Significance in storytelling means deviating from what people expect. Dances with Wolves works because it breaks the conventional frame. To make audiences feel your story, use sensory details, cliffhangers, and bring real energy to how you tell it.
Chapters
What is significant impact? That's the name of our, of our monthly program here. And as you know, significance, my definition of significance is deviating from norm or expectation. Deviating from norm or expectation. And I always kid you guys, and you always smile about this, Sean, is that, um, this is a community of deviants. Yep. And you've created a community of deviants as well because you can really identify with this. So, which is good. But let me ask you this. Why is deviance important in storytelling? I loved Dances with Wolves. Great show. You know, I was studying the Lakota people at the time. And so I was going out to Pine Ridge, and I was like, what a great story of them. And then somebody kind of ruined it for me in a good way. But they said, well, it's a love story between two white people. And the Lakota are just a backdrop for that love story. And I'm like, oh, that hurts. You know, it's like, oh, man. So, so, you know, and then I watched— what's the movie with Tom Cruise in Japan? How is that? Samurai, right? Yeah, Samurai, something like that. And I was like, love the movie, love the action. Somebody said, let's just Dance with Wolves in Japan. Oh, yeah, it kind of is. Okay, here's the one that the plotline that just kills me. And I saw it first on The Big Bang Theory is somebody said, yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark, it's a great show. And then, you know, one of the characters goes like, no, it's a terrible show. The plot's terrible. It's like, what do you mean? It's got everything in it. It's like, Well, the character that Harrison Ford plays, if you weren't in the show, it would have ended the same way. I'm like, oh, so, so in some ways, you know, these stories get told, but there may not be rich enough. So I love that. So that's, that's why deviance is so important. It's got to be, um, I think another way to describe that, there's got to be novelty in our stories. There has to be novelty in our stories. Okay, the second part of significant impact is impact, and impact is transferring energy from one object to another. So, uh, take 30 seconds and just write down, how does a well-told story transfer energy and deliver impact? Hmm. How does a well-told story transfer energy and deliver impact? Highlight some of the things that you said. First of all, one of the things that's really important with a well-told story is that you mentioned sensorial things. The reason why they use sensorial elements in a good story is so that— and you said this too— is how do they put you in the story? How do you feel like you're in the story? And so you tell the story by saying, oh, you know, I was just feeling warm. You know, I was in the sunshine, my feet were, you know, in the sand on the beach. And all of a sudden with that imagery, I haven't said anything about a struggle or anything about the story, but I put you in the story. You can feel the sand on your feet, you can hear the waves, you can feel the salt on, you know, in, you can taste the salt, you can feel it on your face. All those kind of things just start happening when you use a sensorial thing. So you have to, to tell a well-told story, puts the, the, the audience in the story. Mm-hmm. They have to identify with, which is really great. And then you also just mentioned cliffhangers. Those are important with stories too. So, uh, the, the biggest thing, the first tip of good storytelling I'm gonna give you right now is, is comes from the word impact because impact is the transfer of energy between one object and another. A good storyteller always brings the energy. Mm-hmm. So if you're going to tell a story, you know, take a few seconds ahead of time and go like— and put yourself in the story, and then you can bring the energy.
