Anthony is author of the "The Hyperfocused Entrepreneur". He also has a Youtube channel with 15k+ subscribers, built and exited two 7-figure companies, and manages a $80M real estate portfolio.
Guest Author: Anthony Vicino
I gained 250,000+ followers last year by leveraging one skill:
Storytelling
I’ve been obsessed with this skill ever since hearing Steve Jobs say:
“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller”.
Here’s 13 tiny lessons I’ve learned about storytelling on the internet:
1. Cardinal Rule of Storytelling:
You have to make me care.
2. 90% of a great story is in the delivery.
Think just as much about formatting, pacing, and delivery as you do on the actual words you’re using.
3. Every story simply boils down to 3 parts: a Beginning, a Middle, and an End.
Understanding what each part needs to accomplish is the secret to creating compelling narratives out of practically anything.
4. The Beginning of your story only has one objective: Get Your Audience’s Attention
We do this by using The Hook to plant seeds of intrigue.
5. The Middle of your story only has one objective: Keep Your Audience’s Attention
Accomplish this by telling stories that make your audience care and by giving them a sense of progress.
6. The End of your story only has one objective: Direct Your Audience’s Attention
If you don’t explicitely tell your audience what you want them to take away from your story, then they will fill in the blanks for themselves…
And quite often, they’ll fill in the wrong blanks.
In marketing, we call this the Call to Action.
In storytelling, I call this the Tie Down.
7. Most stories suck because they are just a chronological list of events.
Don’t just tell me what happened… tell me why it mattered.
8. Your audience will connect more with the challenges you’ve overcome than the things you’ve achieved.
9. Great stories are about transformation.
That doesn’t mean it has to be a massive transformation… but by the end of your story, something HAS to have changed.
If it doesn’t, then what was the point?
10. Story is the source code of the human experience.
It’s how we make sense of the universe and give meaning to the things in our life.
11. “There is nothing in the world more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” – Victor Hugo
This is only half-true, because the reality is:
An idea is only as effective as your ability to communicate it.
And the most powerful vehicle for communicating ideas is through Story.
12. A great story doesn’t need as much context as you think.
Start as close to the action as possible and trust that your audience will figure it out.
An audience that is engaged, but slightly confused is better than an audience who is fully informed, but bored.
13. Never forget:
The story might be about you… but it’s not ABOUT you.
It’s about the audience.
Your story is merely the lens through which they see themselves.
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👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this, you’re gonna love my newsletter where each week I share an idea to help you build a business, develop self-mastery, and maximize your return on life.
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