Unleash the Power of Storytelling by Rob Biesenbach
“The bottom line? If you want your audience to do something, make them feel something.”
Storytelling is one of the best tools when it comes to persuading others, selling a product or just in general presenting your ideas. And the good thing is that anyone can learn to tell a good story. All you need are three simple elements: a character, a goal and a challenge.
In his book, Rob Biesenbach presents us with key advice on how to deliver an impactful story that provokes action from your audience. Whoever you are, be it a public speaker or just a regular office worker, we can all benefit from becoming more competent at telling stories.
You should by all means read this book for yourself. Below, I have written out my book notes, but I couldn’t cover hundreds of pages in just a couple of bullet points. That is why I highly encourage you to create your notes whilst going through the book, and for the time being use mine as a guide on what this book is about.
For more books check out Best Self-Improvement Books or Best Classic Books, and for a full self-improvement guide, you can also take a look at my Roadmap to Overman.
Book Notes
What is a story?
A story is a character in pursuit of a goal in the face of some challenge. Without these 3 you don’t have a story, but even with these elements, you must check a couple more boxes for your story to resonate with the audience.
- Is the character real and relatable?
- Is there sufficient conflict and are the stakes high enough?
- Is there clear cause and effect? A sure sign of a weak story is when you find yourself saying “and then” over and over again.
- Is there an emotional core?
4 Stages of a story
- Beginning – set the scene and introduce the character.
- Challenge – an event that sets the story in motion.
- Middle – the character works to restore balance.
- End – things come to a resolution.
Things to keep in mind while creating a story
- Determine your audience – needs, interests, emotional triggers, mood, culture…
- Figure out your goal – find a bridge between your goal and their desires.
- Identify possible challenges – their doubts, fears, prejudices…
- Find the right character – your character is the heart of the story.
- Conclude with a resolution – make sure that the story is resolved once you finish.