The elements of story

I remember the first time I heard an advertiser claim that their search ad on Google was telling a story. They were a client. I glanced down from the phone to the screen.

“Sir, it says something about shoes on sale. Did you, like, GO to school or ever read a book or watch a movie or TV show? Sir, are you okay?”

…is what I wanted to say.

When we enter the workplace, we are surrounded by people who sadly have forgotten what a story is. They replace the idea with a slogan, or a campaign message, or a case study. Those things may hang off a story — but unless what you’re saying contains actual elements of story, it is not, dear sir, a story (is what I wanted to say).

I recently rediscovered an old notebook from college. I was cleaning out my closet in my childhood home. After 32 years, my parents are moving to an amazing new spot — while I wistfully sort through past versions of me. Anyway, that college notebook was titled “How Stories Get Told and Why.”

(I know, right? How awesome does that sound as a course? Can I take it now? But, yanno — virtually?)

Opening the notebook, I’m greeted by a slew of ideas, including this one:

“2 components to every story: events and entities involved. Entities are necessary elements in all stories; Characters: entities with human qualities.”

(Forgive the semicolon. It was college. We all experimented a lot.)

Then, after that brief note on entities, I wrote, “2 types of events: constituent events: necessary, drive story forward; supplementary events: without these, story would remain in tact.”

Then, the most powerful thing of all. A giant asterisk with a single line:

* we never see the story directly but pick it up through the events and entities.

I found that revealing. I wish I had this notebook back when I was talking to that advertiser all those years ago. I should have remembered this stuff too — that job was my first one out of college, consulting advertisers for Google. (There’s a reason I left.)

In the business world, it’s rather tempting to tell someone something about your business or yourself. We may even use some slogans, messages, or case studies. In the end, however, we’re trying to explain the joke.

Stories aren’t seen by others. You can’t point them out, can’t state them as fact. They’re conveyed through two elements: events and the entities involved.

Slogans. Messages. Case studies. The list goes on. They’re all statements of fact, simple turns of phrases, or lengthier declarations. We can resonate much more deeply if we stopped handing out foregone conclusions to everyone and, instead, told an actual story.

You’ve prepared your whole life to tell stories. It just didn’t look like work.