The basics of how to tell a good story. Follow these timeless structures and ingredients and you'll bake magical content goodness every time.

1. How to Tell a Good Story
Because boring stories suck

2. Every Story Needs
• Stakes
• Conflict
• Escalation
• A shift between positive and negative charges
plus this freakin’ guy

3. STAKES

4. What’s the worst that could happen?
Just missing out on true love Sent to Purina Factory
Commies take over entire
free world

5. CONFLICT

6. Conflict moves the story between positive and negative poles
Things were terrible and then they turned out wonderful = Happy Ending
Things were wonderful and then they turned out terrible = Sad Ending
>emo sob!<

7. ESCALATION

8. One Ringwraith
Multiple Ringwraiths on Horses!
Ringwraiths on
Fu*#^ing
Dragons!?!

9. Every Story is Better With…
• A great villain
• A little exaggeration
• Telling details
• The gap

10. A
GREAT
VILLAIN

11. “Everything I’m about to tell you is true. And some of it even happened.”
A
LITTLE
EXAGGERATION

12. TELLING DETAIL
“He was the kind
of guy who never
asked if he could
have the last beer.
He just took it.”

14. The Gap
“The gap is the point where the
subjective and the objective
realms collide, the difference
between anticipation and result,
between the world as the
character perceived it before
acting and the truth he discovers
in action.” –Robert McKee

15. “Luke, I am your father.”
“What’s in the box?”
“You’re a wizard Harry.”

16. So What?
• Stakes:
• Tell em what they stand to lose
• Conflict:
• Tell em what challenges we faced in getting
where we are today.
• Escalation:
• Tell em how it got harder and harder, but we
persevered.

17. So What?
• Villains:
• What stood in our way? How did we work
around it like heroes?
• Exaggeration:
• It’s marketing copy, not a court
deposition.
• Details:
• Minutia is boring. Demonstrating vertical
knowledge is enlightening.
• The Gap:
• Show em something they didn’t expect.

18. Blue Two Content Crush
Layout with Table
• First bullet point here
• Second bullet point here
• Third bullet point here
Group A Group B
Class 1 82 95
Class 2 76 88
Class 3 84 90
is the best story ever.
Make it like that.
The End.