A well-crafted story makes you feel something.
Hearing a great story makes you want to do something. It might leave you wanting more, remind you of something you’ve experienced, or consider something you haven’t. The term “story” has an emotional element that’s designed to influence, inspire, and motivate.
Feeling is everything with storytelling, no matter whether your story is told through a tweet, a video, an anecdote within a speech, a blog post, or a full-length book.
Here, then, are four examples of stories that inspire — told using different media — that hit you right in the feels.
A visual story
A 140-character story
“They said: ‘we’re composting your book.’ i know what failure feels like” – @BreneBrown #INBOUND15 — Laura Fitton (@Pistachio) September 9, 2015
A blog post
“As the project unfolded, yes, it made me cry, but it turned out that this book would also me laugh, think, and dream bigger than I ever imagined. That was the effect that Pat had on all of us. I can only imagine the effect he had on his family and friends while he was alive.” – Taking Pat With Us
A video story
If you tell a story to someone, and they don’t feel inspired, you haven’t created a story. You’ve pulled together some words and pictures. You’ve maybe told a message, or created content.
That narrative truly becomes a story when the reader (or viewer, or follower) feels something. As our photo editor Jane Hope wrote earlier this year, “Humans love stories because they are the framework of our consciousness. Story changes minds and wins hearts. We react deeply to stories because they communicate information in a primal, intuitive way.”
What’s your story? And how are you going to tell it?
