Being basic is not good... it's better

“Hold her down.”

“Ok,” I say. 

“Now you need to pinch some of her skin, and stick the needle close to the body.”

I do it. She tenses. 

“Is this hurting her?”

“Just a little, but she’s doing great. Sometimes we need three or four people here to keep them from escaping. Now check the needle hasn’t come out the other side, and push down the plunger.”

I do it. She lets out a moan of pain.

“Was that it?”

“Yes, that’s it. She’ll feel better soon, but the drug's effect won’t last. If you don’t want her depressed on the couch again, you’ll have to do this at least once a month. Maybe more.”

“For how long?”

“Well… the rest of her life. There’s no cure for this.”

“Ok.” 

I open the cage and try to put her back in. She resists, but I manage it. 

Then I put the cage in a large bag, pay them and leave.

Then I walk home hoping this will make the next years of my cat’s life better. 

Even if I don’t think there will be many of them. 

I did it… but you shouldn’t  

Pretty much the only reason this story works is because I’m not telling you what’s going on. 

Maybe you can guess I’m not talking about a person being held down and pumped full of drugs, but you have to keep reading to be sure. 

That’s a cool technique, but I rarely use it - and you shouldn’t either. 

That’s because it works much better in writing than it does orally, as it can easily get confusing. If people are wondering what the heck is going on and can’t go back to check, you’ll lose them. 

The same thing applies to time jumps (“Tarantino stories”): you can do it to some extent (like starting with action and then backtracking to explain context), but that’s about it. If you start hopping around people will soon be scratching their heads. 

And that reasoning goes for most things that can be considered advanced techniques in storytelling: 

• They work in writing 

• They work in movies

• They work in the theatre

• They work in storytelling shows

• They work when used by an expert 

But if you’re telling stories in business, in keynotes or on a TED-style talk? 

You shouldn’t take that risk. 

All you really need are stories that sound real (by using dialogue and specific details, for example) and that make your point. That’s it. 

When it comes to storytelling, there’s no need for the fancy stuff. 

Being basic is not good – it’s better 🤘

-Francisco 

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