Four Storytelling Techniques Every Content Creator Must Master to Succeed
How to use storytelling to engage your audience better.
Why All Content Creators Should Study Storytelling
It doesn’t matter what platform you use or what you write about. The moment you decided to put your words out there was the moment you decided the world needed to hear your voice. So if you have something to say, you have something to sell.
Think about it.
Storytellers are the greatest sellers in the world. They don’t sell a product. They sell an idea. Over and over. They make us believe in the absurd and artificial and turn ink on the page into images in our heads.
More importantly — they turn ink into feelings with only a few tools.
So if you want to start selling an idea and engage your audience better, here are four techniques that will help you achieve that.
Storytelling Techniques Only Experienced Writers Master
Creating Conflict
Conflict is the glue of every incredible story. It’s the collision between two opposing forces that battle for a greater cause. Like good versus evil or man fighting his demons. There is no story without a conflict.
It only makes sense, then, that every great post will have a conflict as well.
Creating a conflict should be on your mind from the moment you start writing. Conflict in content creation can come in many forms:
- A contradicting headline — Use the headline to pique our interest. Contradict one part with the other to turn it into a clickable headline.
- A reversed myth — Take well-known advice and reverse it. Break the narrative — show us the less known parts of that myth.
- A reversed topic — Show us what not to do — the ugly parts of a popular topic. With knowing what not to do, people will know to follow the right path.
Raising the Stakes
One of the ways to create suspense in stories is to raise the stakes — showing the hero has something to lose. The higher the price is, the more the audience is hooked.
If you want to grab the readers’ attention — create suspense — show the readers what they have got to lose.
Paint your article’s value clearly, not only with what we can gain, but also with what we can lose. Right from the start, from the headline to the first line of your post.
Remember: the higher the price, the greater the value that you offer. So next time when you sit down to write, think of a significant price — a significant loss — in the reader’s mind.
Now aim to make it better.
Building a Learning Curve
No one likes a flat character. A character that doesn’t grow and develop, and stays consistent throughout the plot. Humans don’t stay the same throughout their lives, so characters shouldn’t, too.
As should your audience.
To have an audience that genuinely follows your content, you have to offer valuable insights. You have to treat your audience like a character and help it develop.
To do that, you should follow three simple steps:
- Understand your reader — Understand who your target audience is, what interests it, what makes it tick. Also understand what gets in your readers’ way to achieve their goals.
- Help the readers learn — Take them from the point they are today towards a self-growing journey. Help them become a better version of themselves.
- Engage with your readers — Personal connection is a great way to stay updated and relevant. You know what bothers your audience, what struggles it faces along the way, and therefore you can offer valuable solutions.
Evoking Emotion
If there’s one thing I love about stories is the emotional roller coaster. Thanks to great storytelling we cry, laugh and fall in love. Every single time.
Emotion connects us to the words better. It also creates an unbreakable connection to the writer. The kind of connection you want to evoke in your readers.
There are two simple ways to evoke emotions in your readers:
- Tell us a lesson — Share your unique experience, a story that left a mark on you. A lesson that can help us improve and grow, then leave a mark on us.
- Plant vivid images in our heads — Use strong verbs — verbs that trigger the five senses.
Final Thoughts
Being a phenomenal content creator means telling a story. With each word, sentence and post. That’s why using storytelling techniques can take you to a whole new level as a writer.
Next time you’re writing, create a conflict in your reader’s mind. Show him what he has to lose and how to make things better. Walk him through the path of self growth and make him feel.
Now keep practicing until you become a master storyteller.
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Until next time.
