3 authentic storytelling tips when you’re in a jam

Authentic storytelling brings speeches, blog posts and videos to life and moves audiences by touching their hearts. Here are three tips to help you create stronger content when you’re stuck:

1. Remember structure is in our DNA. “It might seem like structure takes the creativity out of what you’re writing—and that it’s not quite ‘authentic,’” said Douglass Hatcher, president of Commjnicate4Impact in the recent Ragan “Speechwriting & Public Affairs Conference.”

But the truth is the opposite. “The impulse to create order out of disorder is fundamentally human—it’s in our DNA,” Hatcher said. “When it comes to storytelling, we can’t not not do it.”

To illustrate, he cited a 1944 experiment run at Smith College by Heider and Simmel where an animation of geometric shapes was shown to students. When asked what they saw, students told stories rather than describing the movements of shapes.

Hatcher explained that when there is “No clear story structure, our minds will create one—so be sure to include a beginning, middle and end in whatever you’re working on.”