How do you maintain the freshness of your stories?

Keeping an audience engaged —especially in a world of short attention spans— often is simply a matter of being concise. When John Steinbeck heard Woody Guthrie’s song “Tom Joad”, he commented, “If I had known the story could have been told with such passion in 4 minutes, I wouldn’t have need to write the book” (Grapes of Wrath). In the newspaper world, where I began my work-life, we wrote by the mantra of the “four W’s”: who-what-where-when and only then the fifth one, “why”. It was ESSENTIAL to engage the reader quickly in those days when a longer story required keeping the readers’ attention so that they would actually turn the 21-inch-tall page to finish reading. Lesson learned: concise engages.

Critical aspects are clarity and depth in "the why" of taking on a given topic. Without clarity of why, chances are good of repeating past efforts, of roaming about the topic without clear and dimensional intent, of having to discover the narrative after the fact. (Any one of these could be the why.) Defining the why takes effort, focus, intent. Then fully realizing photography's means of expression in creating individual photos that speak to your impressions, ideas, responses, understandings to and of what you've photographed. Having a sense of the outcome as you produce the work informs your approach. This is a smidge from my book on the topic that Routldge published earlier this year.

There is so much value in asking yourself "do I even care?" I always ask myself if this is a video I would watch, a post I would read, or a conversation I would tune out of. If a story falls into one of those categories, determine what the shortcomings of the story are, and find ways to make it more engaging. If you the author of the story don't even find the topic interesting how can you expect someone else to?

The most important thing in fresh and engaging storytelling is finding the narrator's voice, and then becoming that narrator (at least while you're writing and thinking about the story and what comes next). Every story you write should have its own distinctive voice. That way your stories never get stale, never bore the reader to tears.

Stories are blueprints for living our lives. When I hear a good story, no matter how small, I can take a little bit of that story with me in my actual life. I grow along with the hero, whether I experience it via the silver screen or a carousel on Social Media. When you are looking for stories to tell, think of it as medicine for the world. Craft stories that solve a problem or save someone from a heartache you experienced in your past.

Go beyond feedback to actually embed shared and collective perspectives into your story. Invite your audience to contribute; through their feedback and creative ideas, which can culminate in the final product. User-generated and collaborative storytelling is the future... just like this AI-supported article!

Absolutely, seeking feedback is a valuable way to enhance your storytelling skills. It provides fresh perspectives and helps you refine your stories based on constructive input. Learning from other storytellers by analyzing their techniques and styles can also broaden your creative toolkit.

Stories are incorporated into most of my speaking engagements. It is a great way to help audience members envision and identify with real life examples. Instead of trying to memorize exact words in an exact order, I keep bullet point reminders and use audience interaction and reaction to decide which story comes to the front, and which story may get saved for another day. In fact, I have had numerous evaluations come back with "I love your stories!" That encourages me to keep the stories "fresh."

Generative AI is also a great resource for gaining great quick feedback on narratives. For example, Aristotle's triangle of persuasion outlines that a persuasive story should contain a balanced amount of logic, emotion and credibility. By uploading your copy into Chat GPT you can ask it to scan and highlight each time the story pushes one of those elements. This will provide you with a quick and clean top view to see if you are missing one key element or if you leaning too hard into another,

I've found the most useful feedback comes from seeking candid notes and critical analysis from trusted peers and colleagues. You need to open yourself up to the vulnerability and discomfort of honest, constructive criticism of your work in order to make the essential improvements that take your stories to a new level of connection with a wider or more discerning audience. Writing is rewriting, the old saying goes. You won't discover new vistas by walking the same old trails, won't get stronger lifting light loads, and won't grow wiser seeking kind, easy counsel. Study great stand-up comedians, great screenwriters, great speeches. Remember the rule of 3. Take risks. Listen. Breathe. Record yourself on video and WATCH IT. Good luck!

In my experience, the possibilities that lie within untapped story opportunities cannot be overemphasized. Stories can spring up in the most unlikely places, and as storytellers, we need to open ourselves up to the wide possibilities that come with trying new sources. One way I’ve found to be effective is openly extending an invitation to a broad group of people to share their personal story or a story of someone they know. More often than not, the most compelling stories are the ones we aren’t actively looking for.

