Five Stages of Storytelling

Have you ever wondered what makes a good story? What is it that keeps a listener, viewer, or reader’s attention?

Perhaps it’s the overwhelming urge to find out what’s going to happen next. But why do you feel the need to find out? What keeps you engaged in the story?

If you think of story telling like a graph, it looks something like this:

This particular image of a story is quite boring and doesn’t really explain anything. So what does it mean, you ask? Well if you notice, there are 5 points in this particular graph and each point represents something that’s happening within the story. Five stages of storytelling, if you will.

What are the stages?

The stages are much easier to understand with this helpful infographic.

The Power of Three

There are 3 divisions within a good story; a beginning, a middle, and an end.

In the infographic, the first two stages are the beginning of our story. This is the setup of the background and the characters, the hook that will keep you engaged.

The peak of the infographic is the peak of the story, or the middle. This is the area where the main character has some sort of moment. Whether it be a resolution to a conflict, an a-ha moment, or realizes he/she knew all along.

The last two stages are the ending. This is when all the loose ends are tied up nice and neat and our character goes back to his/her regular life.

There you have it. Five stages to good storytelling. Next time you want to tell a story, just keep these things in mind and you will have people hanging on your every word. They will be listening, watching, or reading until the very end.