Making Generic Stories Unforgettable

Read time: 2min

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.

The most powerful stories are visual.

Your listeners should see the scene in theirs heads, feel the emotions, and actually experience the story as if it was happening to them.

In today's issue, you'll learn how to make your stories more visual with the magic of specifi...specifici...specificity. Jeeez, what a hard word.

Anyway, let's dive in.

The Power of Being Specific

Most people, especially in business storytelling, use rather generic words in their stories.

They say something like:

• “I walked down the street.”
• “I was driving in my car.”
• “Our revenues declined significantly.”

While there is nothing wrong with that, these words are not very visual. They're not painting a picture.

The better approach is to use specific details to make it more visual.

Example 1:

Instead of saying, "I walked down the street," you can say, "I walked down 7th Avenue in New York City during rush hour."

Can you see it? The big, bustling city streets? Specific details like this help you feel like you're right there in the story.

Example 2:

Instead of saying, "I was driving in my car," you can say, "I was driving in my trusty Toyota Prius that I've had for 15 years."

Just with this one sentence, you have a clear picture of the story. Plus, you can now infer more about the character. You could infer that the character doesn't have a lot of money or that they live a rather frugal life.

Example 3:

Or lastly, instead of saying, "our revenues declined significantly," you can say, "On my screen, I saw this massive drop of 34%."

"But Philipp, I'm worried that my stories get too long if I include all of these details."

Here's the thing: It's not about making your story longer. It's about swapping those generic words for specific ones. The right details make your story shine without making it longer ??."

Action item: So, next time you tell a story, remember to add a few very specific details. It'll make your story come to life, and people will love listening to you. ??

Much love!

Philipp

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