#462: How to Tell Better Stories

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2018

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Humans are storytelling and story-listening creatures. We use stories to teach, persuade, and to make sense of the complexities of existence. Being able to craft and deliver a good story is thus a real advantage in all areas of life, giving you a foot up when doing job interviews, going on dates, interacting with friends, or making a sales pitch. Fortunately, good storytelling is a skill that can learned by anyone. Here to teach us the art of storytelling is Matthew Dicks, a writer, five-time Moth GrandSlam storytelling winner, and the author of the book Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling. Today on the show, Matthew walks us through the nuts and bolts of how to craft a compelling story. We begin our conversation discussing ways to generate story ideas, why good stories don’t have to be about big moments, and why he recommends a practice called "Homework for Life." Matthew then tells us what we can learn from movies about making a story so engaging that people are waiting to hear what you say next. We also discuss the don'ts of storytelling, including how to never begin a story. And we end our conversation with a five-minute story from Matthew that showcases all the principles we discussed during the show. Get the show notes at aom.is/storyworthy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	[♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
0:13.9	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast Humans,
0:19.1	our storytelling and story-listening creatures.
0:21.7	We use stories to teach, persuade, and to make sense of the complexities of existence.
0:26.0	To be able to craft and deliver good stories, thus a real advantage in all areas of life,
0:29.9	giving you a foot up when doing job interviews, going on dates, interacting with friends,
0:33.3	and making a sales pitch.
0:34.5	Fortunately, good storytelling is a skill that can be learned by anyone.
0:37.6	Here, to teach us the art of storytelling is Matthew Dicks, a writer, five-time,
0:41.3	math-grant slam storytelling winner, and the author of the new book's story-worthy,
0:44.9	engaged, teach, persuade, and change your life through the power of storytelling.
0:48.8	Today on the show, Matthew walks us through the nuts and bolts of how to craft a compelling story.
0:52.5	We begin our conversation discussing ways to generate story ideas,
0:55.3	why good stories don't have to be about big moments,
0:57.7	and why he recommends a practice called homework for life.
1:00.4	Matthew then tells us what we can learn from movies about making a story so engaging
1:04.2	that people are waiting to hear what you say next.
1:06.4	We also discuss the don't-s-story telling, including how to never begin a story.
1:10.0	When we enter a conversation with a five-minute story from Matthew that showcases all the
1:13.4	principles we discussed during the show, this show is literally packed with actionable
1:17.0	devices of take notes after it's over.
1:18.9	Check out our show notes at a-o-m dot i-s slash story worthy.
	...

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