This is why (most) storytelling advice sucks

It’s Sunday, and I’m about to go to lunch with my family. 

I look around as they all get ready, and then I say to my 5-year old, 

“Alice, look: you’re wearing a dress, your mom is wearing a dress, and your baby sister is wearing a dress. Should I wear a dress too?”

I laugh, but she looks at me dead serious. 

“Papai, you know that boys can wear dresses too, right?”

She walks away and I immediately feel old. 

I guess it’s a good thing my kids still love dinosaurs 😅

A story needs…

If you read any advice into storytelling (even mine!), you’ll find lists of all the things a story needs: 

• A beginning, middle and end

• Context

• Characters

• A problem 

• Details

• Emotions

• Increasing tension 

• Resolution 

The list goes on… 

All of the above are relevant, and the better stories will have all of those things. But here’s the thing: 

For most people… that’s just too complicated 🤷‍♂️

…Only two things

Here's all you really need:

• Something unexpected

• A point 

Most of my stories are just that: a small thing that surprised me, often a conversation with my family, a friend or client, and I figure out what point I can make from it. That’s really it. 

And just because they are “small” doesn’t mean they don’t work: I used this one about the dress in a keynote about diversity and inclusion, and it was a pretty good example (if I say so myself) of how different generations react to certain things. 

So the next time something unexpected happens to you, take a moment to think about what point you can make from it, and voilà: 

You’ve got yourself a story. 

And that’s how we keep storytelling from going extinct 🤘

-Francisco 

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Getting clarity through your story to stand out from all the other coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs out there 

2. If you dream of speaking on the Red Dot, take this Scorecard and instantly discover how likely your idea is to be accepted by a TED-style organizing committee

3. If you (or your team) got any storytelling challenges, I’m sure there’s something we can do together ;-)

Thanks for reading! Reply any time.

This is why (most) storytelling advice sucks