A guide to telling a compelling story
How change makers can get the general public engaged
Storytelling has become a lost art in today’s world. We consume stories, we don’t tell them anymore. I for one have totally lost count of the amount of badly told stories I’ve heard in my life. And many of them were coming out of my own mouth. But…. Storytelling is still a crucial skill in today’s world. It’s how you engage people who were not engaged before. It’s how you give people a glimpse at the world through your eyes. You show them what happened to you and you show them why you see the world the way you see it. It enables you to create empathy and understanding in someone and win that person for your cause.
So what if you are not good at telling stories? Luckily you do not need to be a story telling genius to tell a good story. You just need to have the correct framework.
The Hero’s Journey
Meet Joseph Campbell, he was a history scholar in the mid 20th century and he while doing his PhD research he became fascinated by mythology. He was not permitted to change his research subject so he dropped out of his PhD program. He spent the next five years in a cabin in the woods close to New York. Here all he did was read the world’s mythology. He read the myths of the Romans, the Greeks, the Inuit, the ancient Ethiopians and every other culture you can imagine. And he came to a very interesting conclusion.
The conclusion was that almost all of these mythologies basically have the same structure. Of Course the characters and surroundings vary but the milestones of the stories were strikingly similar. Most of these cultures however had not been in contact with each other at all. So what could explain this? According to Joseph Campbell this meant that this type of story is simply hardwired into the brains of us humans. Across all cultures and all times this structure makes for a compelling story. He called the structure the Hero’s Journey.
Many more modern writers have been very aware of the power of the format described by Joseph Campbell. If you are familiar with the structure of the Hero’s Journey you will see it show up in many modern books and films. The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and the Godfather are some of the most famous examples that have a clear Hero’s Journey in their story line.
So let’s get into the actual structure of these stories. I will take you through a slightly simplified version of the Hero’s Journey. This way you become familiar with it’s structure and you can use it to tell your own story. Granted, maybe the story you want to tell is not easily molded into a Hero’s Journey. But it’s very helpful to at least be aware of the structure. This way you can make an educated decision on how to tell your story. I will go through the Hero’s Journey using a story about a fictional character called Sarah. This will make the concepts less abstract.
So here we go.
Beginning
The Hero is not a Hero yet. He or she is still just a boy or a girl. He is in his comfort zone and everything is going just fine. Not much excitement but also not much pain.
Sarah is living in Amsterdam and has an oke job. She spends most of her free time hanging out with friends.
Call to action
The call to action. Something happens, life in the village gets stirred up. A quest or adventure presents itself.
Then Sarah meets her new neighbour. She is a woman that fled a war torn country. Sarah can not sleep that night because of the horror stories her neighbour told her. She feels strongly that she should do something to ease the suffering over there.
The refusal of the call
The refusal of the call. The boy or girl does not want to do the adventure. The adventure seems dangerous and the Hero to be does not think he or she can do it. The hero to be wants to stay in the comfort zone.
The following weeks Sarah does nothing. The feeling that she should help lingers but she has no idea how to go about it. ‘I could never really do something like this’ she thinks. ‘I’m not that kind of person, who am I kidding’.
The mentor reveals himself
The mentor shows up and convinces the hero to go on the quest. The mentor then provides him with some good advice and magic artifacts.
Sarah told a friend about her desire to help and she gets introduced to Daniel. Daniel has actually helped in the country and they talk all night. He gives her advice on what is most necessary there and shares lots of his contacts with Sarah. He believes in her. That night she decides that she will actually do it.
Crossing the threshold.
There is no way back now. The hero has left his comfort zone and starts his adventure.
Sarah get’s on a plane to the war torn country. She realizes the jump she is making. She’s feeling scared and very much alive at the same time.
The way of trials
This is the bulk of the story. The hero faces a lot of hardship and difficulties. This is also where he meets his allies and friends and maybe another mentor. Also he encounters a lot of threshold guardians. These are foes or problems he faces and he needs to defeat or solve. If he does he can continue his journey, if he does not he needs to retreat to grow stronger and smarter.
Sarah lands in the country and starts gathering what she needs to start her project. She gets lost, she makes new friends. She can not get permits and she sees some of the most beautiful sunsets of her life. Slowly but surely she makes her way through the obstacles. She feels she is growing as a person.
Descending into the underworld/subconscious. This is the greatest trial of the hero yet. He is now facing his worst fear and this is the final trial of the journey. This is where he faces his own demons. This is where he faces his biggest fear.
Sarah has everything she needs and she takes of to the remote area’s of the country. This is where help is needed most. All of a sudden there is no one around her she can talk to. People don’t speak English here. For the first time she is all alone and she realizes that in her old life she did everything to avoid this situation. All the friends that were always around here were just so she did not need to spend time with herself. These couple of months will be very though she realizes. But the suffering of the people is very clear. She realizes that her quest is bigger than herself
Obtaining the grail
She has completed the quest and he has found what he was looking for. She is now a Hero.
Sarah has helped many people over the course of the months. She will never forget the thankful looks she has received from the people she was helping. It was very difficult but she got used to spending so much time with herself. It’s time for her to go home.
Returning home
The boy or girl returns to his old village as a hero. He can now help his old society with his new knowledge and courage. Maybe become a mentor for a new person that is walking the Hero’s Journey.
Sarah returns home and feels very different. Her friends see something new when they look into her eyes. She is stronger and more confident. Life will never be the same again for Sarah.
So did you start feeling some emphatic feelings for Sarah? Feel like you would like to have her as a friend? Well that’s the power of the Hero’s Journey for you. Make use of it!
To make things easier for you we have made a question sheet. Fill it out to effortlessly write your own Hero’s Journey.
Good luck!
Paul Smid from Heroes and Friends
Heroes & Friends is a tool for crowd funding, crowd sourcing and self organization of impactful projects. Check out our product if you are considering to take your idea into the real world with the help of your crowd. We can help you, and it is free!
