What’s at the Heart of Any Good Story?

At the heart of any good story is emotion.

Give people a reason to care.

It’s about creating stakes, tension, and drama.

For that, we need to know the characters, what winning / losing means to them, what struggles they are currently facing, what adversities they had to overcome, and what enemies / rivals stand in their way to achieving greatness.

This is why people become so invested in sports. It has all the elements of a compelling story played out weekly over the course of a season.

As the teams enter the playoffs and their dreams become within reach, the stakes and tension rise.

The deeper you know the players, their origins, their families, their stats… the more connected and passionate you become.

Would you watch two random high-school teams you’ve never heard of play a regular season game?

Probably not.

But, what if it were game 7 of an important series, of two rival teams you’ve been following all year, and the whole world was watching to see if the star player will rise to the occasion and lead his team of underdogs to victory against the defending champions in their home town, while an NBA contract hangs in the balance… you may feel differently.

Whether or not you like sports, check out Faceoff: Inside the NHL. It’s storytelling at its finest.

I just finished season 1 last night after binge watching 4 episodes…

… and I don’t even watch sports.

Community Building for Brands

How do you make your brand stand out?

The answer lies in the age-old art of storytelling. Just as a perfect ball game keeps fans on the edge of their seats, a well-told story can captivate your audience, create emotional connections, and ultimately drive action.

The following was taken from the book, Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama, by David Mamet

What do we wish for in the perfect ballgame? Do we wish for our team to take the field and thrash the opposition from the first moment, rolling up a walkover score at the final gun?

No. We wish for a closely fought match that contains many satisfying reversals, but many of which can be seen retroactively to have always tended toward a satisfying and inevitable conclusion.

Continue Reading: The Perfect Ball Game: How We Can Use Drama in our Storytelling Marketing