Simple Techniques for Memorable Characters, Tough Choices, and Powerful Impact
"Humans are storytelling animals. We crave stories to make sense of the world. Stories give our lives meaning. They teach us empathy, compassion, and courage. They help us understand ourselves and others."
- Lisa Cron, screenwriter and author
Here you are, pouring your heart into a story, a presentation, or even a talk because you want to be a Public speaker. To your surprise, your audience's attention is drifting away before your words. There is nothing you can do about it. Again.
Those three powerful techniques (Rule of Three, Destiny, and Morality) will elevate your storytelling game to another level and help you craft narratives that resonate with your audience for eternity in their memory.
Before I discuss those ingredients with you in-depth, I will share a short story to walk the talk.
Story time.
Somewhere in Dakar, Plateau district, Senegal.
Aïsha finishes closing her bakery's doors, “Croissants de Miel.” Today, she feels slightly defeated that she did not sell much. Desperation is overwhelming her.
She is a big fan of a French TV baking show, “Les Meilleurs Pâtissiers,” which was an escape into a universe of celebrated pâtissiers.
Why them, why not me? she asked herself. That spark led her to buy a one-way ticket to Paris, the holy city of croissants.
Living in her uncle's place, Moussa, Aïsha felt welcomed but still suffocated in that tiny, overcrowded apartment. Paris was not what she expected. The city was noisy and cramped. Parisians ignored her Senegalese twists on classic pastries at her small shop in Barbès, in the 18th district of Paris.
Aïsha knew the gain in being in Paris and ignored the gap of her crushed first attempt to revive a new version of “Croissants de Miel.” She saved as many euros as possible to achieve her Parisian dream of a pâtisserie.
After five years of hard work, Aïsha starts to crack the hidden charms of Paris. The aroma of fresh croissants, the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower, and the strong bond with her fellow Senegalese community all became threads woven together for the creation of her her new tapestry, a new pâtisserie, “Les Délices d’Aïsha.”
She felt something different. Indeed, Parisians were lining up to get a taste of her delicacies. Aisha baked herself into her croissants, mixing exotic flavors with Senegalese Téranga, and always servicing her clients with a warm smile on those cold winters.
It is Sunday. Aïsha is resting in her new small apartment in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, close to Porte de Clichy. In the pile of mail sitting in the entry was a logo of a familiar TV channel, M6, the producers of “Les Meilleurs Pâtissiers.”
She rushed to open the mail while her hand was shaking: “Hello, Mrs Aïsha FALL. You have been selected for screening as a potential participant in the next season of Les Meilleurs Pâtissiers.
The End
Aïsha's story will die with you thanks to the three powerful techniques below.
1. The Magnetic Power of Three
"The reason why rhymes are so easily remembered and why proverbs become popular is because they consist of three parts."
– Aristotle
You are dropping information like rain on a stormy day. People are struggling to retain your key points. From where you are sitting, every drop is essential. From their seats, there is no memorable path to connect the dots.
Your story is unappreciated, and the information overload of the modern world dilutes its impact.
You have seen them, right? You have felt them scratching your skin, haven’t you? It is still hurting, isn’t it?
You know, those glassy eyes staring back at you during your presentations. Each conversation you initiate wanders without any clear direction. You hoped to have your audience starring in your story only to get a blank stare back. Yes, that definitely hurts.
Yet, it does not have to be that way. Harness the power of the Rule of Three in your stories. If it happens once, it is an accident. If it happens twice, it is a coincidence. If it happens three times, it is a pattern. That is the power of three: leveraging the human brain’s natural tendency to find patterns and rhythms everywhere in Nature. So harness the power of three and create a sense of structure, memorability, and impact (You see what I did there, #ThreeCeption).
If you look closer, you can find Tricolons everywhere. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" from the US Declaration of Independence. “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”, the motto of France. “Veni, vidi, vici,” “ I came; I saw; I conquered,” famously attributed to Julius Caesar.
You can also create Three-Dimensional Characters in your stories. Just apply the following Japanese proverb:
“You have three faces. The first face you show to the world, the second face you show to your close friends and family, and the third face you never show anyone.”
Showing those three faces will make your stories more engaging, relatable, and memorable.
2. Embracing the Uncertainty of Destiny
"The future is not a gift. It is an achievement."
- Pierre Trudeau
You use the classic Beginning, Middle, and End. Yes, that is another three. Yet your audience also knows about that one. Hence, they feel lost or adrift in a sea of predictable narratives. Like a movie, you find it boring because of predetermined paths or neatly packaged resolutions; your classical narrative fails to capture the complexity and uncertainty of life.
If you are like me, you feel like our future is doomed. And you project that fear or cynicism into the characters' future in your stories. Boring!
Like you, audiences crave stories that offer a sense of agency and urgency. They yearn for a story that grapples with the weight and consequences of personnel choices to drive the narrative forward.
You can use the power of three in a very particular way. Use it as Comedians do. Build expectations with the first two iterations and break them with the third. Surprise, Bitches!
Challenge your audience's expectations by making your characters face an uncertain future.
Clear-cut destinies are cute for your children’s bedtime stories—to a certain extent. Then, you better explore ways to create conflict between your characters' free will and their predetermined paths.
Take inspiration from the movie Dune, based on Frank Herbert's eponymous science fiction masterpiece.
The main protagonist, Paul Atreides, can see visions of the future. Yet, as the story progresses, those visions are not carved in stone.
Conflict is rising and maintained through the questions about free will and destiny.
As an audience member, you understand that ambiguity exists in your life. As you root for Paul, you feel how your choices are shaping your life right now.
3. Navigating the Moral Maze
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
– Edmund Burke
We live in a binary world—literally. Two laws rule our smartphones and computers: the absence of light, or zero, and the presence of light, or One. That might be rooted in our particular way of viewing the word: us versus them, the good guys versus the bad guys.
In these stories, you fall into the same trap: black-and-white morality. Yes, it offers simple solutions. Yet you know yourself that ethical dilemmas are more complex to answer. You present flat narratives to your audience, but you fail to engage them with the nuances of real-world moral challenges.
You are not alone. We are a legion that falls into the same trap. We can Prison Break together.
Your stories are always conversations about right and wrong. They lack depth. Audiences crave the quantum leap: stories that explore Fifty Shades of Grey areas and force them to confront difficult questions.
Don’t make things easy for the characters in your story. After all, you face questions beyond yes or no answers in your everyday life.
Your stories must reflect those challenging moral choices that defy easy answers. It is in that gray area that life is happening to you. Hence, that is the place where your stories must be. Embrace the uncertainty of quantum mechanics instead of the predictability of gravitational forces in your stories.
Coming back to the example of the movie Dune, Paul navigates a future where only a brutal war might be the only path to human survival. That is a horrifying ethical dilemma: sacrificing some lives for the greater good. That is a gift of introspection for your audience: connecting to your story on a deeper level.
Final Thoughts
Here are the three most powerful techniques for memorable stories that you must apply right now:
- The Magnetic Power of Three for memorable characters
- Embracing the Uncertainty of Destiny to create tough choices for them
- Making them navigate the Moral Maze for powerful impacts
Incorporate the Rule of Three in your stories. Explore the complex themes of destiny and morality. And your storytelling will transcend simple information delivery.
Like the story of Aisha in the beginning, using the techniques above will help you create captivating narratives that spark conversion, ignite curiosity, and leave your audience with a long-lasting impact.
Here you are, pouring your heart into a story, a presentation, or even a talk because you want to be a Public speaker. Now, you are not starting from nothing. Now, you are starting from the experience above.
Now it is your storytime.
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