On a beautiful spring afternoon, ten years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both — as young college graduates are — were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.

Recently, these men returned to their college for their 10th reunion.

They were still very much alike. Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had become entrepreneurs.

But there was a difference. One of them was struggling because no one wanted to buy his product. The other was the owner of a successful million-dollar company with a product used by many.

This story was adapted from what is considered the “The Greatest Sales Letter Of All Time.” This particular sales letter ran from 1975–2003 and sold $2 billion (!) worth of Wall Street Journal subscriptions.

The key to success?

The story.

Why Stories Matter

In Chip and Dan Heath’s bestselling book Made To Stick, they discuss 6 principles on how to make your messages sticky.

One of these principles is the principle of telling stories.

Storytelling can create movements that prospects and customers can get behind. Storytelling can make a brand more personal, more human, more memorable.

All of these elements combine to create a brand that spreads by its own and generate word-of-mouth.

However, despite its immense power, storytelling seems to be an elusive skill possessed by a rare few — the Christopher Nolans and Quentin Tarantinos, the Neil Gaimans and Stephen Kings.

Then, how can a brand create compelling stories that eventually spread — and generate word-of-mouth?

Simple:

There exists a number of storytelling formulas that you can implement immediately to improve your brand storytelling.

These formulas have been used repeatedly, over and over again, by Hollywood executives, fiction writers and screenwriters to churn out entertaining stories that mesmerize for years.

And the best part?

You can use them too.

18 Storytelling Formulas You Can Use Right Away

1. Before-After-Bridge

“The distance between your dreams and reality is called action.” – Unknown

This is one of the most popular and easiest to implement copywriting and storytelling formulas around.

In fact, once you’ve learned this formula, you’ll begin to notice that most pitches, stories, and landing pages are written in this manner.

Formula

Before — Show your readers the world with Problem

Paint a picture of their world with the Problem, before your solution. Make sure what you’re identifying is in tune with what the reader is really experiencing.

After — Show your readers what the world would be like with Problem Solved

Describe the future world once their problem is solved. How does it look like? Would they be interested in that world? What benefits do they get?

Bridge — Here’s how to get there

Now that they know what it looks like to be on the other side, show them how to get there… with your solution.

Examples

Sword & Plough

2. Problem-Agitate-Solve

“When you understand that people are more likely to act to avoid pain than to get gain, you’ll understand how powerful this first formula is. (…) It may be the most reliable sales formula ever invented.” – Dan Kennedy

This is another popular copywriting formula. It is simple to understand and can be applied anywhere from Facebook Ads to blog posts.

Formula

Problem — Present a problem

First, you introduce a problem the reader is experiencing. Make sure that it is a real problem identifiable by your target audience.

Agitate — Agitate the problem

Intensify and add salt to their wounds by using emotional language that describes what they’re going through.

Solve — Solve the problem

Offer a solution for their problem. This is the moment where you introduce your product or service.

Examples

Ramit Sethi

3. Features-Advantages-Benefits

“Consumers do not buy products. They buy product benefits.” – David Ogilvy

This particular formula was designed for product-oriented stories. This helps product designers and managers describe and present their products in terms of benefits, not features.

Formula

Features

The facts and characteristics of what you’re about to describe

Advantages

What the features do.

Benefits

Why someone should care about the advantages provided.

4. Three-Act Structure

“The three-act structure is intrinsic to the human brain’s model of the world; it matches a blueprint that is hard-wired in the human brain, which is constantly attempting to rationalize the world and resolve it into patterns. It is therefore an inevitable property of almost any successful drama, whether the writer is aware of it or not.” – Edoardo Nolfo

The Three-Act Structure is an old storytelling formula that has been used in many popular plays, novels, movies, comic books, video games and poetry. Most Hollywood movies follow this template, as it has been proven to be a successful method of storytelling.

Formula

Setup

In the first act, the setup, you introduce the main characters and the setting where the story is taking place.

Confrontation

In act II, usually the longest part of the entire story, the main character will encounter obstacles and problems in the form of people, objects or setting that will deter him from solving the problem. These obstacles will appear in rising frequency, at times seemingly close to solving the problem, yet will be prevented from doing so.

Resolution

After a period of struggle with his problems and obstacles, the main character will finally prevail and the story wraps up. It is also this period of time where the main character is shown to have grown beyond what he was at the start — and is now a different person.

