7 Steps to your next Great Story...

How do you write a better story than the last?

Where does the inspiration come from? How do you know if people will connect to your story?

Here are seven (7) easy steps to doing it better the next time:

It's a dark, wintry night and you're staring at the ceiling in your NYC hotel room. You know you're better than 'the competition.' You know you have a better story to tell. You also know... you're not telling it very well.

Step One: Identify the BIG IDEA In screenwriting it's called "The High Concept." When I write a Signature Story (written for an inspiring individual leading an innovative company or cause) I call it the TRANSCENDANT Idea. It's 'the thing' that's bigger than all of us. It's inspiring, it's powerful, and it's an idea/ideal most want to universally strive for.

Step Two: Know your AUDIENCE. Who & Why they'll connect with your story. How do they perceive your company story now? Where and when will you reach this audience, your customers, your patients, etc?

Step Three: Be your own HERO. Every (successful) story needs a Hero. In the case of personal branding of course, that's YOU. In the case of your company, that's still YOU. You individually, you collectively, your teams, your people are the heroes. Celebrate your talent(s) first. They're your first line of Ambassadors, even before your customers.

Step Four: CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT. Put me in a place and time. Something I can relate to. I need to know where I am... and where you're going to take me. Pull me into your story and FAST.

Step Five: What's the CONFLICT? There is no effective story without it. What stands between here... and there? What does somebody WANT but can't GET?

Step Six: When's the TRANSFORMATION? Something important has to CHANGE in order for the Transcendant Idea to be fully realized.

Step Seven: RESOLUTION. Your conflict must resolve for the ideal(s) to come to life. If you leave your story hanging, with no resolution, your audience will be disappointed. They'll feel unfulfilled. You set them up, you took them on this inspiring journey... to nowhere.

Your story must come full circle...

Tired of being trumped by a less-than competitor, he accepted that something had to change. He knew in his heart that woven into the fabric of his company were noble stories, inspiring stories waiting and deserving, to be shared with the world. He would begin today...

Angela M is the Corporate Storyteller with a focus on Signature Stories. A mother, writer, owner of blue i marketing, partner of BrandingWorks LLC, Angela's also the founder of The Bohemian Artist's Social Club, Salmon River Life, and co-founder of Trout Power and Music for the Mission. An avid photographer and traveler, she spends time between Upstate New York, Savannah, GA, and Umbria, Italy.