YouTube Transcript:
How To Become A Master Storyteller

today we're talking about storytelling
if you want your content to perform
better you need to learn how to tell
better stories so in this video I'm
going to walk through my six favorite
storytelling techniques that will
massively improve your content after
watching this I guarantee you will think
differently about the way you write
scripts and make videos by the way I'm
Callaway I've pulled over a billion
views on short form video I've got
500,000 followers and I think about this
stuff all the time all right let's dive
in tip number one is what I call the
dance all great stories are like a dance
between context and conflict you give a
little context the characters on a
mission they're doing something and then
oh oh no here comes a conflict you give
a little bit more context the characters
have solved that first conflict they're
on their way and then oh oh no another
conflict this dance is how you keep the
viewer locked in it could be a feature
film or a short form video the dance is
always there now why does this work
conflicts create open Loops in the brain
and then context helps close those Loops
the best explanation I've ever seen for
how to tactically implement this dance
idea is from Matt Stone and Trey Parker
they're the ones who created South Park
they were giving a talk at NYU watch
this we found out this really simple
rule that maybe you guys have all heard
before but it took us a long time to
learn it but we can take these beats
which are basically the Beats of your
outline and if the words and then belong
between those beats you're basically you
got you got something pretty boring what
should happen between every beat that
you've written down is either the word
therefore or but right so so what I'm
saying is that you come up with an idea
and it's like okay this happens right
and then this happens no no no it should
be this happens and therefore this
happens but this happens therefore this
happens and that as soon as we are able
to and literally sometimes we'll we'll
write it out to make sure we're doing it
U we'll we'll have our beats and we'll
say okay this happened but then this
happens and that affects this and that
does to that and that's why you get a
show that feels like okay this to that
to this to that but this here's the
complication to that so tactically it's
as simple as using the words but and
therefore consistently throughout your
script that will create those open
conflict Loops if you're using the words
and then it'll feel like you're piling
on detail after detail after detail and
the viewer will lose interest now let's
quickly take a look at one of my best
performing videos you'll notice there
are four but then conflict Loops in the
first 30 seconds watch this something
crazy is happening with Stanley Cups you
ever seen one of these Stanley Cups
Stanley Cups Stanley Cup racking up 6.7
billion views this 40 o Stanley quencher
has become the Louis Vuitton of drink
wear it's a status symbol new releases
are selling out in seconds people are
flipping them for hundreds on eBay
Stanley the company 10x its Revenue in 4
years off this single product but the
real question is how' they do it how did
Stanley Cups go from a construction
worker's thermos to the dream Christmas
gift I got a
Stanley it's a wild story so in 2019
Stanley was actually about to
discontinue the cup but this group of
mom block loggers the buy guide knew
they were making a huge mistake so they
cut a special affiliate deal with
Stanley to bulk order 5,000 cups with a
Twist Stanley had to make them pastel
colors those 5,000 cups sold out in 5
days and completely Chang their
philosophy on design but it gets even
better a few months ago Stanley had the
burning car moment so I'm consistently
setting up these head fakes to keep the
storyline moving use this but then
framework next time you're Ting a script
I guarantee it'll uplevel that video all
right tip number two is rhythm I talk
about this a lot but there's this
natural subconscious pacing and Rhythm
that is soothing to the brain you can
hear in my delivery I'm pretty decent
with this like natural EB and flow the
rhythm of the syllables when I talk is
soothing to listen to now I used to be a
rapper and I was a drummer Growing Up So
this pacing and rhythm is kind of
embedded in me which I think is why I'm
naturally good at talking in this way
but I do have this tactical way that can
improve anyone else at Rhythm take a
look at this image which was written by
the legendary author Gary Provost now
listen as I read this this sentence has
five words here are five more words
five-word sentences are fine but several
together become monotonous listen to
what is happening this writing is
getting boring the sound of it drones
it's like a stuck record the ear demands
some variety now listen I vary the
sentence length and I create music music
the writing sings it has a pleasant
Rhythm a lilt a Harmony I use short
sentences and I use sentences of medium
length and sometimes when I'm certain
the reader is rested I will engage him
with a sentence of considerable length a
sentence that burns with energy and
builds with all the impotence of a
crescendo the roll of the drums the
crash of the symbols sounds that say
listen to this it is important so write
with a combination of short medium and
long sentences create a sound that
pleases the reader's ear don't just
write words write music you see how when
all the sentences in the same row are
about the same length it creates this
monotonous predictability subconsciously
people get turned off by this this is
what makes them churn to the next video
what you want is to use a variety of
sentences and syllable combinations to
create this unpredictable Rhythm now if
you look at my script document I write
every sentence on a separate line if you
look straight down it'll look like a
jagged edge and that confirms that I'm
using different length sentences next
time you're writing a script try to look
for this if you see your document and
all the sentences seem to end at around
the same point you don't have enough
diversity and it will feel like this
monotonous plotting all right lesson
three is tone the most successful
creators in every discipline are the
ones with the most conversational Tone
It really feels like you're right in the
room with them Emma Chamberlain ascended
to stardom so quickly because she was
naturally amazing at this Casey iats
another one that's really good at this
when you watch his videos and you listen
to him talk it feels like he's right in
the room with you now the person I
learned from most about this was Steve
Jobs if you watch his original keynote
from the first iPhone launch in 2008 he
is amazing at creating this
conversational room like you and him are
just golf buddies shooting the now
