The Secret of Storytelling

What tends to grab your attention when you’re reading a story? Maybe the writer's imagery pulls you into another world allowing you to fully embrace the world they’re writing or maybe it’s the plot making you wonder what could happen next. These things bring a story together and being able to capture your reader's attention in this way means you’ve done your job and told your story well. Let’s talk about some of these storytelling secrets to help you create your next intriguing blog article or best-selling book.

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You may have heard of the 4 P’s in Storytelling which are People, Place, Plot, and Purpose. These are introduced as some of the main elements you want to include in your writing whether it be for an article, a short story, a novel, or a commercial. These rules apply to every form of writing because these will help you get that emotional reaction from your audience as well as help to develop your story. The first P, People, introduces who is in your story. Are you creating your characters? If so, who are they? Or are you writing a factual piece for a company? If so, who is involved in your story and why? This should be one of your first thoughts before starting to write. Without characters, you have no story to tell.

The second P, Place, is where you will introduce the location(s) which could add more depth to your story. If this story isn’t a factual piece, then you want to keep in mind the locations you chose to add to your story. Is it relevant to your characters and timeline? How will your characters feel in this environment? These little thoughts will go a long way to establish more personality in your fictional characters. The choice of location could set the mood or set a deeper understanding of the character's current situation.

Usually the next two P’s would be Plot and Purpose, but in this article, we’re going to introduce Platforms and Personal. These ideas were introduced in the blog article, Steve Clayton on How Microsoft Tells Stories Using Five Ps. Steve Clayton was Microsoft’s chief storyteller and in this article, he shared how Microsoft successfully tells its stories. The third P we will talk about is Pictures. In the world of ever-changing media, pictures will do you great justice, but you want to choose the right picture to accompany your story. You want your photo to have an emotional appeal to your reader. You don’t want to only rely on your words, you want to include great photography or videography. Doing so will leave a lasting impression on your brand, your company representation, whatever it may be. If you post a photo of two people eating and write about the Top 5 Restaurants In Los Angeles, what does the photo do for your post?

The fourth P is Personal. As I’ve mentioned a few times in this article, you want to make an emotional appeal. If you’re writing for a company, you want to make them feel human. You can do this with your writing, photography, or using another person's voice to give credibility to what you’re saying. As opposed to writing with just I, you can bring in that other voice for others to see another side to the story that still relates to what message you’re spreading. Be creative!

Last but not least, the fifth P, Platform. Social media is growing at a rapid rate in 2022 and I don’t imagine that will slow down in the near future. Businesses are growing their brands with short, interactive videos either on Instagram Stories or TikTok. This new generation of storytellers has a lot to say but the difference is they know how to say it in 100 words or less. Choosing the right platform to advertise your story will determine the success rate of reaching its intended audience.

Now that you know the 5 secrets of storytelling, go show the world what you can do, and remember to have fun with it!