171. Advice from Nontraditional Storytellers Part 2
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Hi, matt here. What kind of one panel cartoonist, a magician and a lawyer teach us about storytelling? The answer quite a lot.

With our five year university coming up in january, we have begun experimenting with new ways to bring you practical and tactical communication and career advice and guidance. This week, we're debug ing at two part mini series on storytelling from non traditional storytellers. Not only does this mini series provide super useful information, but we try out a new format too. As an added bonus, are thinking talk smart premium supporters get access to full interviews from some of our many series guests. Stay tuned for more exciting content in the coming weeks and months.

Writing a story without thinking about your audience first is like a writing a love letter in addressing IT to whom IT may concern. Can hammer, who originated that quote, is right on. If we don't know our audiences, we can't connect story to them, we can't make IT engaging.

A story will fall flat if IT doesn't have a targeted audience. My name is that braham and I teach to teaching communication at stanford graduates school of business. Welcome to think fast, talk smart.

the. podcast. I am so excited to be back for our second episode in our unconventional non traditional story text series.

In our first episode, we talked about how we need to structure and frame our content to really make IT clear and concise for our audience. We talk to a trial lawyer and a cartoonist. Today, we're going to look at how to make our stories engaging and compelling. Before we get started, i'd like to invite you to join our growing community from around the globe .

by subscribing to think fast, talk smart premium. As a subscriber, you'll get early access to events, exclusive content and opportunities to participate in A M A sessions. Ask matt anything, visit faster, smarter.

doi o slash premium to sign up today. Our first conversation in today's episode is with alex muffat. He's a magician from the U. K, who's currently living in sydney and he's been performing magics since he was seven years old. Let's listen in to hear what tricks he pulls out of his hat to help us all be Better story tellers.

So in magic, there's a couple of ways magicians go. You can have a Ellena route or on linear routes. And a linear would just be, like, pick a card, put IT back in the pack shot, let teda I found IT, you know, and that might be battle IT might be interesting IT might be, how did you do that? But is not necessarily entertaining.

IT isn't really a story to IT. Alternatively, the nonlinear route, which involves the misdirection, attention, focus at seta and emotion, is where I might go. Hey, matt, what's your favorite card? And you you name IT.

Hey, would you take that out and draw a picture on IT? Sign your name on IT. It's yours. Now there's one in the world that exists like this.

And then five or six different effects happen, but then rather just go tota IT, then multiples into three of them. But she's impossible. You only created one, and they all instantly disappear.

And then I throw in spring the cards at the window, in the restaurant or hotel, ever, your tossings house, the cards, cash ed to the floor. A one card was left ted up to the window with the back facing everyone. I asked a person to go up and get IT.

I go up and get IT, but they can't take IT off the windows. They realized that on the other side of the glass outside the building, after run out, going get IT. As they pull IT off the window, they wave at all their friends and then they come running back in to a right of laws of cause that's their signed card.

And that has meaning it's a journey. The car went on a journey, but there's connection to IT with the person that favorite that created a peace author. This and then magical things happen, of course, impossible landing and memorable.

Just go straight to the point, whether is no story or you can go out from these tangent and journeys and magic, meaningful, connected to them. One that i've recently performed for the very first time in recent keynote. It's the rubber and illusion.

So IT said an example on neo plasticity and how easy IT is to rewire the brain very quickly. So I get a volunteer on stage. I've got this rubber hand, and I have a little box that they put their real hand under the ruby hand on top.

And I, simultaneously with a paintbrush, just stroke the real hand and eat box that they can't see, and the same finger of the river hand that they can see. And almost instantly the brain starts cause that river hand to be associated as their own. My problem was that does any one person on stage experiencing IT and feeling IT? So how can I get the audience to not sit their board going on? They're enjoying this and where to start watching?

They're got to out to feel IT, too. So i've moved into things where I asked them if they feel that they could raise their finger, would IT raise on the ribbon, and and they go dos, feel like I could move this hand. And then I asked them to just move their their left index finger, then the rubber and inx thing that moves up by itself as they are doing IT, and said, that freaks them out, the freaks the audience out, of course, because this looks rather hand action.

Alex is a true master of engagement to me. Engagement is all about sustaining people's attention. Attention is the most precious commodity we have in the world today. And if you can keep that attention, you have somebody engaged. And as a magician is all about managing attention.

And you can hear the level of detail in thought that alex puts into IT, and he leverage story to help his audience focus their attention and be engaged. There are many ways to engage an audience. You can engage an audience through description, vivid description.

