The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling

艺术。

不是过程，方法或技术。讲故事被描述为艺术…the “art” of storytelling.

And — like art — it requires creativity, vision, skill, and practice. Storytelling isn’t something you can grasp in one sitting, after one course. It’s a trial-and-error process of mastery.

听起来像是很多工作，对吗？这是，理所当然的，因为讲故事已成为最成功的营销活动的关键组成部分。它使一个简单的企业和忠实消费者与一次性停留的购物者相距甚远。

这也是inbound marketing。

Storytelling is anincredibly valuable toolfor you to add to your proverbial marketing tool belt. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide, to help you discover and master storytelling and weave gorgeous, compelling tales for your audience.

拿起笔，让我们潜水。

While this definition is pretty specific, stories actually resemble a variety of things. This来自转介的图形helps outline what stories是and不是。

讲故事是一种与时代一样古老的艺术形式，在每个文化和社会中都占有一席之地。为什么？因为故事是一种通用语言，无论方言，家乡或遗产如何，每个人都可以理解。故事激发了想象力和激情，并在听众和出纳员之间创造了一种社区感。

讲一个故事就像用单词绘画图片。虽然每个人都可以讲一个故事，但某些人将讲故事技巧和成为讲故事的人代表其组织，品牌或业务。您可能已经听说过这些人 - 我们通常称他们为marketers，，，，content writers， 或者公关专业人员。

Every member of an organization can tell a story. But before we get into the how, let’s talk about why we tell stories — as a society, culture, and economy.

我们为什么讲故事？

There are a variety of reasons to tell stories — to sell, entertain, educate or brag. We’ll talk about that below. Right now, I want to discuss why we choose storytelling over, say, a data-driven powerpoint or bulleted list. Why are stories our go-to way of sharing, explaining, and selling information?

这就是原因。

故事巩固抽象概念并简化复杂的消息。

当试图理解一个新想法时，我们都会感到困惑。故事为此提供了一种方法。考虑一下故事帮助您更好地理解一个概念的时代……也许老师使用现实生活中的例子来解释数学问题，传教士在讲道中说明了这种情况，或者说话者使用案例研究来传达复杂的数据。

Stories help solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages. Taking a lofty, non-tangible concept and relating it using concrete ideas is one of the biggest strengths of storytelling in business.

TakeApple， 例如。计算机和智能手机是一个非常复杂的主题，可以向您的典型消费者描述。使用现实生活中的故事，他们能够准确地描述其产品如何使用户受益……而不是依靠很少客户理解的技术行话。

Stories bring people together.

就像我上面说的那样，故事是一种普遍的语言。我们都了解英雄，失败者或伤心欲绝的故事。我们所有人都可以处理情感，并可以分享兴高采烈，希望，绝望和愤怒的感觉。在故事中分享，即使是最多样化的人也有一种共同和社区的感觉。

在这样一个世界除以众多的事情,stories bring people together and create a sense of community. Despite our language, religion, political preferences, or ethnicity, stories connect us through the way we feel and respond to them … Stories make us human.

汤姆斯is a great example of this. By sharing stories of both customers and the people they serve through customer purchases, TOMS has effectively created a movement that has not only increased sales but also built a community.

Stories inspire and motivate.

故事使我们成为人类，品牌也是如此。当品牌变得透明和真实时，它会使它们扎实地获得，并帮助消费者与他们和背后的人建立联系。

借鉴人们的情绪并遇到好事和坏处是故事如何激发和激励……最终推动行动。故事还促进了品牌忠诚度。创建一个narrative around your brand或产品不仅使其人性化，还可以固有地销售您的业务。

很少有品牌将灵感用作销售策略，但是ModCloth做得很好。通过分享其创始人的真实故事，ModCloth不仅使品牌相关且值得购买，而且还激发了其他创始人和企业主。

Source:modcloth

What makes a good story?

Words like “good” and “bad” are relative to user opinion. But there are a few non-negotiable components that make for a great storytelling experience, for both the reader and teller.

好故事是…

• 娱乐：Good stories keep the reader engaged and interested in what’s coming next.
• 教育：好故事激发了好奇心，并增加了读者的知识库。
• 普遍的：Good stories are relatable to all readers and tap into emotions and experiences that most people undergo.
• Organized:好故事遵循一个简洁的组织，该组织有助于传达核心信息并帮助读者吸收它。
• Memorable：Whether through inspiration, scandal, or humor, good stories stick in the reader’s mind.

根据Hubspot Academy的免费讲故事的力量，有三个组成部分构成了一个好故事 - 无论您要讲的故事如何。

1. 人物。每个故事都有至少一个角色，这个角色将是将观众与故事联系起来的关键。这个组成部分是您，讲故事者和观众之间的桥梁。如果您的听众可以将自己放在角色的鞋子上，那么他们更有可能遵循您的呼吁行动。
2. Conflict。The conflict is the lesson of how the character overcomes a challenge. Conflict in your story elicits emotions and connects the audience through relatable experiences. When telling stories, the power lies in what you’re conveying and teaching. If there’s no conflict in your story, it’s likely not a story.
3. Resolution。每个好故事都有一个结束，但并不总是必须是一个好故事。您的故事的决议应结束故事，提供有关角色和冲突的背景，并为您的听众提供呼吁行动。

现在您知道了您的故事应该包含什么，让我们谈谈如何制作故事。

The Storytelling Process

We’ve confirmed storytelling is an art. Like art, storytelling requires creativity, vision, and skill. It also requires practice. Enter: The storytelling process.

Painters, sculptors, sketch artists, and potters all follow their own creative process when producing their art. It helps them know where to start, how to develop their vision, and how to perfect their practice over time. The same goes for storytelling … especially for企业writing stories.

