How to start your business story
with a bang

Part 1
How to start a story - part 1

How to start your business story with a bang – Part 1

How to start your business story with a bang – Part 1 370 218 Shlomi Ron


When you pitch your prospects or creating new marketing assets, how do you pull your audience attention right from the start with your business story? This is especially critical at the top of the funnel of your buyer’s journey when you’re dealing with strangers that carry very narrow attention span.

Welcome to my blog series that will explore a few powerful ways you can start your business story with actionable advice you can test right away with your audience.

A simple, yet a powerful storytelling principle you could apply in your live presentations, explainer videos, and other visual formats, is to start your story from the middle.

Starting your story from the middle where your customer conflict lives, establish high stakes
and “what’s next” curiosity.

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Instead of boring your audience with a long introduction about your backstory, talking about what got you to where you are today, start immediately with “the meat.”



What I mean by that, is that if you look at the classic 3-act story arc structure: setup, conflict, and resolution – then your story should start by talking about the conflict you’re trying to solve.

Assuming of course that the conflict you’re talking about is a major pain point for your audience, this allows your audience ears to immediately perk up as you establish instant high stakes and boost their interest to “learn what’s next?”

Why? Simply, because we all tend to listen up whenever somebody talks about a major pain we’re currently facing.

Depending on the visual format experience you work with, you can add extra engagement layers.

For example, kicking-off your presentation with a question-driven visual, brings another engagement level, as you’re not only starting with a super relevant conflict, you’re also posing a question that you could use as a springboard to solicit a few opinions or interactions from your audience.

And transforming your audience from passive listener to active participant is a huge factor in building your narrative credibility.

Need help wowing your audience on the first contact? Schedule a FREE conversation to learn about our Experiential Explainer Videos.

Shlomi Ron

Shlomi Ron is the founder and CEO of the Visual Storytelling Institute, a Miami-based think tank with a mission to bring the gospel of visual storytelling from the world of art to more human-centric and purpose-driven marketing. A digital marketing veteran with over 20 years of experience working both on the agency and brand sides for Fortune 100/500 brands such as Nokia, IBM, and American Express. He started VSI to combine his marketing expertise with his passion for visual stories stemming from his interests in classic Italian cinema and managing the estate of video art pioneer, Buky Schwartz. At VSI, he helps brands rise above the communication noise through visual storytelling consulting, training, and thought leadership. Select clients include Estée Lauder, Microsoft, and Cable & Wireless – to name a few. He currently teaches Brand Storytelling at the University of Miami’s Business School. Thought leader and speaker at key marketing conferences. He is also the host of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast, which ranks in the top 10 best business storytelling podcasts on the Web. His book: Total Acuity: Tales with Marketing Morals to Help You Create Richer Visual Brand Stories. Outside work, he is a nascent bread baker, The Moth fan, and longtime fedora wearer likely to jive with his classic Italian cinema interest.

All stories by: Shlomi Ron

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