STORYTELLING: 7 LESSONS FROM THE BEST TO EVER DO IT

Morning!

You know that list of books I mentioned last week, I’ve nearly ticked another one off - The Boron Letters. I’ll give you a full breakdown on the lessons from it soon.

But today, I’m going to give you a 2 for 1 with lessons from two of my favourite storytellers to ever live - Matthew Dicks & Donald Miller.

These 2 men have been huge inspirations for everything we do at Ratcliffe Brothers.

And here are the top 7 lessons they’ve taught me:

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BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY

Steve Jobs once said “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.”

And if there was ever 2 people to teach you how to be a great storyteller it would be Matthew Dicks & Donald Miller.

So let me start by getting you up to speed with who they are.

Firstly, Donald Miller is the CEO of StoryBrand and author of the infamous book - ‘Building a StoryBrand’.

The book has sold over 500,000 copies and currently sits at #5 on Amazon’s best selling marketing books.

Matthew Dicks on the other hand, is less known in the marketing space. He’s a novelist who is famous for his storytelling talents as well as his best selling book - Storyworthy.

As I said in the intro, these two men have had a massive impact on the way I see marketing.

They’re 2 of the best storytellers on the planet.

Here are the top 7 lessons they taught me (that every marketer should know) ↓

1) You’re The Guide

If there’s one storytelling lesson that will change your marketing - it’s this one.

99% of businesses make themselves the “Hero” in all of their marketing.

The “Hero” being the main character of the story.

They make their ads, their messaging, and even their service about themselves.

The classic example I often see - a website headline that reads “We help scale businesses through paid media”.

When they should make the customer the hero and say: “Scale your business through paid media.”

You have to market yourself as the guide.

• The Yoda to their Luke

• The Gandalf to their Bilbo Baggins

• The Alex Ferguson to their David Beckham

That’s how you’ll attract more people.

2) Have A Villain

Every amazing story has a villain, and every marketing campaign should have one too.

When a problem isn’t attached to a villain it’s tough to understand exactly what your service/product is fighting against.

Take a window cleaning company, for example:

The problem they solve is dirty windows.

But the villain could be the feeling of embarrassment when your neighbours are looking at your dirty windows.

It doesn’t have to be a person, but it’s much easier for people to feel it when it is.

Which is why so many cleaning companies personify dirt in their adverts.

3) Tease The Tragedy

All stories either have a happy ending or end in a tragedy.

But it’s the looming tragedy that will get prospects to pull the trigger quicker than the possible happy ending.

So when you are marketing you have to tease that tragedy.

In the B2B world this would be things like:

• Going under

• Losing market share

• Having to let staff go

Whatever the worst case scenario is for them - you have to mention it.

You have to let them know that if they don’t solve their problem soon, that tragedy will happen.

4) Focus On 5-Second Moments

Matthew Dicks says that every great story is about a 5-second moment.

And the best ones are 5-second moments where a major transformation happens.

There a couple ways this applies in marketing:

• Don’t talk about too much in marketing stories – Just talk about one 5-second moment.

• Showcase transformations - They’re the most powerful stories you can tell.

5) Start With The Opposite

Finding the start to a great story (especially one for your marketing) is one of the hardest things you can do.

But Dicks has a super simple method for making it easy, he says: Start your story at the opposite of the 5-second moment.

For example, let’s say you’re GymShark and your 5-second moment is someone winning a gold medal in a powerlifting competition.

Then you should start your story/ad/marketing with that same person frail, skinny, and unable to lift weights in the gym.

6) Up The Stakes

My favourite storytelling lesson is Matthew Dicks’ suggestion to “Up The Stakes”.

The hook of any story is the problem and the bigger the problem, the better the hook.

(This is why the world is ending in so many films.)

By upping the stakes (and therefore upping the problem) you’re able to make the story much more exciting and keep people more engaged.

Here’s an easy way to do that (let’s use GymShark as an example again):

If the problem is someone feeling uncomfortable in their gym gear → You can up the stakes by making someone get overweight because they have so much anxiety about going to the gym.

It’s just one step up in stakes, but a 10x in how much more engaging the story is.

7) Always Give A Location

Last but not least, always give the location of what you’re talking about.

If you’re doing a marketing video of a kid in London → Have “London, UK” on the screen.

If you’re writing a founder story post for LinkedIn → Say where you were when the story happened.

I’d even take this one step further and use a signpost too.

This is when you add a date to signify when you’re talking about.

Example: “In 2017, I was walking through London when…”

 🌱 THE GREENHOUSE

Things I’ve saved this week that are worth seeing:

• Matthew Dicks’ book - Storyworthy. (See here)

• Donald Miller’ book - Building a StoryBrand. (See here)

• Some awesome copywriting frameworks. (See here)

• Marketing lessons from Ray Kroc - an old thread I wrote. (See here)

TL;DR

1. You’re the guide - So don’t act like the hero.

2. Have a villain - It gives us someone to fight against.

3. Tease the tragedy - It’s what prompts action.

4. Focus on 5-second moments - That’s the moment that matters.

5. Start with the opposite - Your beginning should be the opposite of your end.

6. Up the Stakes - They’ll make your stories more engaging.

7. Always give a location - Plus a signpost too!

It’s safe to say Donald & Matthew are two of my storytelling/marketing role models.

I love both of their books and highly recommend you check them out if you haven’t.

On and talking of books… what’s your favourite marketing book? I’m looking for recommendations to add to my list so reply and let me know your favourite :)

Until next Sunday.

— Niall

WAIT… BEFORE YOU GO

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• Follow me on Twitter for more marketing stuff.

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• Want to work with me? Start HERE.

THAT’S ALL!

This has been a breakdown of lessons I’ve learned from 2 amazing storytellers. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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