How to turn ideas into stories
Tamsen Webster, MA, MBA
Message Designer, English-to-English Translator, Doctoral Student. I help leaders build buy-in for transformational change.
Hello, friend!
It seems like storytelling is everywhere these days—and with good reason! Story is how our brains process and retain information. But sometimes it can be hard to see just how story and story structure applies to you, your messages, and your ideas.
If that’s you, then here are a few posts to get you started on?how to find the story in your ideas—and the Red Thread that connects them all together.
The?function?of a story is what makes it so powerful—our brain gets a roadmap for connecting new information to what it already knows. Because story structure is how?everyone’s?brain processes new information, when you can put your information in that format, you’re getting your audiences’ brains to work for you.
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Focusing on what a story?does, not what it?is, might change your perspective if you're feeling uncomfortable putting your idea into a story format, not to mention a “once upon a time story” isn’t always appropriate or right for the situation. That’s where the Red Thread comes in. Its structure?is?story structure. That’s why, when you create your message using the Red Thread, your message will feel and function like a story, even when it isn’t (or doesn’t sound like) one.
Maybe you're comfortable telling stories, but you don't see a story in the idea you're?currently?translating. What if you expand your definition of "story" beyond?example?stories? What I call "never-ending stories" contain the same parts—the five parts of your Red Thread—but unlike example stories, they tell what?is?happening or what?could?happen, not what already has. Once you have your Red Thread, you can put it into any story you need, at any scale.
Until next time,
Tamsen