Communication

Traits of A Good Story

Lately my course has been emphasizing the power of storytelling and it is a skill that doesn’t get too much light these days. Seth Godin from Ode Magazine writes out some pointers and qualities of a good story. If you ever watch Steve Jobs give an announcement about Apple’s latest products, then you can see where a lot of these play out. I highly recommend everyone to read this because you never know, it could help you with your next PowerPoint presentation.

Average people are good at ignoring you. Average people have too many different points of view about life and average people are by and large satisfied. If you need to water down your story to appeal to everyone, it will appeal to no one. The most effective stories match the world view of a tiny audience—and then that tiny audience spreads the story.

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