The 72 Rules of Commercial Storytelling

Because 71 wasn't enough and 73 is too many.

Many thanks to all my storytelling and speech-writing heroes who inspired this post: Jon Favreau, David Mamet, Nancy Duarte, Aaron Sorkin, Peggy Noonan, Philip Collins, Simon Sinek, Gary Vaynerchuk, Simon Sinek, David Litt, David JP Phillips, Guy Kawasaki, Aristotle, Malcolm Gladwell, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Anderson, Brian Solis, John C. Maxwell, Tony Robbins, Carmine Gallo and Ted Sorensen. (If you want more, all the links in this post go to good places!)

1. We are all storytellers, no matter what our job title says we are, and we must tell our stories as fast and as compellingly as possible.
2. Every story starts with a journey, a hero and a villain. But the story doesn’t start until you introduce some kind of conflict or obstacle which may stop your journey reaching it’s destination. "Intention and obstacle" form the foundations of any great story.
3. The 3 most important words in storytelling are “but….”, “and then….”
4. You should be able to explain your mission (or the mission of the hero in your story) in ONE sentence. “I want to ________ in order to __________ because if I don’t ________”.
5. Sometimes (but not always) a story has no purpose other than itself. You are simply there to entertain someone for a while and distract them from their daily life.
6. Aristotle is the Greek god of storytelling and wrote the rules of storytelling in a pamphlet called ‘Poetics’ in 335BC. Almost every writer you love follows these rules.
7. Based upon Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’ every story should contain 3 acts.
8. In business settings, most people have attention spans of around 6 minutes. TED is the best storytelling conference in the world because most of the talks are 18 minutes long – 3 acts of 6 minutes each.
9. Every story needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end. But not necessarily in that order. Jean-Luc Godard
10. Every great talk has a shape. Nancy Duarte did an amazing job of explaining this structure in her brilliant TED talk.
11. The audience is the most important part of any story.
12. The best stories contain big ideas, small words and short sentences.
13. The difference between an audience and a community is which way the chairs are facing.
14. The best stories trigger 3 basic hormones: Oxytocin (from building trust, generosity and a personal connection). Endorphins (from making someone laugh or helping them deal with their fear, pain or uncertainty). Dopamine (by telling a story with peaks, troughs that lead to cliff-hangers and a desire to know what happens next).
15. Real adventure stories (such as commercial case studies) only begin when something goes wrong.
16. Avoid "Death by PowerPoint". Every commercial story (like a .PPT presentation) should contain a S.T.A.R moment – ‘Something They’ll Always Remember”.
17. E.A.S.D is a real thing. Executive Attention Span Disorder. When telling a short informative story to an executive online, their attention span drops after about 75 seconds. (Think about that next time you create a video explaining your product por service).
18. When telling stories in commercial settings, the goal is not to sell to people who need what you have, it is to work with people who believe what you believe.
19. Logic and reason dominate most case studies by giving evidence and data or by showing an ROI. But research shows that 75% executives make major strategic decisions about the future of their business with based upon a gut feeling. Just because it’s a case study doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be an emotional story.
20. Emotional stories speak to the limbic part of the brain. That’s the part that has no capacity for language or reason and is where gut feelings come from. (See rule 19).
21. In entertainment, “What keeps you up at night?” is the premise of a great story. But in business, a far more engaging premise is “What gets you out of bed in the morning?”
22. Because the mind of most audiences wander every 6-10 minutes, every great business talk should include a demo, a question, an interactive element or a video every 6-10 minutes.
23. According to TIME magazine (and me) the greatest business presentation of all time was Steve Jobs launch of the iPhone in 2007. It was 1:45 of pure storytelling and followed almost exactly the same structure as Finding Nemo. Nancy Duarte mapped out the shape of his talk here and here.
24. The quickest way to make someone remember something is to make them laugh. This releases endorphins and helps people to connect with your story on a deeper level. (See rule 14).
25. Sir Ken Robinson has by far the most watched TED talk of all time. Not only did he make his audience laugh every 29 seconds, but despite dealing with the complicated and political topic of educational reform, he only references 2 data points in his entire talk.
26. During Sir Ken’s excellent TED talk, he told 8 stories. The average length of each story was 2 minutes 5 seconds. Most people speak at around 150 words per minute. The next time you want to tell a story, try writing limiting yourself to 300 words. (Or 3 ‘acts’ of 100 words each).
27. Sir Winston Churchill used to memorise his speeches by rehearsing them over and over again. But to make them feel spontaneous he intentionally added mistakes and corrected himself to make it feel more authentic.
28. Spontaneous talks are seldom memorable. The best talks involve a huge amount of preparation. Many TED talks have been built upon the 1:10 principle. They spend on average 10 hours crafting their talk for every minute that they present. TEN HOURS!
29. The best presentations I have worked on contain an average of '1 hour per minute' preparation. So the next time someone asks you to “just do about 15 minutes” – you might want to plan where you are going to find 15 hours to make it great.
30. Think about a presentation like a ‘present’. Especially if you are nervous. And remind yourself that everyone likes receiving presents, and it is a joyful experience to give them.
