Why The Devil Is In The Details?

How can you create a compelling story that celebrates that “sweet spot” between what your brand narrative aims for and what your audience wants and needs, especially these days?

In my new book, I talk a lot about the importance of developing this important skill I call Total Acuity.

“Acuity means sharpness of vision or the ability to perceive details. When your story includes details your audience truly cares about, attention spikes, then emotional empathy builds up that gradually turns into trust and behavior change.”

You would naturally need to review and test these “meaningful details” you discover in your customer research, as you don’t want to blow up details that may carry negative or questionable implications.

The more you test your story the sharper and relatable it will be, once you’re ready to launch.

Now that you get the importance of developing Total Acuity expertise when you plan your story, here is a fun drill I know you’re going to enjoy as a way to perfecting your attention for details.

In this drill, you’ll play the audience’s role. All you need to do is hop on my “Time Machine,” spend 8:35 minutes in 1911 New York and report back.

How does that sound for a light diversion?

No worries you’ll get back – unfortunately – to the same fun 2020 we’re all experiencing these days…

Are you ready?

Care to spend 8:35 minutes in 1911 New York?
Click above to launch your expedition

Well, we’re still working on the actual Time Machine at VSI labs. In the meantime, click on the above image to watch a popular video (over 8M views) that restored a 1911 reel to crisp 4K and 60 FPS through the wonders of today’s machine learning and neural networks.

Make sure you watch the video on Full Screen and on your desktop computer (4k resolution playback is typically not available on phones) to take in all the details.

The result is quite astounding in its vividness.

After watching, simply answer a single question:

What detail/s caught your attention and why? You can also mark down the exact minute in the video as a reference.

Your report will likely highlight details that carry strong personal meanings coming from your “bag of past stories” on one hand and carry some level of relevancy to high priority areas your thoughts tend to dance around these days.

Past + present = informing future behavior.

Feel free to share your answer in the comments below or if you prefer, privately with me: shlomi_at_visualstorytell_dot _com. I am curious to learn what details caught your eye and even more, why.

For a deeper dive into crafting your story with the right blend of meaningful details, please take a look at my virtual training programs.