How to Tell Your Audience a Story

This is the model for creators, helping you build an audience while creating fun, smart, unique products you can seamlessly use to tell your audience a story…

If you’re an aesthetically-driven creator doing interiors, making small, creative items with a manufacturer is such an opportunity. It’s also a great way to tell your audience a story, by building on that manufacturing process and the steps you took to bring your products to market.

Let’s take a look at some hot tips on how to tell your audience a story:

By the way, if you missed my TikTok short on this, you can catch it below, or scroll to keep reading here on the blog:

@orenmeetsworld

#duet with @brandino.wang this is the model for creators, building audience and building fun, smart unique products you can seamlessly use to tell your story to your audience #creatoreconomy #influencerbrands #brandingtips

♬ son original – Best songs

Telling a captivating story is a skill that requires more than just a compelling narrative or a winning script. The delivery plays a significant role in the success of your story, too.

Even the most skilled communicators can struggle to convey their message effectively, leading to frustration and missed opportunities. That’s why we’re here to help you master the art of storytelling, enabling you to become an outstanding storyteller regardless of your communication abilities.

Why Storytelling Matters

Storytelling is a powerful tool for communication and connection, allowing us to share our experiences, convey information, and engage with others in a meaningful way. Here are some reasons why it matters on a brand level that you use every opportunity you can get to tell your audience a story:

1. Connection: Storytelling allows us to connect with others on a deeper level by sharing personal experiences and emotions.
2. Memory: Stories are more memorable than facts and figures, making them an effective way to convey information and ideas.
3. Engagement: Stories can capture people’s attention and engage them in a way that statistics or data cannot.
4. Understanding: Stories can help people understand complex concepts and ideas by putting them into relatable contexts.
5. Empathy: Stories can foster empathy and understanding by allowing us to see the world from someone else’s perspective.
6. Persuasion: Stories can be used to persuade and influence people by appealing to their emotions and values.

How to Tell Your Audience a Story

Now that we’ve learned why it matters that you can tell a story, let’s take a look at the best ways how to do that.

Here are some steps to follow when telling a story:

1. Start with a hook: Capture your audience’s attention from the beginning with a catchy opening line or an interesting anecdote.
2. Set the scene: Describe the setting and introduce the characters involved in your story.
3. Build suspense: Add tension and conflict to your story to keep your audience engaged and curious about what will happen next.
4. Use sensory details: Use vivid descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, and feelings to make your story more immersive and engaging.
5. Have a clear message: Make sure your story has a clear message or lesson that you want your audience to take away.
6. End with impact: Finish your story with a strong conclusion that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

Remember to keep your story concise and focused on the message you want to convey. Practice telling your story beforehand, and consider adding visual aids or props to enhance your storytelling.

Social Media Storytelling Dos and Don’ts

Social media has become an essential platform for storytelling, allowing individuals and brands to connect with their audience and share their message.

Learn how to make a better impression and make a bigger impact with the stories you tell your audience. Here are some dos and don’ts to consider when telling stories on social media:

Dos:

1. Keep it concise: Social media users have a short attention span, so it’s essential to keep your story brief and to the point.
2. Use visuals: Use photos, videos, and graphics to make your story more engaging and shareable.
3. Make it relatable: Connect with your audience by sharing stories that are relatable and tap into their emotions and experiences.
4. Use hashtags: Use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your story and reach a broader audience.
5. Be authentic: Share stories that are genuine and authentic to build trust and credibility with your audience.
6. Include a call-to-action: Encourage your audience to engage with your story by including a call-to-action, such as asking them to share their own experiences or opinions.

Don’ts:

1. Overshare: Be mindful of oversharing personal or sensitive information on social media.
2. Be insensitive: Avoid sharing stories that could be offensive or insensitive to certain groups of people.
3. Use clickbait: Don’t use misleading headlines or clickbait to draw in your audience. It can harm your credibility and reputation.
4. Be inconsistent: Be consistent in the tone, style, and frequency of your storytelling to build a loyal audience.
5. Ignore feedback: Pay attention to feedback and engagement from your audience and adjust your storytelling strategy accordingly.
6. Forget your brand: Always keep your brand identity and message in mind when telling stories on social media to ensure consistency and alignment with your overall branding strategy.

By following these dos and don’ts, you can effectively tell stories on social media and connect with your audience in a meaningful way.

Tips for Telling Compelling Stories on Video

Telling a compelling story may take a little time to get into as you get more used to the idea of being on camera. Being fully present in the moment helps a whole lot, and can help keep your audience listening through to the end, thereby increasing your watch time (a tracked metric) and growing the chances of a sale.

For some people, all of this comes naturally and they may be able to wing it. Remember that nobody is so perfect they can’t take a little advice to improve. More than anything, keep in mind that your audience is human. They’re just looking for a connection.

Here are 7 top storytelling tips to help you tell a compelling story on video:

1. Make frequent eye contact with your listeners: That’s not to say you should be staring into the lens the whole time you’re on video, but imagining you’re talking to a few faces in your crowd can be a great way to zoom in on the audience and create a level of intimacy that connects.
2. Interact and ask questions: Use the comments section to entice your audience into asking interactive questions you can respond to. This instant connection is priceless, and shows a level of engagement most brands no longer bother with.
3. Include a simple backstory: Help your audience understand your product, process, or system better. This doesn’t have to be long or complicated. A simple “Today we’re going to take a brief walk-through of how and why I package Product X like this” is backstory/introduction enough in most cases.
4. Evaluate your surroundings: Clean up the background to make an aesthetically pleasing environment around you. Remember that jarring backgrounds and untidy messes distract from your messages and can leave viewers feeling somewhat disrespected.
5. Practice your presence on camera: Work on your timing, your tone of voice, the way you stand (your stance), and your language use. Recognize how many times you may unconsciously use filler words such as “uh”, “um’, “and”, “ah”, “mm”, “like”, “you know”, “so”, and “but”.
6. Have a clear theme and stay on topic: Recognizing your filler words means you can replace them with power words or eliminate them altogether. Streamlining your language use means you’ll spend less time on video, and more quality time on crafting an impactful message.
7. Study talk shows, celebrity interviews, and competitor adverts: Feeling shy or under pressure? Everyone feels that way, especially when you’re just starting out. You can pick up on how other people manage this on camera by analyzing their body language and verbal speech patterns, and then adjusting your own to be (or sound) more confident.

Much like an actor in a series needs time to grow into their role, you’ll soon get the hang of it! Let me know in the comments below if there’s any specific tips and tricks that work to calm your nerves when you tell your audience a story.

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BONUS MATERIAL!

Catch the Builders.Build podcast with my best friends, Colin and James, to discover more about our individual TikTok perspectives and entrepreneurial journeys across brands, products, websites, and more.

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