In 2009, Ira Glass Described 2 Key Building Blocks of Storytelling That Every Social Impact Leader Needs to Know

Ira Glass is a master storyteller who hosts produces This American Life. In a 5 minute masterclass from the annals of Youtube, Glass explains the two building blocks of great storytelling.

Anecdote

A sequence of actions or thoughts that lead to further actions or thoughts. It has a momentum that moves you on a journey. It needs bait to create suspense and sustain interest. This means questions that you constantly introduce and that your audience will expect you to answer.

Moment of Reflection

The moment of reflection is the destination to the anecdote's journey. It's the bigger reason that the story matters. The explanation of why someone is engaging with the story. It's the point. The bigger something.

It takes work. You have to persevere to make it happen.

The craft of storytelling is weaving interesting anecdotes with meaningful reflections. The two interwoven will make something larger than the sum of its parts.