How to Tell Stories So Good People Just Say “Holy Sh*t” — Transcript

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1. 0:00When I first got into storytelling, I
2. 0:02was completely confused. All the tips
3. 0:04out there made it sound so complicated.
4. 0:06But I learned it's actually pretty easy
5. 0:08if you know what matters. If you just
6. 0:10give me 7 minutes, I'll show you how to
7. 0:12tell better stories than 97% of people.
8. 0:14The secret to great storytelling comes
9. 0:17down to one thing. Zooming into the
10. 0:19moment. The best storytellers drop you
11. 0:21into one specific scene that you can
12. 0:23see, feel, and remember. But let me show
13. 0:25you what I mean. Here's a 30-se
14. 0:27secondond story from Anne Hatherway. I
15. 0:28I've been to the gym and I'm on and I'm
16. 0:30on this machine and um I see this guy
17. 0:34staring at me and I'm like, "Oh god, am
18. 0:36I am I doing something wrong?" And I'm
19. 0:38like, "Hey, is everything cool? Like,
20. 0:40did you want to work in?" And he goes,
21. 0:41"Oh god, no. I'm just in my own world."
22. 0:43Like, "No." And I was like, "Okay,
23. 0:44cool." Cuz you were like staring at me
24. 0:45really hard. So, I go back and I get off
25. 0:47the machine. And then he comes up to me.
26. 0:48He's like, "So, uh, you've been working
27. 0:51out of this gym for a long time." And I
28. 0:53was like, "Oh my god, he's hitting on
29. 0:55me." And I'm like, "Oh, um, I mean,
30. 0:57yeah, I've been been coming here for a
31. 0:58little bit." He's like, "Cool. I'm a
32. 0:59trainer here." And I was just wondering
33. 1:00if he wanted some pointers. And I was
34. 1:02like, "Oh, no. He not hitting on you. He
35. 1:05just wants a job." So, I say to this guy
36. 1:07like, you know, I had a baby seven weeks
37. 1:09ago. And he goes, "Oh, trying to lose
38. 1:12the baby weight."
39. 1:16>> Wow.
40. 1:16>> So, I just, you know, muster up my
41. 1:18dignity and I say, "No, Brandon, I'm
42. 1:20just trying to regain my strength." And
43. 1:22he said, "Great." ate and he walked away
44. 1:23and I cried a little bit.
45. 1:25>> Did you catch it? She didn't say, "Oh, I
46. 1:27was at the gym and then this guy came by
47. 1:29and gave me some advice." She didn't do
48. 1:31that. That would have been a summary.
49. 1:33Instead, she zoomed into this one
50. 1:35specific moment, the one conversation.
51. 1:37It felt like a movie playing in our
52. 1:39mind. The good news is that it's
53. 1:41actually easier than you think. And you
54. 1:42can do exactly the same just by using
55. 1:45four simple techniques I call P A S T or
56. 1:48past. Now, you can think of zooming into
57. 1:52the past. First technique P for place.
58. 1:54Start by telling us where the story is
59. 1:57happening. Examples. Two weeks ago, I'm
60. 1:59sitting on the couch in my living room
61. 2:01in Chicago. Or I'm outside the
62. 2:03conference room taking a deep breath.
63. 2:05And when you tell your audience where
64. 2:07you are, a picture starts forming in
65. 2:09their heads. They hear living room or
66. 2:11conference room and they instantly start
67. 2:13imagining it. It doesn't matter which
68. 2:15living room or conference room they can
69. 2:16picture as long as they can picture
70. 2:19something. Sometimes people think that
71. 2:20they need to describe the location like
72. 2:22in great detail. They're like, "The
73. 2:25conference room had a big wooden table,
74. 2:28a shiny whiteboard, and a very modern
75. 2:30screen. Please don't do that." Going
76. 2:32into those details can make your story
77. 2:34feel staged or fake, and it just wastes
78. 2:37time on details that are not really
79. 2:39important. Next technique, A for
80. 2:41actions. Next, share what is actually
81. 2:43happening. What are you or someone else
82. 2:45doing in that moment? Are you walking,
83. 2:48biking, yelling, typing, waiting,
84. 2:50crying, whatever it is, describe it.
85. 2:52Examples: I'm staring at my laptop,
86. 2:54hovering over the scent button, or I'm
87. 2:57putting my bags onto the security belt
88. 2:59at the airport. These actions make your
89. 3:01story as if it was unfolding in real
90. 3:04time. They give your audience a mental
91. 3:06movie to follow along, and they add
92. 3:08momentum to your story. So, describe the
93. 3:10action. But the next technique is
94. 3:12actually the one that I use the most. S
95. 3:14for speech. Many of your stories will
96. 3:16involve more than one character. Maybe a
97. 3:18co-orker, a client, a family member, a
98. 3:21friend. You can make your story
99. 3:22instantly more interesting by sharing
100. 3:24what you or that character said in that
101. 3:26crucial moment of the story. What were
102. 3:28the exact words? Quote that person.
