There’s a story even when it doesn’t feel like there is.
I’ve worked with many clients who ask content but warn there is no story to tell, just facts. In nearly every case, they are wrong. There’s always a story lurking among the data. It may not be obvious or adventurous, but with some reframing, you can find it.
Here’s an example:
I wrote and produced a video for the military version of the CDC following their realignment. At first glance, it seemed pretty straight-forward. Three military branches had their own epidemiology departments before they merged into one.
But that wasn’t the story.
The story was how these three agencies merged into one fully functioning agency with branches around the world. It lay in how they functioned as a new, more nimble agency while expanding their capability.
They needed that story to prove to Congress they needed funding as a much larger, more efficient organization. We used story to get them that money.
No one throws money at something they don’t understand or care about. It’s that simple. Our mission was figuring out how we could make them care. How could we show the value of the new agency and match or grow their previous funding as separate entities?
The answer was (as it always is)—story. We also restructured how they spoke about their mission and tactics.
It was a great story. Nearly as good as the story of me having to take SERE training to work on the project.
[For those of you who don’t know about SERE training, it stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. It’s training designed to help you survive being in enemy territory and being captured. We needed it for a trip to Peru. It’s not something a writer usually needs to learn. I also struggled filling out the paperwork outlining all my scars, moles, and freckles in case of dismemberment. If you know me, you’d know why. I am definitely spotted, as my son used to say. Lots of Irish freckles over here. But I digress.]
Stories exist in nearly everything. It all depends on how you look at it…and how you reframe your experiences.
Here are three quick tips to finding your stories:
1. Look at the elements of your story (the facts or events) and identify any patterns among the data.
2. Find the throughline in the events–the driving force that pushes the story forward. What made this happen? Why did you do what you did? Why did it turn out the way it did?
3. Try reframing the core story using different lenses. Look at it from the perspective of the audience, the theme underneath the story, the connection to you and your business (or client need).
If you want to capture your own stories, check out Figments & Fables’ new Story Bank Notion database and course. The program includes tips on collecting and using stories, prompts to spark your creativity, and a Notion database to collect and catalog your stories for easy use. Join our email list for a special coupon to get $30 off the regular price (which makes it only $27!). Or, if you want to reframe stories you already have, check out our Reframe Your Stories workbook ($9).