What Makes a Great Story?

A communicator is in part a storyteller. The story you tell is the "package" into which your communication is placed. The content is what you want to say, the story is the way in which you say it. For the purposes of this article, I'm primarily talking about a story being promotional in nature for ministry, but these suggestions can apply to other areas as well.

Crafting a great story is part of great communication. And it is just that--a craft--a skill to be learned, honed and worked on constantly toward improvement. What make a great story?

The attention-getter. A great story engages you from sentence one. It compells you to listen further, to read on, to engage your attention so you can take in the whole thing. The way you introduce your story sets the tone for the rest of it.

Attention-getters reflect your energy level. In telling your story, are you excited, engaged, attentive to the reader or listener? In other words, do you think you are worth listening to? Are you enthused? That black-and-white flyer with no graphics about your upcoming church Fall Festival is telling a story, believe it or not. It's asking readers to go to sleep and wake up again when spring comes. We live in a media-rich world. You cannot afford to overlook whether or not you have your audience's attention. If you have to question whether they are listening--assume they aren't. Your story must be worth their time. Is it?

More Detail: http://www.communicorps.org/learning/articles/page_greatstories.htm