Examples

Blendtec

Extra Gum

5. Hero’s Journey

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder. Fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won.” – Joseph Campbell

The monomyth, or what is known as the Hero’s Journey is the common formula used in heroic tales where a hero embarks on a journey, suffers a crisis, wins the crisis and returns transformed.

This Hero’s Journey can be found in many myths and legends, including those of great religious leaders like Jesus Christ, Buddha and Moses.

The monomyth was popularized by the great mythologist Joseph Campbell in his 1949 seminal work: The Hero With A Thousand Faces (a must-read!)

Formula

First described in 17 stages by Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey has since been shortened into 12 distinct stages by Hollywood executive Christopher Vogler.

The Ordinary World

The hero’s life prior to leaving for his quest

The Call To Adventure

The event that informs the hero a major change is coming

Refusal Of The Call

The hero will first attempt to ignore or avoid the call.

Meeting With the Mentor

The hero will meet a special mentor that will aid him in his quest.

Crossing The Threshold

Your hero finally moves on from his life and embarks on the quest.

Tests, Allies and Enemies

The different people who the hero will meet that will either help or prevent him from completing the quest.

Approach To the Innermost Cave

The hero will be on the verge of fighting his enemy.

The Ordeal

The fight between the hero and the enemy.

Reward

The hero receives a reward for defeating the enemy.

The Road Back

The hero travels home and fights (possibly) with lesser enemies.

The Resurrection

The hero proves worthy of the reward he has received.

Return With The Elixir

The hero finally reaches home and receives his accolades.

6. Freytag’s Pyramid: Five-Act Structure

“Neue minor neu sit quinto productior actu fabula” (“A play should not be shorter or longer than five acts” – Horace

A 19th Century German novelist, Freytag analyzed the stories of ancient Greek storytellers and Shakespeare — and discovered a common pattern in them. Writing in Die Technik des Dramas, he developed a diagram eventually known as the Freytag’s Pyramid that helped writers to organize their thoughts and ideas.

Formula

Exposition

This is the beginning of the story where the setting, the character’s back stories and so on are introduced to the audience.

Rising Action

This is the series of events that creates the setting for the climax, and is usually the most important part of the story.

Climax

The turning point that changes the fate of the main character. This is the most exciting part of the story, the moment of greatest tension.

Falling Action

The conflict. The protagonist may win or lose in this battle with the antagonist.

Dénouement

Normality is resumed and conflict is resolved.

Examples

Casey Neistat

Harry’s

7. Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe” – Simon Sinek

In his New York Times bestselling book Start With Why, Simon Sinek introduces the idea of the Golden Circle — a formula that great companies like Apple use to inspire people and create a movement.

Formula

Circle 1 (Innermost): Why — Why does the company exist?

Why does the company exist? Why do the founders or the employees get out of bed for every morning? Why should anyone care about the company?

Circle 2: How — How do they do what they do

Also known as the Unique Selling Proposition, this is the differentiating factor given to explain how the company is better than its competitors.

Circle 3: What — What does the company do

What does the company sell? What industry is it in? What does the company do?

8. Dale Carnegie’s Magic Formula

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.” – Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie, author of the classic (and still relevant) book How To Win Friends and Influence people, created a simple 3-step formula to capture attention, build credibility, eliminate nervousness and call others to action.

Formula

Incident

Relive a vivid, personal experience relevant to the point. Telling a personal story helps the audience relate to you as human and sharing similar experiences.

To start off, you can begin by answering this question:

What specific incident inspired the purpose surrounding of your topic?

Action

In order to ensure that the reader or listen takes action, you must clearly lay out the action needed. One cannot assume that the listener will immediately and intuitively understand what is required to be done after hearing your story.

Answer this:

What specific action do you want your listener/reader to take?

And give them one clear, specific action to take.

Benefit

As Robert Greene writes in the 48 Laws of Power:

“Always appeal to self-interest.”

Sell the action to them.

Why should they do it? What do they stand to benefit?

Clearly laying it out to them will ensure that the listener takes the action you want them to.

Examples

Beardbrand

9. Dave Lieber’s V Formula

“I believe in the power of storytelling to change the world.” – Dave Lieber

Dave Lieber is the Dallas Morning News Watchdog columnist as well as a popular (and funny!) keynote speaker. In addition, Dave is also a storytelling expert hired by companies like Ernst & Young, American Heart Association and The US Coast Guard to educate, enlighten and entertain.

In his underrated TED talk, he shares the formula he has been using for his stories.

Formula

Introduce the character

Introduce the character, who he/she is, the backstory and so on.

