Stories are used to deliver messages in books, movies, music videos, and even advertisements. Today, they’re even used in popular trends like POVs.
Why?
Because people love stories. When stories are told, the listeners put themselves in the scene. This improves their understanding of the story.
Telling stories in YouTube videos will help build a deeper connection with your audience. This will encourage them to like and share it further.
You can tell stories in any video with the following steps.
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INTRODUCE YOUR MATTER
What is the topic? How is it relevant to your viewers?
Your video can be a short story, a tutorial or a vlog, or an event from personal experience.
While narrating, make sure you address the audience. It is important to address the audience as it makes them feel involved.
You could also involve mystery. The best stories always have a little bit of mystery in them. Create enough suspense in the beginning of the video to give viewers a reason to stay.
Laughing, Shannon Rose begins her video with “And it was gone.” And I’m like, “Oh my God, Dad”. This instantly makes the viewers curious, wanting to know the joke.
The very first sentence, “I think my roommate is Saoirse Ronan,” compels the viewers to stick around. The mystery of her roommate’s identity immediately draws attention. This creates curiosity in their minds, giving them a reason to watch the clip.
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NARRATE THE BODY
The introduction describes the when, where, and who of the story. The body emphasizes the “what happened” of the story.
This will involve the main events or the body of your story.
In this part, resolve the mystery mentioned above.
What was Channon laughing about?
After researching and observing, was her roommate really Saoirse Ronan?
Since they’ve been anticipating this mystery, go slow and maintain that pace.
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CONCLUDE WITH KEY POINTS
How does it end? What’s the lesson?
Summarize the key points in this segment.
Your story aims to deliver a message. What did the audience learn from your story?
You can also leave it on a Cliffhanger. Cliffhangers develop anticipation. The audience will want to return and find out how it all ends.
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ADD MUSIC AND VISUALS
Use different visuals, graphics, and music depending on the story. Pictures, graphics, sound effects, background music enhance video quality. Visuals help in narrating a story.
Use different sound effects for different scenes. This will help set the mood. Music has emotional power. Adding background music affects the audience’s emotions and keeps them engaged. Using exciting music during an exciting scene will increase the excitement. If done correctly, language, sound effects, music, and even silence can elevate your video dramatically.
In this video, vlogger Casey Neistat shares his journey. He begins with introducing his dreams. He then shares his story and concludes by explaining why he didn’t go into filmmaking. Finally, he leaves us on a cliffhanger by saying, “This is the new party, and now, everyone’s invited.” The music and visuals make his simple story extraordinary.
It will take some time and practice to learn storytelling. Once you’ve mastered the art of storytelling, you will see notable changes in your video responses.
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