How to Construct a Simple, Powerful Story for Your Videos

by founder David Delaney Mayer

One of the most interesting things for me about Elemmir is that we are taking people who have dedicated their lives to visual storytelling, and we are bringing that experience to businesses that have never really had access to that skill set. It is an exciting opportunity for me (and our team) to help enhance our clients’ ability to craft a compelling story for video, which is sometimes lacking. Even our most successful clients can struggle sometimes to truly tell a simple, clear, and easy-to-understand narrative (in fairness, this type of storytelling is hard). Whether crafting a story about a customer’s experience or making an argument for a new product entering the market, it is consistently surprising to me that the stories told by businesses are not stronger, not told with more confidence, and not told with more clarity. As a result, I find myself giving the same few tips on storytelling many times over.

Before I get into some of these tips, though, it is worth saying a few words of caution. True storytelling is immensely difficult and complex. Humans are great at consuming stories but exceedingly bad at producing them. It is why we have so many readers but very few authors. So many viewers but fewer filmmakers. True storytelling is hard. So, take these tips with a grain of salt and think of them more as a starting point on your journey to becoming a good visual storyteller:

1.     The Narrative Sentences

As a framework for constructing a narrative, I find it useful to follow the “Narrative Sentences” (see below). This is a framework used in screenwriting for movies (taught to me by my mentor, screenwriter Gary Hawkins). It is a useful way to lay out a plot so that the story has dramatic tension, purpose, momentum, and all the things that viewers expect when they watch a movie. It is relevant here because it is a strong guide for how to construct a quick, compelling narrative:

the Narrative Sentences

(Protagonist), who is currently (normalcy), experiences (disturbance). He/she responds by (response), but it all turns around when (surprise - something the protagonist didn't see coming, which turns into a question that drives the rest of the film). Complications ensue (building in intensity), and they're resolved when the Protagonist forces them to resolve (events fall into place, play out, settle - the question asked by the "surprise" is answered by the "climax".) Loose ends are wrapped up (closing, catharsis, ultimate meaning).

Most every story, whether it is a popular novel you like reading, a movie you like watching, or a religious text you read for worship, fits into this basic structure in one way or another. This is an incredibly useful framework to tell stories that connect with audiences. And it is a useful framework for any content writer, videographer, or marketer who is crafting a narrative to push their brand forward.

As an example, from one of our clients, here’s a customer story video that our team recently produced using the above Narrative Sentences (to see the video, go here). This is an example from RentRedi, an innovative software that gives independent landlords the ability to manage properties in an all-in-one easy-to-use platform. 

The Narrative Sentences from a customer story produced for our client RentRedi

Dawid, who is currently a NASA engineer balancing life as a father, landlord, and full-time software engineer (normalcy), realizes that he is in over his head with time spent managing his multiple properties (disturbance), he responds by searching for tools to help (response), and it all turns around when he discovers RentRedi (surprise). Not only does RentRedi help with managing payments, but it also helps manage vendors, and multiple properties can be viewed at once (complications and climax). Now, Dawid can live the life he wants to live while doing more of the things that matter, like spending time with his family (ultimate meaning).

In the example above, RentRedi is the “surprise” that is presented to the protagonist, Dawid, that drives the narrative forward. In doing so, RentRedi comes across as a powerful tool that changes Dawid’s life and business for the better. This narrative structure is a useful way to construct a story that will be memorable and effective.

2.     Short-form video storytelling requires an even simpler structure (15 words)

As discussed above, storytelling of any kind requires a simple framework . . .

A quick side note on this: I always remind myself of the stories that have persisted throughout human history, and I’m always reminded of how plain and simple they are (admittedly with a lot of strange nuances once you get into the details). They have to be simple to be remembered/talked about:

+The Bible: God sends his son to face challenges that prepare him to sacrifice himself for humanity.
+Lord of the Rings: an unexpected hero sets off on an impossible quest to save the world from evil.
+The Epic of Gilgamesh: a man grows restless and leaves home to pursue glory, risking everything along the way.

. . . and, short-form video storytelling is even simpler. Video is an extremely simple form of storytelling (novels can get away with a lot more than movies can, for example). You need an extremely simple structure to tell a great story using short-form videos. To achieve this, it’s useful to boil down the narrative to one short sentence. More specifically, if you are making a 2-minute video, you should be able to write the story being told in under 15 words. And ideally, those 15 words are the most interesting thing your viewer will see that week.

Here’s the above customer story for RentRedi written in 15 words: A NASA software engineer balances family, career, and multiple rental properties using RentRedi’s innovative platform.

3. Why condense the story to one 15-word sentence? It’s all about meaning (and that meaning should be written in one word).

When you write a 15-word sentence, you are effectively condensing your story to its essential components, which brings you closer to seeing the story’s ultimate meaning. The story’s meaning is something you never say in the video (nor should it be said in your 15-word sentence) but rather it is the emotion/idea being conveyed by your use of smart storytelling tools and devices. Before you create any kind of short-form video, you must know the meaning you are trying to convey. Every detail of the story should point directly back to this meaning in some way, and ultimately this meaning is what the viewer will remember. And, the meaning should be as simple as one word. Keep it precise, and keep it simple. This is the only way to ensure that the video is impactful and memorable.

Here’s the above meaning of the customer story for RentRedi written in 1 word: empowering.

4.  People only watch videos once (and they forget most of it), so hammer them over the head with only details that relate to your simple story.  

Another big mistake that nearly every person makes when they first set out to make videos is they approach it how they would approach writing an essay or providing materials for a presentation. They fill the script with helpful information so that the viewer has all the context they need to understand completely what is being said. They build an argument, with references, supporting materials, and context. This may work for writing an essay, but it is a terrible approach to making an effective video. This is because unlike other forms of materials, where people usually have plenty of time to review the materials/read through them, people only watch a video once, in a linear fashion, and then they move on. It all happens in under two minutes. There is no scanning ahead, reviewing, and revisiting information, or taking notes/copying and pasting sections for later use. Videos play in real-time, then the viewer moves on. So, the key is filling that two minutes with details that point directly back to the key elements in your 15-word story. It’s hard to predict what exactly a viewer will remember, after all every viewer is different, so every single detail needs to point back to your central story. There is no time at all for details that do not relate directly back to the simple 15-word story of the video.

Another way to think about this: imagine you are showing your video to a five-year-old, and imagine a few hours after the five-year-old has seen your video, you ask them, what was the video about? What do you remember? They should remember the main theme AND the details that help them remember this main theme. If they don’t, your video was not impactful or simple enough.

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Ultimately video storytelling is very different from other forms of storytelling. It requires an ability to distill information effectively into its core elements. Hopefully, these guidelines above help point you in the right direction as you craft a narrative and help you save yourself years of mistakes.