Location + Action 

The great thing about storytelling is this:

It’s not hard to get better very quickly. Though there are endless ways of improving your storytelling, there are also simple strategies you can learn that will level up your storytelling immediately.

Here’s one:

Start every story with location and action.    

Just do this, and you’ll discover that people will immediately be drawn into the stories you tell.

Why?

Start with the location because location instantly activates the imagination. Classroom, cubicle, front stoop, kitchen, elevator, and airport restroom… you can picture each one of these with remarkable clarity. Without saying another word, you can fill those spaces in your mind with endless detail. Unless that detail is relevant to the story, a good storyteller will harness the power of your imagination and allow you to visualize the scene based on your own experience. 

A location is a powerful tool in storytelling because it allows you to say very few words while populating your story with many details.

Also, start with action because audiences want stories to move. They don’t want exposition or explanation at the beginning of a story. They want something to happen. They want to feel like  the story has already begun in the very first sentence.:

“I’m driving down a lonely stretch of New Hampshire highway …”

“I hand my driver's license to the man at the Hertz rental car counter… 

“I’m lying in bed, well after midnight, phone pressed to my ear, listening…”

“I tell my son to sit on the park bench and don’t move…”

“I’m standing in the shower when I hear the phone ring…”

These are all the beginning sentences of stories that I have told. Each of them - and almost every story I’ve ever told onstage - begins with location and action. 

It works every time.

Best of all:

It’s a simple change that you can make in your storytelling. You can begin doing it today and vastly improve the quality of the stories you tell.    

This is one of many ways to quickly, effectively, and profoundly transform yourself into a great storyteller.

A few days ago, I sent you an email that invited you to join a brand-new community of business focussed storytellers. This is where I will be able to help you become a better storyteller so you can use stories to be more successful, memorable, and connected. 

Ultimately, we use stories to grow our businesses and make more money. 

This is a free community of business-focused story enthusiasts who realize the value of storytelling in many facets of a business. This will be the platform where I will provide resources, free training, peer work sharing, and feedback from my team and me. The materials I share will help our members communicate more effectively and memorably, create deep connections with customers, investors, and employees, extend their reach into the addressable market and make more money by telling better stories. 

Click Here to join.

Warmly,
Matthew Dicks