3 storytelling techniques to hook your audience

Read time: 3min

Welcome to the Tuesday's Narrative Nerd, the weekly(ish) newsletter where I provide actionable ideas to help you become a magnetic storyteller and speaker.

You have a few seconds in which your listeners decide if they wanna listen to your story or think about what they'll buy in the supermarket later on.

In today's issue, I’m gonna give you 3 techniques to grab your listener's attention from moment one!

Let's go!

Technique #1: Anticipate Your Story

Before actually going into your story, you can get your listeners excited about what is to come. They should feel like, "Oh, man. I gotta listen to this. This will soooo freakin' interesting."

You can do that by sharing one sentence that anticipates your story.?

For example:

• “A couple of months ago, one of our customers found a very creative solution for exactly your problem...”
• “I learned a major lesson just a few months back...”
• “Working with that agency was mind-blowing...”

See? Words like that create excitement and curiosity for what is about to come.

Caveat: I recommend using anticipation hooks sparingly. If you use them too often, you’ll undermine your credibility because every story is framed as the “craziest” or “most interesting” experience.

Technique #2: Start Right Into The Action

The best storytellers bring us into the story from the first second.

They don’t waste time giving too much context.

They start their story right into the action.

You can do that by having your character do any sort of action — walking, biking, reading, you name it.

For example:

• “It’s May 2019. Dinuka steps into her manager’s office and gives him a letter.”
• “2 weeks back, I was on my bike, singing out loud, ‘Dancing Queen’ from Abba.”
• “June last year, I hopped on my couch to turn on the TV.”? ?

By starting your story with forward momentum, you’re bringing your listeners into the story.?They’ll be hooked, immediately, wanting to know where this is going.

Technique #3: Start With Surprise

We humans have very clear ideas about what’s normal. This includes how people should behave, what actions they should take, and what results they should expect. The moment they can predict where the story is going, they'll tune out.

You can grab your listener's attention by?breaking the typical patterns of what your listeners expect.

For example:

• "2 years ago, I locked myself out. Completely naked."
• "My client called me and said, 'Emily. I gotta terminate our contract!'"
• "Yesterday, I looked at our profits. In one week, we had burned through all our profits."??

See? Each one of these statements has something that wouldn't happen every day. By starting your story with surprise, your listeners will be glued to their chairs, wanting to know how that happened.

Curious for more? I've just recorded a short youtube video on 3 storytelling techniques to deliver unforgettable stories. You can check it out here.

Action item: So, next time you tell a story, think about how you can hook your audience from the first second. Try to apply one of the three techniques and notice the effect it has on your listener.?

Much love!

Philipp

P.S. Ready to unleash the storyteller within you? Here are?3 ways to transform your storytelling skills:

1. Check out our course Power of StorySelling
2. Get your copy of the #1 best seller The StorySelling Method?
3. Watch hours of free content?on how to become a better storyteller on my?youtube channel

PP.S. Know someone who'd benefit from these tips? Feel free to share the newsletter with them or have them sign-up?here. I love that!