31. When preparing your talk, don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can never get it wrong. (This way you won’t be thrown if the venue changes, the tech breaks or something happens on the day that you didn’t expect).
32. But remember that practice is for beginners. The best storytellers (like the best actors and musicians) don’t practice; they ‘rehearse’.
33. It is often helpful to have 2 versions of every story or presentation. In a boardroom or at a conference, it is highly likely that time will run behind and you will be asked if you can present your well-crafted 30 minute presentation in 15 minutes.
34. Al Gore has a 600-slide presentation about climate change that takes him 2 hours 45 to present. He also has a 55-slide version that can be given in 10 minutes. He calls it “The Truth in 10” and he has trained almost 20,000 climate leaders to give both presentations.
35. Speaking for 10 minutes is a lot harder than speaking for an hour. (Remember rule 28).
36. The most memorable talk I have ever given was just 3 minutes long. I originally thought my talk needed to be 15 minutes long and was upset when I was told to give it in 7. I understood the art of editing and the importance of choosing exactly the right words (and only the right words) when I saw the reaction of the audience.
37. The Gettysburg Address, arguably the greatest speech of all time, was just 272 words long and took less than 2 minutes to deliver.
38. Pixar is one of the best storytelling studios out there. One of the reasons they are successful is because every story follows the same formula; “Once upon a time _______________ . Every day _______________ .One day _______________. Because of that __________________ .Because of that _________________. Until finally ______________ .”
39. Like a great comedian, every story needs a cold-open. An introduction that sets the scene, builds a rapport with the audience and tells them that something great is about to happen. In light entertainment, cold-opens are usually 30 seconds long. In business you may have up to 3 minutes, but if you don’t have it by then, you will have to work much harder to win it later on.
40. When you only have one shot to speak to an executive audience and you need them to remember your message, remember the 3 “tells”. Tell them what you’re about to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you told them. 
41. Most audiences can’t concentrate for longer than 20 minutes. That’s why TED talks are 18 minutes and the majority of political speeches are never more than 20.
42. Guy Kawasaki was Steve Jobs evangelist when he was at Apple and he religiously followed a 10:20:30 rule. Never have more than 10 slides. Never speak for more than 20 minutes. And avoid using any text smaller than TS30. When in doubt refer to rule 41.
43. When giving a business presentation, one of the most powerful tools to get the attention of your audience is a black slide and a dramatic pause.
44. The best presenters never rely on presenter view to read notes off their screen. This is especially important if you want to keep everyone’s attention by using a browser to show websites, live or interactive visualisations. On a Mac, use Chrome as your browser, ‘remove bookmarks bar and toolbar in full screen’, and then simply “command tab” between your full screen slide show and Chrome. If you do it quick enough the audience will think it is all just one slick and impressive slideshow. (The only downside is you are mirroring your screen so you won’t be able to see your notes on the screen).
45. Remember that people are not persuaded by what you say, but by what they understand. Long clever presentations may make you look (and feel smart) but they are likely to overwhelm your audience to the point that they hardly remember anything.
46. If you give a lot of slideshows (on PowerPoint or Keynote) one of the most useful insights you can have about yourself is how long on average you spend on each slide. For a commercial presentation I know that I average 2 minutes per slide so a 30 minute talk can’t contain more than 15 slides. (Al Gore’s “Truth in 10” contains 55 slides and requires a slide transition every 11 seconds – see rule 34).
47. The best commercial stories don’t contain any slides. One of the world’s best presenters is Simon Sinek. He famously refuses to use PowerPoint and gives his talks using just a flipchart.
48. If you’re not going to use slides, make sure that you know your story inside out. Simon Sinek is brilliant not just because he is stupidly clever, but because each of his 20-minute talks has over 200 hours of preparation. (If in doubt, see rule 28).
49. The quickest way to win over a boardroom is to tell them that you only have 1 slide. It could be a very clever animated build, but you build it well enough, and tell your story clearly enough, yours will be the one presentation they remember.
50. If possible make the venue a part of your story. Especially if it has some cultural or historical significance. Many of the best speeches were given at a meaningful location. Maybe think about choosing the venue of your next talk because it has a connection to your story. (Obama fought hard to make sure that he could announce his intention to run for president in Springfield, Illinois on the steps of the state capital where Abraham Lincoln prepared for the presidency).
51. Political strategist David Axelrod shaped Barack Obama’s presidential campaign messaging based upon just 3 questions. Is it relevant? Is it important? Is it true?
52. Tony Blair’s speech writer Philip Collins used to insist that on the morning of a talk, they trimmed the content by 10% (no matter how much preparation had gone into it) on the basis that it will become every sharper than it already was.
53. All commercial stories should convey just one message. It should be one central point, perhaps told in a few different ways. (Find your S.T.A.R – rule 16) .
54. No one will ever critisise you for giving a shorter talk than they expected. Apply ‘a minimum of sound to a maximum of sense’ as Mark Twain said.