this is very intentional and took years
of practice for him to hone in he's also
very gifted at it by doing this Emma
Casey Steve and others are able to break
down that conscious barrier of personal
identity when you watch instead of you
questioning to yourself am I getting
sold to you get out of your own mind and
just feel like you're in a conversation
like you would have to answer a question
that they ask you directly in a way you
forget where you are and that's the
magic of this now I'm still working on
this myself I've only been making
content for like 18 months but if you go
back to my first 50 videos it really
does feel like I'm talking at you
instead of with you the best tactical
way to get better than this other than
just 100 reps is to write and film your
videos as if you're talking to one close
friend if you have to just print out a
picture of them and tape it on the
bottom of your camera lens so you're
literally looking at them as you record
and when you write your scripts make it
so like you're typing a text or
recording an audio note directly to them
over time you'll get better at this
conversational nature but it will feel
like you're having a one-on-one
conversation that's how you break down
this barrier tone is one of those things
that inevitably you will get better over
time the more you film The more you
forget that the camera is just a camera
all right tip number four is Direction
this may seem counterintuitive but the
best place to start when you're writing
a story is the end figure out what the
end is going to be and then work
backwards from there I like to call the
last line of my script the last dab
because I want it to be so memorable
that if that's all someone heard they'd
be willing to share it with a friend in
short form video especially the video is
designed to Loop so the last line is
actually a setup for the first lines as
it replays I think of this a lot like
baseball the nine hitter is supposed to
set the table for the top of the order
it's the exact same thing with the last
line or two of your video when you're
thinking about how to write the script
script focus on where you want to take
the viewer what do you want to leave
them with what do you want the last
thing they hear to be then you can work
backwards from there and build up that
dance in the middle when I think about
someone that does this super well it's
Christopher Nolan think about his films
tenant Inception Interstellar these are
extremely complicated plot lines that
inevitably he had to work out the end
before he could build up the conflict in
the middle now you're probably not
shooting feature films but this same
logic can be applied to all types of
content usually when I'm writing scripts
I'll write the first and last line I'll
go in between create a bunch of space
and then I'll fill it in that's a good
tactical way to try to get better at
this all right tip number five is a
concept that I call story lenses and
it's a way to get better at producing
unique content for social media in
today's day and age finding a cool topic
is not enough unless you're super niched
down there's likely dozens of other
people that are talking about that same
topic so how do you differentiate a
story lens is your unique angle or spin
on a particular story imagine a beam of
light the beam of light's coming across
the screen the naked beam everyone looks
at and sees the same thing it's like
this white beam of light but as as soon
as you put a lens or a prism in front of
the light what people see will look
differently than the main beam think of
that prism or that lens as your story
lens it's your unique fingerprint and
how you uniquely tell the story about
that topic let's take an example when
Taylor Swift went to the Super Bowl the
most common lenses would have been to
talk about what she's wearing or when
she's getting there or what her facial
reaction is to something a lot of people
covered those exact same stories a less
common lens would be to talk about a
prediction for what you think might
happen less people would have have that
but an even less common lens would be to
talk about the business impact that she
was driving on the NFL for being at the
game and that's the lens that I chose to
take because I thought I could be a
category of one that's why I ultimately
made this video and it pulled a million
views it was different my story lens was
something unique that people hadn't seen
before all right the last tip number six
is the hook now I left this for last
because everybody always talks about the
hook first and it makes sense it is very
important if people churn on the hook
the rest of what I talked about doesn't
really matter so I've got two ways to
level up your hooks the first is that
your first line should be as Punchy and
as indicative of the plot as possible if
the video is about your best Garden
techniques the hook should be some
derivative of these are the best Garden
techniques for x or I've got these
Garden techniques or this thing is a
garden technique that you should study
you shouldn't start your hook with some
open opaque line like wait till you see
this or you're never going to believe
this because if the first line doesn't
immediately grab the viewer in short
form video You're Dead the second point
on hooks that's extremely powerful and
something I overlooked for a long time
is that visual hooks are 10 times more
more effective than Audio Only hooks
what does this mean when you're on the
screen and you're saying something but
the only thing the viewer can see is
your mouth moving and maybe the captions
dancing that's going to be way less
effective than if you put a visual on
the screen for them to look and react to
because people's eyes perceive faster
than their ears can hear so you want to
complement what you're saying with a
visual on the screen this is a visual
hook somebody that's really good at this
is my friend Kevin from epic gardening
if you watch his videos he immediately
shows a visual that confirms what what
he's talking about like this one about
strawberries before I hear anything he
says I see a strawberry on the screen
it's Vivid red immediately I know this
video is going to be about strawberries
if I like strawberries I'm going to
stick around to see what he's saying now
I've started testing this and I've
noticed the visual hook aspect has been
super helpful at retaining viewers so in
summary when you're thinking about your
hook get to the point and show while you
tell all right that's it for this one if
you like this video and got value from
it I host a free community for people
that are trying to level up their
content creators entrepreneurs marketers
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in there it's completely free in the
meantime keep me posted on what you
thought of this video and we'll see you
guys on the next one peace