1130: Tension

Business storytelling techniques: 4/30 - Tension

Yesterday, we saw the power of FLOW in storytelling. Without it, we sacrifice momentum and persuasion.

But what creates flow?

According to award-winning filmmaker and creative consultant, Robert Fritz, it's the force that powers all change.

Tension.

"A basic principle found throughout nature is this: Tension seeks resolution. From the spiderweb to the human body, from the formation of the galaxies to the shifts of continents, from the swing of pendulums to the movement of wind-up toys, tension-resolution systems are in play."

As we've seen, strong stories begin with a TRIGGER that throws the world out of balance.

At the start of Casablanca, Ilsa walks into a bar owned by the man she loved and abandoned.

Cue huge tension.

Over the next 100 minutes the tension ebbs, flows, builds to a climax and finally releases with one of cinema's all-time greatest lines.

It's a brilliantly constructed story, but IN BUSINESS STORYTELLING, we do it differently.

Great business stories – emails, presentations and speeches – build to their climax and leave the tension right where it is.

Because when we seek to influence or persuade, we want the final resolution to be in the hands of our AUDIENCE.

Along with a simple promise.

If you do this thing, your tension will release.

Which is why ENDINGS are so important.

And why we'll get to them tomorrow.

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Question:

If Fritz is right, every action we take (from getting our coffee to choosing our soulmate) is driven by tension. Is that true?