Recently I’ve noticed a surge in storytelling teachers and storytelling courses. That’s not an accident.
What these coaches know is that people are drawn in by stories because they want information in context, not in isolation.
If you had asked me a month ago whether I cared about U.S. history from the late 1800s, I would have told you to take a hike. Then I started watching The Gilded Age. Suddenly I’m googling historical figures, connecting dots, and learning things I never would have touched before.
My daughter was watching with me and we decided to start making note of words we didn’t know on purpose. She picked up ten new vocabulary words in just a few days. She remembered them because they weren’t on a flashcard. They were alive inside a story, tied to characters and stakes. They mattered.
That’s the difference between content that floats past people and content that lands. Stories give information a home.
Specificity Is What Sticks
The same is true for podcasts.
Nobody remembers the episode that could have been about anything. They remember the one that gave them a specific shift through a powerful story, or solved a problem they actually had because they resonated with the person speaking.
Specificity is what makes content worth listening to.
Here’s the part most creators skip.
Before you can get better at creating, you need to get better at paying attention.
Did you ever see the movie Whiplash?
It’s a story about a kid learning jazz inside a high level music conservatory in New York. Watching this from the POV of a classically trained musician, I gave the movie a bit of a side-eye… but so much of it is true. It’s hardcore. You are expected to do anything and everything in your power to improve, and in this movie? The teacher was brutal and practically tortured the students.
Why do I bring this up? Because through that lens, I do know some more realistic and way less traumatizing ways to become way better at your craft because of my decades of training.
One of my favorite ways? LISTEN to the GREATS. Notice what they do. Imitate.
When I was studying, I listened to recordings of my musical idols over and over. I wanted to hear the details, really listen to what made me keep hitting ‘back’ on the CD player. The technical skills, the beautiful tone. I was learning by soaking it in, paying attention to how it was done, and imitating.
So I started to think about how that same method can be used for content creators to improve and get more eyeballs (and ears) on their work.
Here’s my idea: as a content creator, how you can take a page out of the music major’s playbook:
For one week, stop creating and only consume.
Turn the switch in your brain from output to input.
But don’t do it passively.
Track yourself.
Notice what makes you click play, what headline stops you mid-scroll, what keeps you listening when you could tune out.
Ask yourself:
Why did I click on this? What was SO good I couldn’t not find out what it was?
What made me read to the end? What made me keep on scrolling?
What annoyed me? What got me laughing or sharing??
Did it offer a quick win or a bigger shift in perspective?
Did it connect directly to your own situation?
Write it down. Notice. Keep track of what gets you really interested.
What you’re doing is consuming, but through the eyes of a marketer. 👀 🕵️
By the end of the week, you’ll have a map of what actually matters to you as a listener. And once you know that, you’ll be able to create from a much deeper place - one that naturally pulls your own audience in.
That’s the work that separates the forgettable from the unforgettable.
Oh my goodness I freaking love this article. Great tips on storytelling. And Whiplash was an incredible (and cruel) movie. I could watch it on an endless loop!