One question to guide every decision you make as a storyteller

I still think about something I heard a few years ago at the Professional Speakers Australia Convention. Oh, that’s my big learning, laughing, hanging out (OK, some partying too) conference.

Tim Gard opened as our keynote speaker with a talk called ‘The Making of a $1M Story’. It’s the story that has taken him to stages all over the world and keeps him getting booked and rebooked.

He told the story live, with props and humour, and transported every single person in the room. We were right there with him: sprinting to catch the plane, crammed in the middle seat, every chaotic inch of the way to the explosive ending (I won’t give it away). Then he pulled it apart and showed us exactly how the magic works.

His number one rule for storytelling? ‘If it doesn’t add to the story, it subtracts from it.’

That’s it. One question to guide every decision you make as a storyteller: does this add to the story, or does it subtract from it?