103. 3:31Examples: Instead of saying, "Oh, my
104. 3:33manager was very frustrated." Say, "My
105. 3:36manager called me and said, "What the
106. 3:37hell was that?" You were all over the
107. 3:40place. Or instead of saying, "My mom
108. 3:41loved the idea." Say, "My mom told me,
109. 3:44"Wow, this is exactly what I needed.
110. 3:46Thank you so much." Now, dialogue pulls
111. 3:49your listeners into the scene. It makes
112. 3:50the story feel as if it was unfolding in
113. 3:53real time. But don't worry if you can't
114. 3:55remember the exact words of that moment.
115. 3:57Well, feel free to use the words that
116. 3:59could have been said in that moment. And
117. 4:01last technique, T for thoughts. We as
118. 4:04humans, we have thousands and thousands
119. 4:06of thoughts every single day. Our brains
120. 4:08constantly bounce between fears, hopes,
121. 4:10dreams, plans, crazy thoughts. Now to
122. 4:13make your story more interesting, more
123. 4:15emotional, share some of those thoughts.
124. 4:17Ask yourself, what was I thinking during
125. 4:19that crucial moment of the story? And
126. 4:22then just share those thoughts.
127. 4:23Examples, instead of saying, I was
128. 4:25nervous about that meeting, say, I
129. 4:27thought, oh, please don't ask me any
130. 4:29questions, right? I don't know the
131. 4:30answers. Or instead of saying, I was
132. 4:32excited, say, I thought, this is my
133. 4:35moment. this will be the video that will
134. 4:37blow up my channel. Do you see the
135. 4:38difference? It seems like semantics, but
136. 4:40it makes the story much more
137. 4:42interesting. A common mistake is that
138. 4:44people share a version of their thoughts
139. 4:45that sounds just too professional. They
140. 4:48say something like, "I thought this
141. 4:51represents a supreme opportunity." Do
142. 4:54you actually think like that? Probably
143. 4:56not, right? Most of our thoughts, they
144. 4:57are quite different to that. They're a
145. 4:59bit chaotic, irrational, sometimes
146. 5:01downright neurotic. But those are the
147. 5:03exact thoughts that will make your story
148. 5:05more interesting. So when you share
149. 5:07those thoughts, give your audience the
150. 5:08raw, unfiltered, polished version of
151. 5:11that thought. But let's now watch
152. 5:12another short story, this time from
153. 5:14actor Chris Pratt. And as you watch it,
154. 5:16see if you can spot the elements of
155. 5:19past. I had this rule with my old man
156. 5:21and and I have it with my son, which is
157. 5:23when you're fishing, you can swear. So
158. 5:25we're out fishing. He catches a fish and
159. 5:27I'm trying to get him to take a picture
160. 5:28with the fish before we let it go and it
161. 5:30flops out of his hands and it and these
162. 5:32bass have these little spines on on
163. 5:34their back and the fin pokes him in the
164. 5:36hand falls in the water. He starts to
165. 5:37cry and he's like, "Oh." And I said,
166. 5:40"Hey buddy, are you all right? You all
167. 5:42right?" He said, "Oh, Dad, I'm about to
168. 5:44swear." He goes, "That bass, that bass
169. 5:47is stupid."
170. 5:50And I was like, "All right, buddy. Yeah,
171. 5:53you know, now's the time. Get it out."
172. 5:54And he goes,
173. 5:56That stupid bass is a [ __ ] [ __ ]
174. 6:00>> Let's break down why this story works so
175. 6:02well. First place. Right away, he gives
176. 6:04us a vivid place. He's out on the water
177. 6:07fishing with his son. Boom. That
178. 6:09instantly creates that image in our
179. 6:10heads. Second action. He doesn't stay
180. 6:13awake, right? He describes exactly
181. 6:15what's happening. His son is catching
182. 6:17this fish. The fish flops in his hand.
183. 6:19And at the end, the fin even pokes him.
184. 6:21That level of detail makes the moment
185. 6:23feel real. And then third speech, he
186. 6:26then shares what his son says in this
187. 6:28moment. He doesn't just summarize that
188. 6:29his son was upset. Instead, he says,
189. 6:32"Dad, I'm about to swear." That is such
190. 6:35a funny line. This one is so good. And
191. 6:38then fourth thoughts. In that story, he
192. 6:41doesn't share that much of what he was
193. 6:43thinking in the moment. I would say in
194. 6:44this story, actually, the dialogue did
195. 6:46the heavy lifting. But that just shows
196. 6:48that sure, if your story can have all
197. 6:50the four techniques, perfect. But even
198. 6:51if it just has three out of the four,
199. 6:53it's already enough. So if you want your
200. 6:56stories to land, remember this. Zoom
201. 6:58into the moment. Storytelling isn't just
202. 7:01about flying over the scene.
203. 7:02Storytelling is about walking through
204. 7:04that front door. Now, today we covered
205. 7:06the foundation of every great story. But
206. 7:08if you want to go further, check out
207. 7:10this next video where I give you some
208. 7:12even more actionable tips on how to
209. 7:14become a magnetic storyteller. See you
210. 7:17there.