Are you overloading your stories?

When crafting your stories, do you know the answer to these questions:

How much material should you include?
How much is too much?
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Excessย information is a common problem in business storytelling. That’How to Avoid Losing Audience Interest in Your Story s because audience attention spans are shorter than ever. Too much detail is like overloading a truck; it slows down your process, and puts you at risk of losing progress.
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As a result, itโ€™s imperative that you grab their attention as fast as possible.
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Once you do that, you need to keep their interest until the end of your story. That is, if you want them to take action on your message.

The first step to opening your stories

Create an opening which establishes the scene, but doesnโ€™t get bogged down in details. For example:
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โ€˜The night I met Patti, I was attending a Chamber holiday party.ย It was aย festive atmosphere;ย people wereย talking excitedly, and you couldย feel the joyย ofย old friends re-connecting. I was standing by the dessert table, taking in the sweet scents of cake, pastries and cookies. It was so strong I could almost taste them.
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‘While I was enjoying the moment, I noticed a womanย quickly walking toward me, almost running.ย She wore a beautiful tailored business suit, hadย nicelyย cut hair, and jewelry that sparkled from the lights above. Not gaudy or ostentatious. This was a woman of means.
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‘But, the expression on her face betrayed her appearance. She walked up and said, โ€œMichael, i understand youโ€™re a speech coach!โ€
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‘After glancing at her name tag, I said, โ€œYes, Patti, I am. Can I help you?โ€
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‘She said, โ€œI hope so! Iโ€™ve done somethingย reallyย stupidโ€ฆโ€ฆโ€

One minute to captureย interest in your stories

In 140 words, the scene hasย been established. The main characterย is introduced. Your senses haveย been engaged. In one minute, the listenerย is drawnย in, and they’re curious about what is coming next.
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The key to this opening is that youโ€™re immediately intrigued and interested. This is a commonly-usedย  technique in Hollywood.
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Long, drawn-out openings will lose audience interest and attention. Most speakers donโ€™t understand this. They believe they have to over-explain their scenes. They want theย listener to understand everything before introducing theย action scenes.
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This information may be interesting, but doesnโ€™t add to the emotional connection of the scene. If you offer excess information, youโ€™llย probablyย bore the audience.

Is there a “right” amount of details?

No. But a common number that works best isย three. This number is commonย in speaking. That’s because it creates a rhythm that feels comfortable to the audience.
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There are three examples in the story above:
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“It was aย festive atmosphere;ย people wereย talking excitedly, and you couldย feel the joyย ofย old friendsย re-connecting.”
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“I was standing by the dessert table, taking in the sweet scents ofย cake, pastriesย andย cookies. It was so strong I could almost taste them.”
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“While I was enjoying the moment, I noticed a woman quickly approaching me.ย She wore aย beautiful tailored business suit, hadย nicelyย cut hair, andย jewelry that sparkledย from the lights above.”
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Notice the natural flow of the narrative to describe the scene. Three details for each part of the scene isย typicallyย enough.
Want to capture the attention of your audience, and keep their interest?ย 
Quicklyย describe your scene, and get to the introduction of your key characters.
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Use the tips provided here, and youโ€™re well on your way to accomplishing this.

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How to Avoid Losing Audience Interest in Your Stories ultima modifica: 2017-10-13T21:27:18-04:00 da Michael Davis