TRAPPSTR

“I gotta see that…”

Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by Brett in Creative Communication

It happens to me every time I go to the theater. It happens to you too. The lights go down and the previews start. And at least one preview will be so good, it will make you want to leap out of your chair. One preview will have just the right balance of explosions and guns and pretty girls. One preview will grab your heart, Last-of-the-Mohicans-style. One preview will tell a mini-story so good that it elicits those four words that movie producers drool over. You lean over to your buddy and say,

“I gotta see that.”

Months before this movie releases, you’ve already decided to see it based off a perfectly crafted two-minute story. You’ve already “bought” the movie, putting it on layaway in your brain. Months before release, James Cameron or Peter Jackson or Quentin Tarrantino has slipped his hand into your wallet, grabbed ten bucks, and tossed it into his bottomless kettle of riches. The I-gotta-see-that-moment fetches an invisible fortune months before the product hits the shelf.

All because of a silly little two-minute story.

In 2010, the best storytellers win. Businesses that tell better stories will outperform the competition. Non-profits that tell the best stories will stick around, while the others will melt away. Hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing into Haiti because of the expert communicators–citizen-journalists, photographers, etc–telling her story.

Deep within the Apple labs, master craftsmen have been fashioning their latest creation. For months, we’ve been hearing rumors about the new Apple tablet. Apple is so good, the mysterious pre-story rumors make them millions. On Wednesday, Apple will make millions more when story-master Jobs takes the stage and subsequently takes the breath away of tech-crazed consumers everywhere.

We are creatures of story. If your thing isn’t working, maybe your story about it sucks. Tell a story worth hearing, and you’ll get the response you want…

“I gotta see that.”