The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories that Inform, Influence, and Inspire by Karen Eber

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In the middle of the meeting, your boss turns to you and says, “Tell us about the project you are working on.” You feel your toes curl in your shoes because you hadn’t expected to present today. Everyone shifts to look at you as you feel your throat constrict. You don’t want to mess up this opportunity for visibility, but your brain isn’t cooperating. It feels like it’s trudging slowly through waist-high water, and you’re unsure where to start.

Sound familiar? Speaking in front of others is inherently vulnerable, whether onstage, giving a toast, or in a meeting. You “feel” everyone’s eyes on you, which makes your brain say, “Something’s wrong!” Cortisol and adrenaline are released to help you focus and prepare to escape danger. These are the “nerves” you feel when you are about to speak.

For many, the fear of public speaking isn’t about being unable to speak. It’s fear that their mind will go blank, and they won’t know what to do next. Particularly when telling stories.

What makes a great story

A great story builds an idea that results in the audience’s understanding and engagement. Choosing the idea for your story gets you to the starting line. The work begins when you build the idea through a storytelling framework to ensure it can achieve the outcomes you desire for your audience. The story structure is the frame for major plot points and provides scaffolding to layer details. The structure contributes two things: enabling the storyteller to easily map out a coherent story and helping the audience follow the story. You may not notice a story’s structure, but you know when one is missing.

There are many different models for storytelling frameworks. You may have heard about The Hero’s Journey, popularized by Joseph Campbell and used to create the original Star Wars films. Or Pixar’s six-step storytelling model, leveraged from Kenn Adams, an improv comedian. These story structures are popular for a reason. They do a nice job of building tension to keep the audience’s interest—especially when creating novels or screenplays.

4-part story structure

I created the four-part story structure based on the idea that stories have a beginning, middle, and end. However, I wanted something more dynamic to ensure the story leads to a desired outcome. The four-part structure incorporates the nuances of a great story: the context, conflict, outcome, and takeaway.

I had two goals when I created this structure. First, I want something simple and memorable. Second, I wanted to support the development of many different types of stories across a variety of contexts. I intentionally paired the four-part story structure with the circular step-by-step storytelling methodology to let you choose what you add—not force you into one format or type of story. The four-part story structure works whether you are telling a story in two minutes or have two weeks to put one together. It not only organizes your thoughts as the storyteller, but it also makes it easier for the audience to follow. I’ve even used it walking down the hall to a meeting to make sure I tell a focused story that lands desired key points.

To apply this model to your stories, write one or two summary sentences for each of the four sections below to form a story structure.

1. What is the context? – Describe the setting of this story: who is involved, what is happening, and why should the audience care? A context sentence sets the scene and significant plot points in an intentionally high-level summary without including every detail or character.
2. What is the conflict? – Describe the moment where something happens and impacts the direction of the story. This is the fuel of your story—the conflict, tension, problem, or what is at stake. When you run out of conflict, you run out of story. It’s often the moment between “before” and “after.” You can point to it as the moment that things change.
3. What is the outcome? – Describe the result of the conflict. What happened to what was at stake? What action is taken, and what is the result?
4. Takeaway: What is the overall idea? – Summarize what you want your audience to know, think, feel, or do differently after the story. The takeaway lands the story idea for the audience. Try to write this as a short, pithy phrase. A succinct takeaway is easier for the audience to understand and recall.

Stick the landing

How often have you sat through a presentation or story and wondered what it was about? I don’t mean stories so rich that they leave you reflecting long after. I am referring to what happens in meetings every single day. Information is shared, but you’re left scratching your head and wondering, What am I supposed to do with this?

These moments aren’t your fault—the storyteller didn’t stick the landing. It’s likely because they weren’t even sure of the takeaway. That lack of clarity translated to your lack of understanding as the audience. The takeaway is the step most people skip in storytelling, but it’s the very thing that can ensure your story resonates as intended. The context, conflict, and outcome provide a high-level structure to the story. The takeaway provides the “so what” for the story—what you want the audience to experience. Even if you never say the takeaway aloud, just having it in mind helps you be more purposeful in the telling of the story.

These four parts create a skeleton from which you can meaningfully layer details, senses, and emotions to make your story dynamic. It will help organize your thoughts to tell the story with ease and captivate your audience.

Karen Eber is the author of The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories that Inform, Influence, and Inspire and is the CEO and chief storyteller of Eber Leadership Group. She is an international consultant, keynote, and TED speaker.