I'm often inspired by advertising messaging. I'll see an ad in a magazine or a phrase on a billboard and it sparks an idea for a story. The sparks are everywhere. Pay attention to your environment. Listen to the conversations around you.

'Look around you' is probably the best advice when you're looking for stories. A great example of storytelling is 'Humans of New York' on Instagram. In each post Brandon Stanton 'zooms in tight' on a human story. It's a reminder of the stories that lie undiscovered around us, in our towns, neighbourhoods and workplaces. You can do the same with your company or organisation. Start a 'Humans of Your Company' project that lifts the lid on the unsung heroes in your organisation, telling those human stories

New sources could also include some of the oldest stories ever told. Ancient mythology, parables and fairy tales can provide back story and motivation for your new story in the modern world.

TRAVEL. Eat at a new place with weird food. Go to see live music from bands you don't know, at a place you've never been, with friends you don't see often enough. Read and listen to perspectives from people you vehemently disagree with, and try to understand where they're coming from. Listen to audiobooks while you hike a new trail, or turn off whatever you normally listen to on your walk or commute and just connect with the sounds or quiet. TRAVEL FARTHER.

I call this creative license. When I'm crafting a new story from a past experience, I have to rely on my memory of the event. Since I don't have a video of the event, I have to give myself permission to recall what is plausible, not factual. In that sense, my story is part fact and part fiction. This opens the door to mixing and matching a bit without feeling that I am lying to my audience.

It's very important to get the right mix of narrative and dialogue. Today's readers don't like page after page of description. Good dialogue can move the story forward and illuminate the characterisation. In life people hesitate and stumble when speaking, but on the printed page dialogue needs to be crisp and concise.

I found it useful to use experiential anecdotes from the first years of my life or from the life of the person whose story I am telling. This allows the reader to enter the new universe of the story and identify with those same situations or human values that he or she may share.

Experimenting with different elements can help you shape the characters and place them in settings that feel immediately familiar. Provide your audience with something tangible to grasp: an excerpt from a journal, a handwritten letter, poetry or lyrics to a song from a specific era or genre. Including these in the text can immediately spark memories or old feelings within yourself which will flow through your characters, drawing your reader into that moment to engage with your characters. Layer in your own personal observations and lived experiences to build further depth. By weaving unique echoes of truth into your plot and characters, you can craft a story that resonates with audiences and delivers lasting impact.

In my early 30s I found myself in an annoying realization. I had taken a rest day - no work, no people, no phone or tech- just me and the beach, soaking up the sunshine and good vibes. In the middle of my mini paradise escape I thought: "It's really nice to unplug and rest. I need to take some pictures because this is great content that I can post about on Monday." ... We live in a world of content where we frame our life experiences through reals and highlights and cheeky thought leadership quotes. It's great to read and engage with, but it's not reality. Take a break. Disconnect from social media and live your life. A fully lived life is more interesting to read about when you do get back to publishing.

I certainly agree. The element of time is essential for us as storytellers. Even an hour or a day apart can be the difference between a good story and a great story! That’s why I strongly advocate for giving your story development process the time it needs to “breathe,” because storytelling is truly an art which requires time to create and refine.

The concept of a taking a break used to cause a lot of psychic fear in me. I worried that if I left a story 'be' for a while, I wouldn't be able to get back into it. I've come to realize this simply isn't the case. Those days where I'm struggling (like, really struggling, not just regular-grade struggling) to find the right word or bring a concept to life...that's my mind's way of letting me know it needs to breathe. What I've found is, more often than not, when I step away from the story, I gain more awareness of what I'm trying to accomplish. Sometimes in 10 minutes, sometimes in 2 days. I think of the right word! Magic ;) It's kind of a break, but it's more giving myself permission to imagine, beyond the bounds of my laptop.

My best writing work includes alot of walking in nature and sleeping on it. The first idea and draft marinates in your brain into something better when you take time away to reflect and rest.

