After writing 1 MILLION words on the internet I've come to ONE conclusion.
Storytelling is THE most important skill to master.
Here are 7 storytelling tricks to hook your reader (in 2 minutes):
1. Make them feel understood
Your content has to be relatable.
Talk about REAL stuff.
People have to read your work and be transported back to when they felt that way.
Focus on that.
They have to see themselves in the content for it to resonate.
2. Talk about a transformation
Everybody is trying to go from A to B:
- Broke to rich
- Overweight to healthy
- Procrastinator to productive
You have to talk about your transformation.
Talk about where you were to where you are now.
3. What's the world got wrong?
As you go through the world you notice the 'world-conversation'.
If you can interrupt that & present a new (better) idea, you'll hit a nerve with people.
That 'hitting a nerve' will cause people to react.
And that's when you spark conversation.
4. Ask interesting questions (and surprise with the results)
We've all seen those threads / articles / videos that repeat the same old stuff.
People want new, interesting content that makes them think.
5. Get right to it
Shock the reader with a harsh truth.
It snaps them into reading & makes them feel something.
That something keeps them reading.
Don't beat around the bush, say what needs to be said.
6. The messenger matters
To get people to listen you need to agitate a pain.
But you need authority.
The messenger matters.
Talk about your credibility, then the problem, then the solution.
Person → Problem → Solution
7. Make it visual
"Picture Superiority Effect"
- Words with no visual? People remember 10% 3 days later.
- Words with visuals? People remember 65% 3 days later.
Make it rememberable by adding visuals.
TLDR:
1. Focus on feelings 2. Talk about transformation 3. Think 'world-conversation' 4. Ask wayyyy better questions 5. Get right to it, don't add the fluff 6. Remember, the messenger matters 7. The "Picture Superiority" Effect is REAL
That's all for today, thanks for reading!
Hopefully you found this helpful, if you did, a favour to ask:
I've gained 20,677 followers in the last 8 weeks on Medium.
And I kept my day job.
My 5 top writing tips (if you wanna get paid to write):
A bit of background here I've been writing on Medium for the last 3 years. At the start it was slow, then I found my feet, kept going and things clicked.
It's a long game but one that's worth it. I consistently make $2–4k a month on Medium for writing about the stuff I love.
1. Write from experience
If you work 9–5 you'll have bags of experience to work with. Figure out the stories worth telling.
Here's where I'd start if I was on day 1:
- Think about the moments at work that stick with you, ask why.