You can engage in audience by playing with their curiosity and in surprise. And certainly alex, as both, you can also leverage physical. If you see a magician on stage, there's movement, he's moving around.

He's asking you to watch things so that physicality gets you engage. There's the language you use is IT inclusive, using the word you, us. Are we getting people to envision things in their mind, as alex often does through asking questions? These are powerful tools to help your audience get engaged.

Now we don't have to be a performer on a stage. We can leverage these tools in a meeting. We can leverage the story telling best practices in our everyday conversation, bringing your audience into that moment, helping them see IT, feel IT.

That's what gets engagement. It's also critical when engaging our audience to make sure that we are efficient with people's time. And we have to be clear and concise. And that's where our conversation with cozy to combo, who's the head of creator marketing a tiktok and an influencer who goes by the named sir candle man, where he focuses on fragrance and beauty.

In a world is short form video, which, you know, where took tok started, you can actually upload longer videos on tiktok as well, over a minute and more. But I still find what keeps people engage in the story, whether is fifteen second, thirty seconds, one minute, five minutes, ten minute, plus is the same thing you need to make every second count, which used to be the old tiktok lingo and moto. Now it's inspired e creativity and bring joy.

But in fifteen seconds, that same heroes journey applies to ten minutes meeting. In fifteen seconds, what people want to know is, what is this video about? What is the problem? Why are you the person to tell me? And how can you help me find the perfect cragg ance for when you are out on the town and trying to find boyfriend? And i'm so kind of, man, your fragrance curator, they know i'm the expert.

I'm going to tell them this thing. These are three fragrances by the song, X, Y, Z. I can do that thirty seconds, but I also to give you a deep die of fragrance for an hour.

Same applies to marketers. You can do the fifty second, thirty second, third, third ad spot, which effectively I help you understand, like what your products or services and why they should engage that. What you can do, the brig, brand story, documentary, creative exercise, but should still do the same thing. So in all of those things, back to make every second count, no part of that video, whether fifteen seconds or fifteen minutes, should be wasted time.

I'm wondering if you can just summarize force, what are the key ingredients from mere perspective of a good story?

I would say a good story has a strong hook or reason to be listen to a heard. I think IT has a strong entry point for the listener of you are the reader to find themselves in the story. IT has enough conflict or chAllenge that they trying to solve a problem for this person, and and then IT has a clear arc and resolution where you help them achieve the thing you promise to the beginning or refer them on to someone else.

So especially in short form video. And to make this example concrete, or social media, whatever people are posting, when people come across your post of video, why must I stop? Like, what is there that's making me stop to? Who are you and how do I relate to you? Meaning, then I want to watch and learn.

And three, how are you helping me solve whatever IT is that I came to you for? Or entertainment inspire me and for me. And in three, do I actually get to that resolution? So those are the key parts.

You can do them fast. You can do them slow. And I would say for people looking for a bonus tip, especially in a world where there's so much content online and you want to shine through, you need to have personality. And people would be like, what does I mean that means you just need to be your authentically self. By that, I mean, like truly, we passionate and truly speaking in the way you speaking the way that other people don't speak, it's OK to show yourself in the way that other people don't see because that's how you cut through so much of the same content. Otherwise you just another video in a dilution of videos.

The other thing that could he does, and I have a little inside as as a former student, my he is amazingly authentic. He is who he is regardless of of his in his role as the head of crater marketing a tiktok. Or if he's in the role of cdo man, he is who he is.

An authenticity is really important. We connect with people we see as real, not people who are putting on pre tents are hiding behind something. So it's not just the story you tell, it's the authenticity you bring to the story.

And that's true in any kind of messaging. If you are trying to be persuasive, if you're trying to be in inspirational, being authentic really, truly can help. And that that in of itself is the definition of engagement.

He's got the attention and we see in his stories, in his information ourselves. And that's really a powerful way of engaging. Another powerful way of engaging is to really focus in on how you deliver the message you deliver.

And no one is Better if focusing on delivery and timing and stand up comedians. Our final conversation is with orlando labor, who is a stand up comedian. He has performed multiple times on the tonight show at jimmie baLance.

And he's not only funny, but he actually tells stories that matter and finds the humor in them. And he does so in a very descriptive way that really pulls us in. Let's hear a story that orlando tales that not only funny, but educational.

The story goes, um among the road I fly home to visit my mother. I grew up in south florida, uh, tropical place. Some people feel like they need to have a passport when there is self floria.

And I decided to drive around the old neighborhoods. I borrow my mother's car, and I get pulled over by the cops. Uh, nothing knew that happens.

