Helloo! 👋
Writing today in the company of Doritos. I say ‘company’ because I don’t want to paint my fingertips orange having them. So I’ll get this newsletter out of the way, then dive into some crispy goodness.
Anyway, we’ve talked about Peter Guber’s hook → engage → close with a CTA storytelling formula before.
Today, let’s look at another way of telling stories — one from Oprah’s stash. It’ll help you create inspiring stories with a solid takeaway.
Here’s how it works:
Share an event — could be a trigger event if you’re writing a founder’s story or your personal brand’s backstory.
For a blog post, this would be any relatable event that shows readers you are or were in the same boat as them.
Transformation. The change that the trigger event shakes loose.
For a blog post, this would be a solution, hack, or tactic you discovered as a result of the event and you’re going to share it with your readers.
Lesson or action. This could be a life lesson you learned.
For a blog post, this is the takeaway: a summary of the hack, tactics, or actionable steps you’ve shared paired with a call-to-action.
Now, for the formula in action:
[Oprah’s speech for when she accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award]
Let’s break this down to see the story’s skeleton:
Trigger event: Oprah’s Christmas dinner conversation with her father.
Transformation: The conversation leads to a change in her.
Lesson: “We all want the same thing.”
You can also use this framework simply to tell stories for hooking readers in your intro — same as I did in this piece:
That’s all for today, folks.
Next week, I’ve got an expert interview on navigating a competitive landscape for you.
I better get back to my Doritos now.
Signing off,
Masooma