Bring the story to its lowest point

People want to hear about failures and how the character turn the failures into a learning lesson or a success. Using emotions, describe how things went downhill for the character.

Turn the story around and finish with a happy ending

Then, after the story has reached its trough, describe how things improved and then end the story on a happy ending.

Examples

Charity: Water

10. Star-Chain-Hook

“Every letter needs a “star” to capture attention, a “chain” to pull prospects along through the sales presentation without losing interest and a “hook” that holds them until they are ready to take action.” – Bob Bly

Many years ago, Dr. Frank Dignan, a consultant from University of Chicago Press created this formula for writing advertising copy.

Formula

Star

Create an attention-getting opening that is positive and upbeat

Chain

Create a series of convincing facts, benefits, and reasons that transform the reader’s attention into interest and desire.

Hook

Create a powerful and easy-to-respond call-to-action

11. The Story Spine (aka The Pixar Formula)

“The way the films look will never entertain an audience alone. It has to be in the service of a good story with great characters.” – John Lasseter

In To Sell Is Human, Daniel Pink introduces a storytelling method in which he calls the Pixar Formula. It is thus named because Pixar has used this particular formula in majority of their animated movies, winning them countless awards.

This formula is actually known as the Story Spine and was first created in 1991 by Kenn Adams, a professional playwright and improviser.

Formula

Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

12. Michael’s Hauge 6-Stage Plot Structure

“Empathy is something you must create when the hero is introduced. Making your hero a victim in the middle of the movie or showing him becoming kind and loving may make your story richer, but it doesn’t create empathy and identification.” – Michael Hauge

Michael Hauge is one of Hollywood’s top coaches and story experts since 1985 and has consulted on multiple projects starring world-famous celebrities like Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon.

This is his formula for writing a good story.

Formula

The Setup

Reveal the everyday life the hero has been living, while drawing the audience into the initial setting of the story. Within here, the hero is presented with an opportunity, which creates a desire that starts the character on his or her journey.

The New Situation

The hero is now reacting to the new situation that arose from the opportunity. He will try to figure out what is going on, and formulate a specific plan for accomplishing his goal.

The Progress

The hero’s plan seems to be working as he is taking action towards moving his goal. Somewhere along the way, he must be fully committed to his goal — until the point of no return. Destroying all bridges, he can no longer return back to where he was now that he has set upon his path.

Complications and Higher Stakes

Achieving the goal becomes more difficult. Bigger obstacles start appearing and the hero now will have everything to lose if he fails. He will also suffer what is known as the Major Setback, where it will appear to the audience that everything is lost for the hero.

The Final Push

Beaten and battered, the hero now gives his all in achieving the goal. Every single strength, every courage, everything he has, he will put it all in to accomplish it.

The Aftermath

The hero’s objective is finally reached and the audience experiences the same emotions as the hero-excitement, relief, sadness or romance.

13. Pledge-Turn-Prestige

“I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.” – Francis Ford Coppola

In Christopher Nolan’s award-winning movie The Prestige, the narrator opens the movie with a description of the Three-Act structure of great magic tricks: The Pledge-The Turn-The Prestige.

Although it is a fictional structure, it can still be applied to tell a story.

Formula

Pledge — Promise of something extraordinary

“The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t.”

Turn —The apparent revelation

The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary.

Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back.

Prestige — The actual reveal

That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”

14. Andy Raskin’s Greatest Sales Deck Pitch

“This is the greatest sales deck I have ever seen.” – Andy Raskin

In a popular Medium post, Andy Raskin, a consultant that teaches leaders and companies how to tell strategic stories talks about the greatest sales deck he has ever seen.

It was a deck belonging to Zuora, a Silicon Valley company that sells a SaaS platform for subscription billing.

Andy broke down the sales deck into 5 elements, showing why it was so effective.

Formula

Name a Big, Relevant Change in the World

Name the undeniable shift in the world that creates both big stakes and huge urgency for your prospect.

Show There Will Be Winners and Losers

Demonstrate how the change you just mentioned will create big winners and big losers. Meaning: show how adapting to the change will create a positive future, and how ignoring it will inevitably result in a poor future.

Tease The Promised Land

Present a teaser version of the Promised Land, the happily-ever-after your product/service will help achieve. This happily-ever-after conclusion, as Andy Raskin expertly points out, should be desirable yet difficult to achieve without outside help.

Introduce Features As A Way To Overcome Obstacles To Promised Land

Introduce your product and service and position your features as some sort of a magical solution to reach the Promised Land.

