The Importance of Digital Storytelling

The point is to see how long you can improv a shocking, disgusting, offensive story. You can think about it as a secret handshake among comedians that became not so secret after a 2005 documentary came out about the joke. But it got me thinking about the importance of telling a story. Last week. I got to speak to my friend, Nick Benson's college classes about digital storytelling. Don't worry. I didn't tell the aristocrats. But I did tell them about why storytelling is so important.

And that's what I want to talk to you about today. So as you listen to what is, hopefully this story? I look for these top takeaways. How to tell a good story. And how do we integrate. Elements from the story into the point in your making. Where to find good stories. And the three act structure that dictates them. And who you need to make the hero. In your story. We'll cover all of that in more plus in the pro show, I'm going to talk about how I am revamping my automations database for members.

As well as how and why I deeply upset some fans of artificial intelligence and large language models. So if you want to hear that, You can head over to how I built it slash join and become a member of the Foundry. But that's it. Let's get into the intro. And then the episode. Hey everybody, and welcome to How I Built It, the podcast that helps busy solopreneurs and creators grow their business without spending too much time on it.

I'm your host, Joe Casabona, and each week I bring you interviews and case studies on how to build a better business through smarter processes, time management. And effective content creation. It's like getting free coaching calls from successful solopreneurs.

By the end of each episode, you'll have one to three takeaways you can implement today to stop spending time in your business and more time on your business or with your friends, your family reading, or however you choose to spend your free time. So I got to speak to a college class, two college classes actually. About the importance of storytelling. And I loved it. It reminded me of how much I miss. Teaching in the classroom.

For those of you who don't know, I taught intro to computers and computer science at the university of Scranton. From when I was a grad student in 2007, until I got married and moved away. At the end of 2016, I continued to teach online courses. For a while, but it just wasn't the same. It's not the same as being in a classroom full of students. Who are increasingly younger than you. Uh, and understanding what makes them think. And the zeitgeists and the culture.

Uh, and that is something that I really miss. And so I thoroughly enjoyed, even though it was via zoom. Joining my friends class and teaching him. Uh, and his students, the importance of storytelling. And so most of this. Most of these thoughts I have are in the context of podcasting. I think that not enough people tell stories with their podcasts. Uh, and I think that storytelling is important in any context, in any content you create, but especially podcasting.

Uh, and I say again, I, I say, especially because up until this point, the vast majority of podcasts, haven't integrated storytelling in some way, they've been back and forth interviews, emulating. More of a late night host format. Then a movie or a TV show, but if you'll notice everybody brings a story with them, right. They're not just. Shooting it, uh, I can send to myself here, shooting there because, uh, they feel like it, they, they want to make an impact.

They want to tell people about their cause. So, well, there are popular podcasts that don't weave storytelling into the fabric of their content. Uh, most of, again, most of the popular podcasts do. Uh, look at lore, which was one of the first to really do that. Uh, before that, right? Most. Podcasts were, I mean, stuff you should know, that was, that was, and still is a really good one. But most of them were like white guys talking about apple, right? No story required.

Uh, so lore American storytellers is a recent favorite of mine. And serial Ray. Those kinds of podcasts kind of transformed the landscape. And they all tell a compelling story. If you're trying to differentiate in today's world, no matter what content you make. Uh, the world where everything is vying for your attention. As we talked with, uh, the clarity king, Steve. Back a few episodes ago. Uh, you can't just have a conversation. You can't just be two people talking.

Uh, unless you happen to be a Superbowl winning tight end dating the world's most popular pop star and American royalty. You need to tell a good story. So, where do you start? Well, just to quickly level set here. I'm talking about nonfiction information focused podcasts here. Uh, the interviews are solo shows where you're teaching or doing some sort of knowledge transfer. I suspect I don't need to convince people who are already telling a story that they need to. Tell a story.

So. How do we tell a good story? Where do we start? I've talked about this before my three act. Process. But we have to go a little bit. Back further back. To really understand the importance of storytelling. Uh, my friend Mike Paki. He owned, who was on this show is a public speaking coach. And he knows the power of storytelling. He knows that you need to hook your listeners and take them on a journey through your talk. It doesn't have to be an epic story.

It just needs to be a. A story with a beginning or a hook. Uh, middle some conflict. And some conclusion. Even if that conclusion. Is a cliffhanger. Mike opens up one of his talks by telling a story about how he was staying in a hotel. And he got. A very scary call in the middle of the night. And he thought he heard a knock on his door. And he doesn't end the story. Just leaves it there. Hanging out. Because that's not the point. The point is to hook your listeners. If you. No, the aristocrats.

