Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Brand

make that day different from the last. It’s probably the best phone call I’ve ever received, and I never got the woman’s name. She thanked me and hung up while she was still crying. That’s the best benefit of Homework for Life: As we start to see importance and meaning in each day, we suddenly discover our importance to this world. We start to see

The Elephant tells the audience what to expect. It gives them a reason to listen. A reason to wonder. It infuses the story with instantaneous stakes. Even if those initial stakes have nothing to do with the real meaning and message of the story, it’s critical that they exist.

Wondering Is Everything Think! Think and wonder. Wonder and think. How much water can fifty-five elephants drink? — Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

Three ways to keep your audience excited and happy and thrilled by your story as it arcs to its conclusion. Stakes, suspense, and surprise.

Be Vulnerable

A story, at its heart, is defined by one of two things: transformation and/or realization. Put in the simplest terms, a story describes or embodies change over time.

The Elephant should appear as early in the story as possible. Ideally,

face.

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.

on our life never produces this reaction.