You know, what was strange about this cup was that there was a bicycle cup, right? And I didn't know they could do that. I didn't know they could pull car, so I thought they were strictly sidewalk action.

Maybe someone's away by the mall, and there I didn't know they could do that. Uh, he knocked on my window, scared by g is out of me, and he yelled me, pull IT over. He had a little like, he had a little like, so I pulled IT over.

Uh, when I pulled over, he finally pulled up next to me. I wrote down my window. He had the typical cup talk.

He was talking the top talk, right? And he was like, do you do you. Do you know how fast you are going? And I was like, clearly not fast enough.

And that's the week inning of history. He did not like that, put down as a little kick standing. He got off that bike. What did you say to me? And that's part of A A, that's the beginning of a very long right journey with that bicycle cup.

And IT goes on and it's very funny. But one of the things that I respect so much about your work as you keep a very positive energy, how much of that is a conscious choice for you to be positive? And how does that impact the stories you tell?

No, I just I was in, I don't want to say the place, but I was in a place where they grow a lot of corn and know all the audiences were good set one show, two Young men and their farmers and their their energy was our girlfriends or fiance says, drag us here to see you. They find you fun. I don't think you're fun.

And um he took me a solid twenty minutes to get them on my side to get them to uncross their arms release later to stay room level because they were Younger guys yeah I don't yes I don't mean they were doing pistol hand gestures. So i'm talking about high defend myself with pepper spring yes yes is not little. Everybody gets to go home. You're gonna to rest your eyes out for two, three hours but everybody goes home and and they're like, yeah, he's like, not me you know he's doing hand gestures and one of them was like, not me and he does a hand just just like I just use my my weapon yeah and then i'm like, yeah, that's a you got to live with that I told them yeah you're saying that what is like have you ever and I S have you ever had been put in a situation where you've had to use right is like, no I said I know cops right I know cops they have had to they have quit the force because the mental trauma of IT and there are just supposedly defending their lives at the time you know um and I was no IT strikes me I mean I find .

this fascinating um you know your performer ah and yet IT sounds to me like you you you're doing more than performing there. You're actually trying to connect and maybe even teach a lesson in IT.

I don't say teaching a lesson that's for everybody's journey yeah I I just one of the things that that I feel is gonna get me to where I want to go with this career is a fact that the be present.

yes, be present and respond .

to what's happening, yes, just staying quiet while you talk, waiting for me just so I could just say what I wanted, say I want to listen no, that's why I made able I think you might seen that they are able to get off the whole joke, address the situation is happening in real time, yeah. And then come back and put the train right back on the tracks.

We talk about story telling, and we've talked a lot in this episode, in the one prior about story, but it's also about the telling. And I think he is a great example of how you have a strong presence and even talks about IT, how he has to be present and listen in in the moment because his audience is not just responding to him. He is responding to them.

That's what true engagement is, is where both parties are equally involved. He varies his voice. He slows his pace.

He speed IT up when you see him perform live, which I have. He uses his body in terms of his gesturing. The actual telling, the way he shows is critical, so that non verbal presence really matters.

And I think this brings us full circle. We've talked about story in our first episode. We talked about how we frame the story, how we think about our audience, how we think about our motion.

And in the second episode, we've talked about how we actually engaged in the tools of engagement. We've talked about IT through the eyes of a cartoonist, a magician, a social media influencer as well as a comedian. And they're all teaching us that by engaging the audience, being present, we form a connection.

That connection has a physiological route to IT the neurochemicals released. But there's also an emotional connection. And I really appreciate these learnings, and I think we can apply them all to our everyday communication.

As we wrap up this two part think fast, talk smart series on unconventional non traditional storytellers. One of the things I hope everyone is taking away is that stories are hidden in plain site. You've heard from several non traditional storytellers.

There are many that we encounter her everyday. I chAllenge all of us to look for the stories, look for the means by which people are telling those stories. How are they structuring them? How are they engaging us? Learn from those and begin to use those techniques in your own authentic way, in your communication, in your story telling.

And in so doing, we will all become more efficient, more effective and more engaging in our communication. Thank you for listening to this think fast talk mark mini series. This episode was produced by gym m.

Cogan jenne luna and me matt Abrahams mix engineering by mumble media. Special thanks to dawn fraser of the stanford story telling project. If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about storytelling, please check out episode one sixty eight with Matthew dicks in episode fifty with polar moa. You can hear complete episodes with some of our guests in this many series through our premium offering at faster, smarter di o slash premium, find more of our episodes on youtube or wherever ever you get your podcasts, and check out faster, smarter doi o for deep die videos, english language learning content and our newsletter.