Now, the
1:05:17last mistake I see beginner storytellers
1:05:19making is that they're not doing good
1:05:20enough job painting the picture. You
1:05:22really need visuals. If you don't give a
1:05:24visual to help someone absorb the point,
1:05:26then you have to paint that visual
1:05:27completely with words. They have to try
1:05:29to imagine what you're saying. And this
1:05:31can be fun, but in most cases it just
1:05:33causes comprehension loss. It is so much
1:05:35harder to make a point without also
1:05:37visualizing that point because the human
1:05:39brain was designed for visual input. I
1:05:42say this a lot, but a picture's worth a
1:05:43thousand words, a video is worth a
1:05:45thousand pictures. So, use video visuals
1:05:47to help contextualize the message. Now,
1:05:49with my videos, I have Charlie and Eke
1:05:51who are absolute wizards at this. Hiring
1:05:54them was the greatest thing I could have
1:05:55done as a content storyteller. I can't
1:05:57emphasize it enough. If you're trying to
1:05:59scale up your story quality and you feel
1:06:01like what you're missing is killer
1:06:02visuals, I'd recommend exploring teaming
1:06:05up with an editor like this. If you want
1:06:06to find editors at the quality that I
1:06:08have, I have a link in the description.
1:06:10All right, guys. That is all we've got
1:06:11for this video. As always, we're trying
1:06:13to push the boundaries for what's
1:06:14available for free on YouTube in this
1:06:16space. Hopefully, you got a ton out of
1:06:18that and you feel a lot better about the
1:06:20way you're going to approach your
1:06:21stories moving forward. If you're a
1:06:22business owner and you're trying to
1:06:24learn how to use content to grow your
1:06:26business, hopefully you can already tell
1:06:27this will be one of the best channels
1:06:29you could possibly watch. Make sure to
1:06:30like, subscribe, and please leave a
1:06:32comment on anything else you're
1:06:33struggling with in the content world. We
1:06:36really do look at the comments to guide
1:06:37what videos we make next. So, open to
1:06:39anything there. If you want, I've got a
1:06:41bunch of free stuff in the description
1:06:42below and if you want to work with me
1:06:44one-on-one to improve your content and
1:06:46grow your personal brand, I've got links
1:06:48below as well. All right, we will see
1:06:49you guys on the next one. Peace.

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