65 terms in this category
Build your story piece by piece. Waiting for perfect means you never ship.
The repetition of the beginning sounds of words.
Comparing similar aspects of different objects.
The opposite of something.
Without attention, there can be no communication, BUT attention is far from sufficient.
The brain fills in what you leave out. Give hints, let readers construct the story.
The second most powerful three letters in storytelling.
My favourite technique – used to add gravitas, meaning and resonance to your story.
Layering in the elements that will later trigger callbacks.
This is what every story is about.
The unknown world between where we are and where we want to be.
A word or phrase that has lost its original power or meaning through excessive repetition.
The second requirement of effective business storytelling.
The third requirement of effective (business storytelling).
The gap between where we are and where we want to be drives all story tension.
Two lines that end with a pair of rhyming words.
The non-interactive exposition scenes in a video games.
Conversation between characters.
The versions of your content that aren't ready.
Created through conflict.
In a business, we need our stories to embody the challenges, contexts and feelings of our audience.
My friend Sally – a creative writing lecturer – taught me this wonderfully evocative phrase.
A device used to fill in backstory.
The ease at which the audience can consume your story is hugely important.
Hinting at something that's coming.
My description for the 'story' our brains construct to help us make sense of the world around us.
Where we want to be. The destination that pulls us through the struggle.
Our brains are storytelling machines, but they're built that way in the service of survival.
Starting a story in the midst of unfolding action, where tension already exists.
Let your audience draw their own conclusions. More powerful than telling them.
When the surface appearance is opposite (or at least different) from reality.
Use the reader's own imagination to do the heavy lifting. Less detail, richer vision.
Placing two things next to each other.
Author of The Elements of Eloquence. Shakespeare's secret was rhetorical technique and alliteration.
A description of one thing by way of another.
A technique or aid for memorisation.
Humans are instinctively wired to pay attention to new, strange or anomalous information.
The opposite of chaos.
When one word or phrase contradicts another.
Content that affects our perception or experience of a story despite not being part of it.
Breaking expectations to capture attention. What's unexpected actually gets noticed.
Why some words sound beautiful and others feel harsh. Tolkien understood this.
A story must flow forward in causally connected events, each building on the last.
The more people have to lose, the more dramatic and emotionally resonant the story.
Where your story overlaps with your audience's story. The only way they'll listen.
Don't describe a character. Demonstrate who they are through what they actually do.
Describing something by comparing it explicitly with something else.
The older I get, the more power I see in simplicity.
The awareness that everyone has a story.
Show the elements and let your audience tell the story to themselves.
The gap between where we are and where we want to be. Tension seeks resolution.
The hidden truth beneath the surface. Where the power and tension actually live.
Sometimes, we need to say what we really think.
In a nutshell ...
The fundamental thing that moves us ...
From 11 million bits per second to roughly four conscious thoughts. Getting through is hard.
A moment of deliberate slowness—pausing to build tension before the beat that matters most.
The subtext of a story, arc or sequence.
Any story that ends unhappily (as opposed to Comedies...
The process through which an audience is transported into the world of the story.
Things in threes. Creates completion and inevitability. Brain finds it deeply satisfying.
More than surprise: a reinterpretation that forces you back through everything you know.
Where we are right now and why it's not enough. The starting tension of every story.
The gap between who you are and who you pretend to be. Being real is powerful.
The most powerful word in copywriting and business in general.