55. I once saw Gary Vaynerchuk booked to give 1 hour keynote. And he’s really expensive. He only spoke for 12 minutes. But he then did 48 minutes Q&A with the audience. It was one of the best masterclasses in audience engagement I’ve ever seen.
56. When examining how audiences retain information, I have read many studies which reveal that only 8% of what people remember are your words. The other 92% is tone, volume, presentation style, use of props, performance and what you are wearing.
57. Presidential speechwriter William Safire once said that a great speech consists of just 3 elements: 1) An occasion of turmoil. 2) A setting which provides the speaker with a momentous forum [Rule 50]. 3) Content and phrasing.
58. Not every speech can be “I have a dream”. Many speeches don’t read very well on paper. But that’s not the point of a great spoken story. This is why you need to rehearse it out loud. As a performance. Many of Obama’s speeches (such as his inauguration speech) are not particularly compelling to read, but when you heard him ‘preach’ it, those words took on a completely different life. Remember rule 56!
59. In business, don’t think that you can’t speak someone else’s words or present somebody else’s deck because it’s not your own. You can use exactly the same words and make it feel like an entirely different presentation altogether.
60. One of the best speeches I ever heard was Matthew McConaughey’s Oscar’s acceptance speech in 2013. It was 3 minutes long, 545 words long and followed a 3 act structure shaped around “Something to look up to, something to look forward to and someone to chase”.
61. Obama’s speech writer Jon Favreau was once asked how to tell a great story when you don’t have much time to tell it. Especially if you are accepting an award. He said, “Waste no words. You have only about 200 words to say something memorable. Don't waste any on how you never thought you'd win, or didn't prepare a speech. Instead of reciting a checklist of names, spend a few words on one person who helped make it possible for you to stand on that stage. Thank the rest later with a heartfelt note — or money”.
62. Keep your story simple. Long talks are easy to write. They are also the most forgettable. Audiences can only handle about 20 minutes of information (less than 3,000 words) before they lose focus. (A speech about everything is a speech about nothing).
63. If your story is challenging the status quo, make sure you address the arguments against your position during your presentation, not after.
64. When there are elephants in the room, acknowledge them straight away. You don’t need an opinion or a point of view or even an answer. You just need to make sure your audience knows that you know this is important. (A big story broke about a tech company recently and I was sharing the stage with one of the senior execs. She made the fatal mistake of not even acknowledging the event and as a result she failed to win the trust of the audience).
65. JFK’s speechwriter Ted Sorensen insisted that speeches should be more than mere words. He knew JFK was an emotional and dynamic speaker so he limited every talk to 20-30 minutes and crowded them with so many facts that there was no space for excess sentiment. When asked why JFK was such a good speaker, Sorensen once replied “Because his text wasted no words. His delivery wasted no time”.
66. In terms of engagement, 3 times Pulitzer prize winner Tom Friedman is the most successful storyteller the New York Times has ever had. When asked "Why?" at a climate change conference I was at recently, he said it was because he only ever speaks to the 2 most basic human emotions; dignity and humiliation. Tapping into those 2 emotions drives action he said.
67. There are 5 questions any presenter needs to know if their talk is to make an impact: 1) What title have you been given? 2) How large an audience can you expect? 3) On what occasion does the speech take place? 4) How much does the audience already know about this topic – and do they have a prior prejudice? 5) Are you speaking to a larger audience than those who are gathered in the room?
68. The purpose of most stories is to win the hearts and minds of your audience. This is why I have cited so many political speechwriters here – because the goal of most commercial storytellers is to persuade your audience to believe (and follow) them (and their advice).
69. The art of persuasion, whether in commercial storytelling or political rhetoric, contains 4 pillars. All great stories contain elements of each: Ethos (building the credibility of the presenter). Pathos (telling an emotional story). Logos (containing reason and evidence). Kairos (giving a sense of urgency that requires immediate action).
70. The award for the longest standing ovation at a TED talk goes to Bryan Stevenson. He used no slides. And told 3 short stories. In 3 x 7 minute acts. And received over $1M donations to his foundation before the applause finished.
71. Communications coach Dale Carnegie used to hold workshops in New York to teach commercial storytelling. Executives were challenged to tell their stories in 75 seconds or less. Because people’s attention spans in business were too short. That was in 1916! 100 years later, in 2016 I was at Google learning that executive attention spans for B2B content on YouTube was 75 seconds. The more things change the more they remain the same!
72. And finally, Chris Anderson (Head of TED) tells his presenters that nobody comes to a talk to be sold to. As a reminder he wrote the Ten TED Commandments (below) as rules which every commercial storyteller needs to follow. Ignore them at your peril!

One of the things I love most about Linkedin these days is that it seems to be as much about helping you to be better at the job you're in, than it is about finding a new one. The more we can all inspire each other, the better. Thanks for reading. That was a fun list to write, which started as a bit of brain dump into the early hours for some people I've been mentoring. I hope you found it interesting, useful and entertaining!

I'd love to hear the best storytelling advice you've ever received. Let me know in the comments?