Then I immediately hooked you with a family, walks into a talent agency and says, If you don't know the aristocrats, then you're like, what is Joe talking about? Right. So you want to hook your listeners right off the bat. In a minute, I will talk about the main difference between the two courses. The two sections of the course I taught back to back. Because this is also a really interesting thing to me. But first, I want to tell you.

About the format that most or many stories at least to follow. And that's the hero's journey. The basis of many, many stories is Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. It's the idea that we have a hero, the main character go through some life altering adventure. With the help of a guide. The hero experiences, a trial that eventually leads to growth. We see this format all the time. Star wars. Harry Potter. Lord of the rings. Those are very commonly cited. But they don't have to be epics.

They don't have to be science fiction or fantasy. Uh, one of my favorite shows is 30 rock. Which is a bit more fluid. But you could argue that both Liz lemon and Jack Donaghy go through their own hero's journey throughout the series. They're almost like their own heroes and they're each other's guide. Guiding each other to be better versions. Of themselves. Barney Stinson and how I met your mother. While, not the main character. Goes through considerable character growth.

From the first to last season. And if we look at scrubs. J D is our main character. Uh, Dr. Cox is his most obvious guide. But he helps Dr. Cox grow to Jed's friends, help him grow. He has several guides. But he changes dramatically from the very first episode to the very last. This doesn't need to be in fiction either. And in fact, one of Nick's students asked me how to turn non-fiction events into stories. It's something. I think we wish we were all good at, but are kind of bad. Right?

Uh, or most of us are right. We all have that friend or family member who gives you too many details. And the story goes nowhere. It's like, oh, so I was like up at midnight. Uh, and I couldn't sleep. So I got in my car and, uh, I drove, uh, down the 4 0 5. No, maybe it was the night. Well, either way I was driving, I was wearing my red hoodie and I went to Walmart and now you're like, why does it matter what road they were driving on? Why does the red hoodie matter?

What, what's the point of this story? Um, But we should be able to turn nonfiction events into stories because those are going to help. Relate our. Knowledge or our information, the thing we're trying to teach to the audience. It's something I spoke to Cody Sheehy about on this show. Uh, but there's another person who's very good at telling stories based on her own life. And we know her all too well. But before we get into that, I want to take a quick break for our sponsors.

If you haven't listened to the 10 minute version of Taylor Swift's all too. Well, I highly recommend it. Not only is it a bop? But it tells an incredible story about a several months relationship and well, 10 minutes. She uses her words. To paint, incredible pictures for us to imagine. It used to be a little kid glasses. And your mother's telling stories about you on the tee ball team. You told me about your past thinking. Can't you see that scene? In your head. I can picture it perfectly.

I actually picture my own childhood bedroom for some reason. But she's painting a picture for you. To see what she remembers all too well. But Taylor swift also uses similes. To convey. How she, and whoever she's talking about. Uh, Treated there clan desk, dine, rekindling. This is maybe one of my favorite parts of the song. It's so good. 'cause you really. You understand, we, you immediately know the difference between how she viewed them covertly getting back together. Versus how. The subject.

Views them getting back together. And then finally her use of metaphors are also powerful and powerfully convey the emotion that she and we should be feeling. In here. Remember? A crumpled up piece of paper. Crushed. Wasted. And thrown in the trash. The truth is. Most of this was probably mundane. But she highlights the important bits. And how she felt as a 20 to 21 year old. Dating someone seemingly older than her.

At one point, she says, you said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would have been fine. And that made me want to die. You really feel. The emotion that she is feeling. And the hook in all of this isn't necessarily the song itself. It's the mystery. The song came out in 2012. The 10 minute version of this song came out in 2021. And I read what was basically an investigative article dated the same week. I'm recording this episode in October, 2023. Diving in. To who the song is about.

And why it's about them. It's all speculation. And none of this is confirmed by any of the parties who have been named in this article. But we love to talk about it. Taylor swift knows how to hook us. With a good story. So, where can we find the story? For Taylor, it's usually based on her own life experience. I also like to draw on my own experience. As well as lessons from pop culture. If you couldn't tell by now, You can find inspiration anywhere.

You just need to make sure it drives home your point. Mike Paki. I don't recommend that you get a long sheet of paper and draw a timeline of your life on it, where you mark important events from your life. Then you can find stories based on what was going on. Around that time. For Nick's class. I presented my information into very different ways. And this gets to. Practicing your story, which you definitely also have to do.