Present Evidence You Can Make The Story Come True

Your prospects will be skeptical that you can deliver the Promised Land. Show them it is true, and you can do it by showing the best evidence you can offer.

Examples

Zuora

Uberflip

15. Elon Musk’s Pitch Formula

“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk is a force-of-nature. I mean, who other than Elon Musk, is able to set up SpaceX, Tesla Motors, SolarCity and then Neuralink?

Most CEOs struggle with 1 company, let alone 2, while Elon Musk juggles 4 (and other commitments not mentioned.)

Is it any wonder that Elon Musk would also have a pitch formula that works on convincing people that his ideas will work?

Formula

Name Your Enemy

Don’t talk about yourself or your product. Instead name the thing that is getting in the way of your customer’s happiness.

“Do that by painting an emotionally resonant picture of how the world currently sucks for your customer, who/what is to blame, and why.”

Why Now?

Why is now the time to change for this particular problem? Convince your audience why of all problems, yours is the most important and pressing one to solve.

The Promised Land

Describe to your audience what it looks like in the future. How is it like when everything is solved?

Explain Away Obstacles

Lay out the obstacles and show how your product or service can overcome it.

Win Them Over With Evidence

Conclude your pitch strongly by letting your audience know you’re not lying. Show them evidence how it is already being done.

Examples

16. Colin Theriot’s Viking Velociraptor Formula

“This particular formula we will talk about today is all V words, but I couldn’t think of an alliterative title to match, so I called it “Viking Velociraptor” as a joke.” – Colin Theriot

Colin Theriot, the leader of a massively popular 20,000-member Facebook Group named the Cult of Copy shares his formula for writing a persuasive message usable for any medium.

He named it the Viking Velociraptor Formula, a name that came out because of a joke (and also because he wanted an alliteration.)

Formula

Verify

Call out something the reader has seen, heard, observed or thought.

Validate

Validate their emotional gut reaction to this stimulus. Let them know that their internal reaction is correct and valid.

Vantage

Use the above information to insert the information you wanted to talk about into the conversation.

Values

Share values that you and the audience have in common.

Villains

Decry against villains you both stand against.

Examples

17. Kishōtenketsu

“He drew comics as a kid, and so he would always talk about how you have to think about, what is that denouement going to be? What is that third step? That ten [twist] that really surprises people. That’s something that has always been very close to our philosophy of level design, is trying to think of that surprise.” – Koichi Hayashida

Kishōtenketsu is a four act narrative structure that describes the structure of classic Chinese, Korean and Japanese narratives.

Also known as the plot without conflict, It differs from Western storytelling formulas because it is not based on conflict and resolution.

Formula

Ki — Introduction

Establish the character, setting, situations and so on.

Shō-Development

No major changes occur here, as it is merely an expansion of the first act introduction.

Ten — Twist

The story takes a turn into a contrasting situation, a “twist”.

Ketsu — Conclusion

The story resolves and connects all acts.

Examples

Super Mario

18. Nonlinear Narratives

“I’ve never read Joseph Campbell, and I don’t know all that much about story archetypes.” – Christopher Nolan

Are you a fan of Pulp Fiction? Or any of Christopher Nolan’s work?

Even if you aren’t, chances are… you have seen one of their movies.

And you probably enjoyed it.

One thing I want you to take away from this post is:

Even if you possess all of the formulas in the world, one of the best things you can do is to break the formula.

Learn the rules…. then break them.

If you truly want to create a story that inspires and mesmerizes…

Then consider creating something that is not formulaic.

And that is incidentally the technique employed by both Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction and Christopher Nolan in most of his movies.

Nonlinear narratives.

In a nonlinear narrative, the events are portrayed out of chronological order or in any other manner where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern.

There are many ways this can be used:

stories told within another story

adding multiple flashbacks

parallel plot lines

dream immersions

etc.

You don’t have to use nonlinear storytelling of course… but if you want to create something that stands out, or something that is truly creative…

You might want to consider doing this.

Create Your Brand Story Now

Here you go:

A full list of storytelling formulas you can use to tell a story about your product that motivates your prospects to buy…

Cements your brand…

And inspires a movement.

Apply these storytelling formulas to every marketing communication you do. Blog posts, advertisements, about pages, YouTube videos etc.

Tell your brand story now, make it stick and change the world.

How do you get other people to tell your story? It’s easier when you know what makes a story Contagious, and which ideas are Made to Stick. Ideas from these bestsellers and more in our comprehensive guide to word of mouth marketing!