How to tell better stories | Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy)

Dicks says that a lived story about yourself, a company or a product starts with knowing the moment worth communicating. That ending helps determine what must appear earlier. He distinguishes this method from his fiction writing, where the ending may emerge through discovery.

He describes a story's beginning and end as opposing states. A change in belief, confidence or desire gives the audience a meaningful journey. A chronological list of events without a change may be a report rather than the kind of story he recommends.

A keynote or pitch should sound like a slightly more shaped version of a story you would tell at dinner. Dicks rejects theatrical openings that do not resemble ordinary speech. Keep the structure while removing filler and unnatural performance habits.

Stakes are what the audience wants, worries about or wonders about. Dicks argues that a title or a seated audience does not automatically give a speaker attention. Give listeners a reason to care about the next sentence rather than assuming they already do.

His elephant is an early concern or question that tells the audience what kind of story it is entering. It need not reveal the entire story. It should create an immediate reason to wonder what will happen, not simply add noise or a sensational fact.

Describe the plan before carrying it out so listeners can share the narrator's hopes and recognize when the plan goes wrong. Dicks calls this a backpack. Without that context, a setback may look like just another event rather than a meaningful obstacle.

Dicks separates stakes from surprise. He recommends planting enough information for a turn to feel understandable once revealed while avoiding an obvious setup. His breadcrumbs and slowing down at a critical moment are storytelling tools, not permission to invent facts in a true account.