Some people find it hard to come up with an excellent way to get their story started. In the business world, you usually you would frame your story using the three steps of problem, solution, and results or outcomes.
Here is another quick way to get you started. Nick Morgan author, and coach tells people to use the story formats of famous and well-known stories as your framework, adapt the story to your business. Then explain your story within that framework,
You need to tell a story if you want to get someone’s attention and hold their attention until you get to your Call To Action (or as Jerry Weissman would say, to get them from point A to Point B).
You can do that with stories because stories work the way your mind works, Memory depends on attaching emotion to facts, Too many people try to use lists (3 of these, 6 of those) which do get people’s attention. Still, people have a difficult time remembering those lists. Stories do a much better job.
But if you are having a hard time creating a story, use one of the traditional story frames that have proved themselves over the years, Here are five frames you can use.
Quest is the most fundamental frame. In this scenario, the hero goes off to achieve a positive goal, but runs into a problem(s), generally finds a mentor, and then throughout the story reaches the goal.
The Stranger in a Strange Land is a much different story, The hero finds himself in a strange place where he is unsure of what to do (e.g., maybe a research task without any defined criteria), what the rules are, or even the path forward. But he runs into a mentor and finds a solution to something he didn’t know he was looking for in the beginning.
Rags To Riches is the classic story of stating out with nothing, and through hard work and some luck, you end up with fame and fortune.
Revenge is simply about a wrong done to the hero who, through no fault of his own, loses everything/. Then he prepares a plan and sets out to get revenge for the wrong done to him.
Love stories are about both love found and love lost. For example, a new great partnership or a partnership that is being dissolved,
The main point here is that you can use the frame of a classic, well-known story to help you create your own story without having to create a new structure. Also, these are frames that people know and understand from the beginning, which makes your job and their ability to follow your story more manageable.
Do you have a situation in which one of these frames would make sense as a starting point to create your unique business story?
You might also like 15 Benefits Of Storytelling In Businesses
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Jim Zitek, Harbor Capital Group
