The MISSING ELEMENT That Makes Your Story Great
Think of Roots, The Titanic, or The Book of Eli.
For that matter, think of their characters: LeVar Burton in Roots, Jack Dawson in The Titanic, or Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. What do they have in common? All are GREAT stories and all GREAT stories and have a hero. Additionally, their stories possess two key elements you should incorporate into your story:
- A serious challenge
- A hero dealing with challenges and learning something as a result
It’s easy to see why most stories fail. Try this story from a typical church conference speaker:
My wife and I started this church in 19xx with a few people and a heart to win lost people to Jesus (they leave out the part where millionaire donors foot most of the bill). Today, we are a thriving mega-church with 15 campuses and a $20 million budget. We host conferences, trainings, and training resources to help you get to where we are (not stated – but implied). We are #6 on Church Growth Today’s list of the fastest growing churches in America.
It’s an impressive story, but there’s a problem:
IT’S NOT A GOOD STORY &
IT HAS THE WRONG HERO!
If you want your friends, family, church members (pastors), colleagues, or clients to identify with your story, you must do what great story tellers do:
HELP THEM IDENTIFY WITH YOUR HERO!
Trust me: People won’t readily identify with you, your church, or your company/business for a simple reason:
YOU ARE NOT, AND NEVER CAN BE,
THEIR HERO!
Instead, they are their heroes. People identify with themselves; they want solutions to their problems. Unfortunately, they are not interested in helping you reach your goals. Instead, they are interested in making their own lives better.
The ideal story talks about the person, not about you, your church (pastors), or your company/business. It puts the listener in that hero’s shoes, and creates tension around some challenge that faced the hero. Your best stories are not about you; they are about them. Tell stories that make people the heroes and help them identify with them. Then they will see how you can help them! It’s a tough task, but, you can do it!