'cause the second class got a much better version of this than the first. And that was always true when I taught in the classroom as well, I would teach three sections back to back to back. The first section always got the short end of the stick they got the first time I was going through the information. The third class always got the best one I had given it twice before I knew the questions. And I knew the best way. Up until that point to deliver it.

But for next class, the second session I opened with a story about the first time I sought therapy. And the events that led to the conclusion that I needed help. I chose this story because it was very personal. And this allowed them to maybe trust me a little bit more. But it also hooked them. I, uh, relatively young guy, I have kids, but it was the pandemic, which was stressful for everybody. I had a panic attack in front of my three-year-old and she's the one who ended up helping me.

That's just a compelling story. I'm not embellishing. I'm picking the important parts to. Tell people. About. In this case, the power of story. Usually when I tell that story, it's this is the inciting incident that led me on my transformation to systematize my whole business. So that I wouldn't. Be stressed about at least that part of it. But that's the power of story. With my interviews, I try to define the interviews using a three-act structure that you may have heard me talk about already.

The first act is the setup where we introduce our guide, the guest more on that later. And have some sort of inciting incident that forces the need to change. Then enact to, we have the confrontation where we create some sort of conflict or tension. This is usually a challenge to the guides main point, which we introduced in act one. So, for example, in an upcoming interview, an episode I have with henna Pryor, she talks about. What being awkward is she has a book called good, awkward.

And so the confrontation is me saying shouldn't we try as hard as possible. Not to be awkward. She set up her whole thesis statement, which is being awkward is actually good. And I'm immediately challenging it by saying why? Like, why is being awkward? Good though. Take our listeners through this thought process because usually. If the listener feels awkward, they immediately no longer want to feel awkward. So why are you saying it's a good thing? And then act three, is the rev, the resolution.

Where we confront the conflict except the guides point of view and learn how to implement what the guide has taught us. Again, in hennas episode a which. Is coming up as this comes out. Is. Okay. So it's good to be awkward. How do we embrace our awkward. And I know what you're thinking here. Shouldn't the guest. Be the hero. I mean, it's their journey after all right. Where we're talking about them.

And I think no. I think if you're telling a fiction story, Or you're doing something like what American storytellers does or lore or cereal then yes. You need to have some hero closely related to the story, but when you're doing knowledge transfer, And you're creating this sort of podcast or any other content video. Uh, course. Written word. Someone else should be the hero. If you want sticky, helpful content. Your listener. Your reader. The person you're writing for should be the hero.

Everyone roots for the hero. And believes in them. As they approach the end of the story. Making your listener, the hero. Empowers them. Gets them to believe in themselves. And opens them up for the possibility of transformation. If you have guests, your guests can be the guide. Our hero, our listener doesn't want to be awkward. But they've just learned that being awkward can be good. So how can we leverage that? Good. Our guide had a prior is going to tell you. If you don't have guests.

Then you should be the guide. I am the guide for you in this story. I'm not the hero. I'm not the one who's so amazing at telling stories. I'm the person who's teaching you. How to tell good stories. And positioning yourself as the guide. It does two things. First of all, it makes you an authority on the topic. And it helps your listener know, like, and trust you faster. After all who doesn't like Obi wan Kenobi, Dumbledore, and Gandalf. You do that? By focusing the content around the listener.

And what they need to do to transform. In star wars, obiwan appears to Luke and tells him. Trust in the force. Obiwan doesn't manipulate the force for him. Dumbledore puts in entire system in place. To help Harry do. What only Harry can do. Gandalf doesn't deliver the ring to Mordor. He helps Frodo deliver the ring to Mordor. Your job as the podcaster video creator writer. Is to be the guide. And it's to help your listener. You can't do that unless you make them the hero.

So the next time you prep a podcast, episode, blog, post or video. Think about the story you're telling. What are you or your guest? Guiding the listener towards. What conflict will they overcome? How will the story evolve? Cody Sheehy in my interview with him. Said it telling a good story is opening a bunch of doors in a house. And then running through that house and slamming most of them shut. How can you help your listeners slam the door? Shut. On a problem. They are having.

Thanks so much for listening. You can get all of the show notes, everything I talked about, as well as our written to be read version of this article. Over at how I built it slash 3, 3 7. Those links will also be in the description for your podcast player. If you liked this and you want to get more behind the scenes, looks at how I produce my podcast and how I am pre. Uh, fixing my workflows, how I'm improving my processes, what I wanted to say there, you can become a member of the podcast.

Foundry. There will be a link at that same. Place over at how I built it slash three. Three seven. Thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate it. Thanks to our sponsors. And until next time. Get out there and build something.