When I finished writing my novel I gave it to a few "beta" readers and waited. Then responses came in and there was more work to do. It was tiring and draining. I shared this with a good friend who's an author and literary editor and she said - "put it on hold. Let it back for even 3 months, leave it on the shelf untouched. It would be good for both of you". And it was. I came back with new energies and a new outlook on my writing.

Make a promise! I heard this a few years ago while watching a TED Talk. Promise a happy end, a solution. Make it at the beginning, to trigger a sense of expectation and keep the audience engaged and interested until the very end.

Experimentation works well for me. Try a new way, observe the audience reaction. Are people able to connect more with your stories in video format? Or audio format? Or text format where imagination is left to the reader?

The best storytellers have the ability to bring their audience into their story: make them feel how it was being in that time, place and under those circumstances. If you are telling a story drawn from personal experience make use of your five senses. Think about what you first noticed. What did you see? How did it sound? What made you curious? As the storyteller you will tell a better, richer story if you manage to re-awaken your senses, recall and convey how it felt being in your shoes. This will in turn draw your audience in, placing them in their own body and making them understand the story not only on a rational level but viscerally too.

LinkedIn itself is a great place to experiment with storytelling. Test out your story via a LinkedIn post. Its character limit provides a good constraint; the opportunity to illustrate with a photo gives it a visual boost; the audience is near-immediately accessible and responsive. People are actively listening. They want to hear from you. Posting on the platform gives us a “Minimal Viable Story” opportunity: the most readily available and fit-for-purpose space to tell a story in a work setting. Try it...!

Storytelling is regarded as a key skill within marketing yet very few people in the discipline have studied the science behind it. The product alliance found that 70% of product marketers consider it a top three skill but less than 5% of them studied it. With that in mind, most teams might not have the tools or even terminologies needed to experiment together with story generation. It is worth aligning as a team into what makes a great story or outlining what the team's approach to storytelling to ensure successful experimentation and ideation of successful product stories.

Last fall, I was doing a virtual Business of Story mastery course for one of the nation's largest veterinarian associations. One of their young, confident marketing writers, we'll call her Sarah, stopped me early in our second session and said in front of everyone... "Park, I majored in journalism and I can see how the ABT might work but I'm not going to use it because it feels too stilted to me, so I'm going to keep writing my old way." I grinned because Sara did not realize that she had used a perfect ABT story structure to explain why she'll never use the ABT. When I pointed it out to the virtual gathering, they all started laughing, even Sarah. Keep your stories fresh using the ABT as your framework and then feel free to ad-lib.

Tell the truth. There's so much BS out there. So much careful positioning and message crafting. Everything's perfectly seasoned and polished and tested on five focus groups first. I get it. I've been a copy manager, an editorial director, I understand how and why the game is played. But whenever possible, I prefer to get real. Strip away the slick. Just be a human speaking to humans, telling a story that's true.

Align your storytelling to corporate strategy: One key perspective to keep in mind is how we can leverage the power of storytelling as a significant aspect of our organization’s corporate strategy. I believe making this a fundamental approach to our storytelling could help in adding freshness to our stories. Ask yourself: what are my organization’s business needs? What stories can I tell to address key business priorities? What timing opportunities exist for the stories I want to tell? E.t.c.

Add a different spin to it! If you were the main character in the story, what would you do? How would you approach the whole context? If your favorite sitcom character is put in midst of the story, What would they do? Say, on a lonely night, while you are brooding at a bar trying to get past a breakup and you meet Ted Mosby, How would the evening go?

Another approach to maintaining the freshness of your stories is to incorporate unexpected twists or elements of surprise. Think about introducing unique characters, settings, or plot developments that challenge the reader's or listener's expectations. This can captivate their attention and keep them engaged throughout your narrative. Moreover, experimenting with different narrative structures, such as non-linear timelines or alternating perspectives, can infuse a sense of novelty into your storytelling. Remember, keeping your own enthusiasm and curiosity alive while crafting your stories can also translate into a more engaging and fresh final product.