Why is this process important? Because, as an organization or brand, you likely have a ton of facts, figures, and messages to get across in one succinct story. How do you know where to begin? Well, start with the first step. You’ll know where to go (and how to get there) after that.

1. Know your audience.

谁想听你的故事？谁会受益并做出最强大的回应？为了创建一个引人入胜的故事，您需要了解读者，谁会做出回应并采取行动。

Before you put a pen to paper (or cursor to word processor), do some research on yourtarget market并定义您的买方角色。This process will get you acquainted with who might be reading, viewing, or listening to your story. It will also provide crucial direction for the next few steps as you build out the foundation of your story.

2.定义您的核心消息。

无论您的故事是一页还是二十分，十分钟还是六十，都应该有核心信息。就像房屋的基础一样，必须在前进之前建立。

Is your story selling a product or raising funds? Explaining a service or advocating for an issue? What is the point of your story? To help define this, try to summarize your story in six to ten words. If you can’t do that, you don’t have a core message.

3. Decide what kind of story you’re telling.

并非所有故事都是平等的。要确定您讲的故事，请弄清楚您的听众在阅读时的感觉或反应。

This will help you determine how you’re going to weave your story and what objective you’re pursuing. If your objective is to …

• 。。。煽动行动，，，，your story should describe a how a successful action was completed in the past and explain how readers might be able to implement the same kind of change. Avoid excessive, exaggerated detail or changes in subject so your audience can focus on the action or change that your story encourages.

• …告诉人们你自己，，，，tell a story that features genuine, humanizing struggles, failures, and wins. Today’s consumer appreciates and connects to brands that market with authenticity and storytelling is no exception.

• …传达的价值观，讲述一个涉及熟悉的情绪，人​​物和情况的故事，以便读者可以理解故事如何应用于自己的生活。当讨论某些人可能不同意或理解的价值时，这一点尤其重要。

• …培养社区或合作，，，，tell a story that moves readers to discuss and share your story with others. Use a situation or experience that others can relate to and say, “Me, too!” Keep situations and characters neutral to attract the widest variety of readers.

• …传授知识或教育，讲述一个具有反复试验体验的故事，以便读者可以了解问题以及如何发现和应用解决方案。也讨论其他替代解决方案。

4. Establish your call-to-action.

您的目标和呼吁行动（CTA）是相似的，但是您的CTA会在阅读后建立您希望受众采取的行动。

Whatexactly您希望读者阅读后做吗？您是否希望他们捐款，订阅时事通讯，上课程或购买产品？bob官网官方网站概述您的目标，以确保它们对齐。

例如，如果您的目标是培养社区或协作，则您的CTA可能是“点击下面的共享按钮”。

5. Choose your story medium.

故事可以采用许多形状和形式。有些故事被阅读，有些是被观看的，而另一些则被聆听。您选择的故事媒介取决于您的故事类型以及时间和金钱等资源。bob体育苹果系统下载安装

Here are the different ways you can tell your story.

• 一个书面故事is told through articles, blog posts, or books. These are mostly text and may include some images. Written stories are by far the most affordable, attainable method of storytelling as it just requires a free word processor like谷歌文档…或笔和纸。

• A spoken storyis told in person, like a presentation, pitch, or panel. TED talks are considered spoken stories. Because of their “live”, unedited nature, spoken stories typically require more practice and skill to convey messages and elicit emotions in others.

• An audio story大声说话但记录下来 - 这就是与口语故事区分开的原因。音频故事通常是播客形式，并且有了今天的技术，创建音频故事比以往任何时候都更实惠。（对于一个出色的故事驱动播客，请查看增长秀）

• A digital story通过各种媒体，例如视频，动画，互动故事，甚至游戏。到目前为止，此选项是对情感共鸣的故事以及活跃的视觉故事最有效的，这就是为什么它也是最昂贵的原因。但是不要担心：视频质量并不像传达强烈的信息重要。

6.写！

Nowit’s time to put pen to paper and start crafting your story.

凭借您已经建立的核心信息，受众目标和召唤行动，此步骤仅仅是为了在您的故事中添加细节和创造性。阅读更多有关我们的讲故事公式为了帮助您采取此步骤。

7. Share your story.

Don’t forget to share and promote your story! Like with any piece of content, creating it is only half the battle — sharing it is the other.

根据您选择的媒介，您绝对应该在社交媒体和电子邮件上分享您的故事。此外，可以在您的博客上推广书面故事，Medium，或通过客人发布其他出版物。数字故事可以在YouTube和Vimeo上共享。虽然口语故事最好亲自传达，但请考虑录制现场表演以稍后分享。

The more places you share your story, the more engagement you can expect from your audience.

Storytelling Resources

讲故事是一个反复试验的过程，在第一次尝试中，没有人能完美地讲述一个故事。这就是为什么我们收集了这些资源来帮助您微调讲故事技巧，并了解有关故bob体育苹果系统下载安装事的不同方式的更多信息。

对于书面故事

• OEDB的写作资源bob体育苹果系统下载安装
• HubSpot’s list of writing tools

对于讲故事

• The TEDx Speaker Guide

For an Audio Story

• HubSpot的指南如何启动播客

For the Digital Story

• Vimeo的视频学校
• Animoto

给你

Storytelling is an art. It’s also a process worth mastering for both your business and your customers. Stories bring people together and inspire action and response. Also, today’s consumer doesn’t decide to buy based on what you’re selling, but rather why you’re selling it.

讲故事可以帮助您以创造性，引人入胜的方式传达“为什么”。另外，讲故事的乐趣不是吗？