How can you surprise your audience with storytelling in your copy?

1 Why surprise matters

Surprise is an emotion that grabs attention, sparks curiosity, and enhances memory. When you surprise your audience with something unexpected, you break their patterns of thinking and make them pay more attention to your message. You also create a contrast between what they expected and what you delivered, which makes your story more memorable and impactful.

2 How to create surprise

Surprise can be a powerful tool in storytelling, and there are several ways to create it. You can use a twist or reveal at the end of your story, which takes the audience on an unexpected journey. Humor and irony can also be effective in making your audience laugh or smile. An analogy or metaphor can help make your point more vivid and clear. For instance, you could tell a story about how you failed at something, only to reveal how it led to a bigger success. Or you could talk about how you overcame a challenge with a witty remark that shows your personality. You could even compare learning a new skill to something that your audience can relate to or find surprising.

3 How to use surprise effectively

Surprise can be a powerful tool, however, it must be used judiciously to avoid backfiring. To use surprise effectively in your storytelling, make sure it is relevant and meaningful. You should also ensure your surprise is believable and credible, based on facts, logic, or experience. Additionally, it should be consistent and coherent with your story's tone and brand. Avoid surprises that are too shocking, offensive, implausible, absurd, contradictory, disconnected, random or out of context.

4 How to measure surprise

Measuring surprise in storytelling can be difficult, but there are indicators that can help you gauge the success of your surprise. For instance, engagement is when your audience interacts with your copy, such as liking, commenting, sharing, clicking, or subscribing. This shows that they were interested and curious about your surprise. Additionally, feedback from your audience in the form of compliments, questions, suggestions, or criticisms shows that they were affected and inspired by it. Finally, conversion is when your audience takes action such as buying, signing up, downloading, or contacting. This indicates that they were persuaded and motivated by your surprise.

5 How to improve surprise

Surprise can be improved with practice, experimentation, and analysis. To do so, read and watch stories that surprise you. Analyze how the masters of surprise use techniques to make it relevant, believable, and consistent. Test and tweak your stories by changing the order, wording, tone, or format. Measure the results such as engagement, feedback or conversion. Ask your audience for feedback by using surveys, polls, reviews or interviews. Listen to their answers and use them to improve your stories.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?