How to Tell Better Stories In 2 Minutes

After writing 1 million words on the internet I've come to one conclusion. It's a biggie:

Storytelling is the most important skill you can develop.

It really is stories that change the world.

And here's how you tell better stories to win on Twitter.

1. Make them feel understood

Your content has to be relatable to your audience. It's no good me talking about my dogs on this newsletter (as much as I loved to). You're here to hear about how to create on the internet part-time.

You must talk about REAL stuff.

Content needs a level of realism.

People have to read your work and be transported back to when they felt that way. Focus on that. They have to see themselves in the content for it to resonate.

2. Talk about a transformation

Everybody is trying to go from A to B:

• Broke to rich
• Overweight to healthy
• Procrastinator to productive

You have to talk about your transformation. Talk about where you were to where you are now. Then tell the story of how you made it.

3. What's the world got wrong?

As you go through the world you notice the 'world-conversation'.

'Apple is better than Windows' 'You save all your money' 'AI is taking over the world'

If you can interrupt that & present a new (better) idea, you'll hit a nerve with people. That 'hitting a nerve' will cause people to react. And that's when you spark conversation.

4. Ask interesting questions (and surprise with the results)

We've all seen those threads / articles / videos that repeat the same old stuff. People want new, interesting content that makes them think.

That's your job as a writer. To inspire new ways of thinking. You can do that by asking better questions.

5. Get right to it

Shock the reader with a harsh truth. It snaps them into reading & makes them feel something. That something keeps them reading. Don't beat around the bush, say what needs to be said.

For inspiration, watch this video and compare it to this video. Pace is everything.

6. The messenger matters

To get people to listen you need to agitate a pain. But you need authority. The messenger matters. Talk about your credibility, then the problem, then the solution.

Person → Problem → Solution

TLDR: don't talk about something you have zero experience on UNLESS you are leveraging someone else's credibility.

7. Make it visual "Picture Superiority Effect"

• Words with no visual? People remember 10% 3 days later.
• Words with visuals? People remember 65% 3 days later.

Make it rememberable by adding visuals.

I talk more about how to generate ideas for writing tweets and building on Twitter in the Part-Time Tweeter.