Would you like to learn how to tell a story from your day-to-day life? Storyworthy: Book review

🔥 🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. No matter what, all of us are telling stories but ineffectively. Most part of the human communication is telling stories. Stories inspire the generations, stories give hope, and stories shape characters. Reading this book makes you an effective communicator
2. The book breaks the assumption that stories have to have extraordinary moments. It helps you understand the importance of small, often ignored moments in our day-to-day lives.
3. It teaches you how to tell true, authentic stories that will remain in the minds of your listeners.

🎨 my Impressions

• A fascinating read to understand how stories are made. The book teaches us to look for engagement with our listeners. We believe that stories are made to be told by grandparents to grandchildren but even a start-up pitch is a story, an elevator pitch is also a story, a love proposal is also a story, and bar banter with friends can be a story.
• If we don’t know what the story is composed of, we may never be able to create the impact that we intended to with our audience. Maybe our idea won’t get accepted for funding, or maybe the dream girl might slip from our sight or maybe our friends would rather avoid than engage with us.
• This book essentially teaches us how to compose a story from our day-to-day life. It gives us homework to do for life and has some useful tips on how to document a story.
• The book is neatly packed with elements of stories, crafting a story and how to share it with your audience. The book is easy to read with 278 pages and filled with, as expected lots of engaging stories.
• Some of the stories from the book will surely remain with you, I am quite certain; which only proves the point of how effective the building blocks of the stories are.
• 👤 Who Should Read It?
  • If you want to give a successful interview, you should read it
  • If you want to write a clear email, be if official or personal, then you need to read this book
  • If you want to give a presentation to a client, you should have read it.
  • If you want to build ever-lasting relationships, this book could help you.
  • If you ever decide to be a more interesting person, this is surely your go-to guide
  • and if you want to win a moth story slam competition in NY, then this is your bible.
• ☘️ How the Book Changed Me
  1. But and Therefore concept: This concept was mindboggling. when we are telling stories or even talking to friends, how often do we use “and” to join two events that create a long, never-ending statement? While it feels nice to talk or write in this manner, it feels pathetic to read such a long statement. Not to mention, it disconnects audiences/listeners from your story. There is no motion in such statements. Every story should create a movie in your mind and using “And” all the time, will never create a movie. I was on the AND wagon. I was constantly using and in my stories and writings. But now I understand stories need events. Each event should either happen due to a previous event or result in a new event. Hence the usage of But or Therefore. If you can’t connect two statements with but or therefore, your story isn’t worth telling. I have started consciously checking for the usage of “Ands” in my writings. I see if events in my stories are connected by either but or therefore. it has helped me improve my writing.
  2. 5 Second moments of your everyday life- Every movie or play in the history of mankind has always been about a 5-second change in the life of the protagonist. This 5-second moment forces the protagonist to either chase an adventure or win over the internal struggle to be a better man. These moments are not rare. They are not to be searched only in the big moments of life but if you keep a watch, you have a chance to experience these moments each day as you are growing each day. it could be the way your son would smile at you or if your unsaid pain was understood by your wife or your mother. these are the moments that need to be remembered. Each day you are changing. We will never notice these moments until we start documenting them each day. That is where homework for life comes into the picture. I have modified my journal template to force me to think what was the 5-second moment of the day for me? I must admit, I don’t really have an entry in this section each day but It feels good when you do capture something. I know that moment is captured forever. Now I can revisit it any time of the day in the future to re-live it once again. As part of my yearly goal on writing, I also share a blog per week and it helps immensely when you have something very precious to share with your readers through the public blog entry.
  3. Finding Your Beginning – Your beginning should be very compelling so as to engage your audience. So when you have the clarity of the 5-second moment of your story, you know how the basic arc of the story will be. The book says you will find your beginning of the story in the end, meaning the start will be opposite to your end. if your story ends with you being emotional, start your story with being jovial. If you start your story with pain, end it with hopefulness. This is amazing when you think of writing short stories or writing compelling elevator pitches. To hook your audience, your beginning is the key.
  4. Stories are like air travel – Stories should be like air travel. It should take off from one place, travel through a bit of uncertainty, and land safely at another place. It must have an arc. It must change the protagonist in some way. A coward must find courage, a loser must find a way to win. The stories are more about the change in the protagonist than about the scale of events. Audiences/listeners connect to this change at a human level. This is why even though we know dinosaurs are not real, we got invested in the struggle of man, who hated the kids at the beginning of the movie, struggles to save them. We dont know how to feel scared by dinosaurs but we know how it feels to protect our kids. That is the magic.

🔥 ✍️ My Top 3 Quotes

• As Blaise Pascal first said, “If I had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter.” Brevity takes time because brevity is always better
• We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims
• No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story- Daniel Kahneman

⚙ Chapter-wise summary of the book

Five Ways to Keep Your Story Compelling

1. The Elephant Every story must have an Elephant. The Elephant is the thing that everyone in the room can see. It is large and obvious. It is a clear statement of the need, the want, the problem, the peril, or the mystery. It signifies where the story is headed, and it makes it clear to your audience that this is in fact a story and not a simple musing on a subject. Elephants can also change color. That is, the need, want, problem, peril, or mystery stated at the beginning of the story can change along the way. You may be offered one expectation only to have it pulled away in favor of another.
2. Backpacks A Backpack is a strategy that increases the stakes of the story by increasing the audience’s anticipation about a coming event. It’s when a storyteller loads up the audience with all the storyteller’s hopes and fears at that moment before moving the story forward. Backpacks are most effective when a plan does not work.
3. Breadcrumbs Storytellers use Breadcrumbs when they hint at a future event but only reveal enough to keep the audience guessing. Breadcrumbs are particularly effective when the truly unexpected is coming.
4. Hourglass The desire of an audience to hear the next sentence is made greater by the deliberate slowing down of action and pace. Find the moment in your story that everyone has been waiting for, then flip that Hourglass and let the sand run.
5. Crystal Balls A Crystal Ball is a false prediction made by a storyteller to cause the audience to wonder if the prediction will prove to be true. In storytelling, deploy Crystal Balls strategically: Only when your prediction seems possible. Only when your guess is reasonable. And only when your prediction presents an intriguing or exciting possibility.

---

Here is a video review of the book – HERE

If you wish to buy the book, I would request to click this link – HERE

It will help me earn a small commission without any extra cost to you. Appreciate your support!

---