2 builders who never spoke to each other

Carry the argument in a story, not statistics

Narrative survives in memory where lists and figures do not, and a listener's brain activity falls into step with the person telling it. Buyers pick the better story over the better specification, so put the effort there. The same narrative order, ordinary situation, disruption, attempt, obstacles, resolution, transfers to decks, proposals and investor conversations because the audience is already wired for it.

The method

1. 01

   Carry your point in a story, because narrative survives in memory where lists do not.

2. 02

   Use stories rather than statistics, because people retain them.

3. 03

   Sell the story rather than the specification, because buyers choose the better story over the better product.

4. 04

   Deliver your marketing as narrative rather than assertion, because a listener's brain activity falls into step with the person telling the story.

5. 05

   Reuse that same narrative order for pitch decks, investor conversations and product proposals, because the audience is already wired to follow it.

What it returned

• Most people cannot recite the Ten Commandments but can retell what happened to Adam and Eve

• Credited to Donald Miller's Building a StoryBrand

• Bourgoin cites research on brain waves synchronising between storyteller and audience, and points to Steve Jobs and Pixar's storytelling method as the working examples.

• The sequence is the ordinary situation, the event that forces action, the attempt, the obstacles, the win, and the changed world afterwards.

Sources

• Attention - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · 5: Fables · undated
• Quarterly strategic planning using the fairytale structureJason Cohen · longform.asmartbear.com · The Fairytale cheat code · 2023-11-26
• My guide to conversational copywritingHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 13/ Tell stories · undated
• How Steve Jobs clarified Apple's messageHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · undated
• 17 tips for great copywritingHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 11) Stories make you memorable · undated