How to Tell Better Stories

<p><em>This is a re-broadcast. The episode originally ran in November 2018.</em></p> <p>Humans are storytelling and story-listening creatures. We use stories to teach, persuade, and to make sense of the complexities of existence. Being able to craft and deliver a good story is thus a real advantage in all areas of life, giving you a foot up when doing job interviews, going on dates, interacting with friends, or making a sales pitch.</p> <p>Fortunately, good storytelling is a skill that can learned by anyone. Here to teach us the art of storytelling is <a href="http://matthewdicks.com">Matthew Dicks</a>, a writer, five-time Moth GrandSlam storytelling winner, and the author of the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CV2PFYJ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B07CV2PFYJ&linkCode=as2&tag=stucosuccess&linkId=FSXA3GZUT5SFDAZ4"><em>Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling</em></a>.<em> </em></p> <p>Today on the show, Matthew walks us through the nuts and bolts of how to craft a compelling story. We begin our conversation discussing ways to generate story ideas, why good stories don’t have to be about big moments, and why he recommends a practice called "Homework for Life." Matthew then tells us what we can learn from movies about making a story so engaging that people are waiting to hear what you say next. We also discuss the don'ts of storytelling, including how to never begin a story. And we end our conversation with a five-minute story from Matthew that showcases all the principles we discussed during the show.</p> <p>Get the show notes at <a href="http://aom.is/storyworthy">aom.is/storyworthy</a>.</p>