The Most Underrated Storytelling Skill: Knowing When to Stop
End before the magic fades
Hi friend,
How are you? Nice to see you here :)
As you know, summer is one of the slowest times of the year. That said, I haven’t taken time off yet, as I’m juggling a bunch of projects, but I look forward to finally going up for air in two weeks.
I hope you’re luckier than me.
Sharon Driscoll’s, a former IBM colleague, in her recent LinkedIn post announcing her retirement, wrote her key lesson after decades of serving in various leadership roles at Big Blue (excerpts):
Look up more often.
Not once a year.
Not when you burn out.
Not when you retire.
Now.
Step away from the endless meetings.
Close the laptop.
Take a breath.
Ask yourself:
Am I solving the right problems?
Indeed, distance is essential not just for recharging, but also for getting perspective on your journey, or as Sharon aptly puts it:
Success isn’t just about climbing the mountain.
It’s about stopping long enough to make sure you’re climbing the right one.
Today I’ll keep it brief, which aligns with our topic.
As a visual storyteller, you essentially have two buttons to push when telling a good story:
Keep it human and authentic while addressing your audience’s key pain points.
Keep it short and punchy, especially in today’s shrinking attention span and doomscrolling.
The larger picture
You see, the art of storytelling is nothing but an exercise in curation.
Treat your story as an upcoming exhibit, where you serve the Chief Curator, deciding what artworks to feature, where, when, and how - to support the overarching theme.
In storytelling, it’s about choosing the right events to weave into your story arc.
Beware, though.
Every story will lure you to include every detail you’ve experienced firsthand, but it’s up to you to keep only the essential bits to keep a solid narrative cohesion.
Especially on snackable channels like social, networking, or public talks.
If you include too many details, people zone out.
Too little, you leave them scratching their heads wondering what the point is.
Focus on just the right amount to keep it short, and test it before full rollout for hero stories.
A great example from songwriting - a completely different field - I came across says:
“Writing good songs is not just about choosing the lyrics; it’s also about knowing when to end the song.”
It’s so true! Just think of too-long songs when the repeating chorus becomes an overkill that detracts from the initial magic.
Knowing when to end a good song or a story - leave people excited with a taste for more.
Welcome to
Novelty
Population: 32
The first time people consume your story also means they enter into “novelty city limits,” which carries many benefits.
Stay focused. You don’t want to welcome people with fog.
The novelty effect is also related to the rule of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
The law states that as you consume more of an item, each additional unit provides less satisfaction.
From my college years, I still remember my Ethics professor’s vivid example:
“The first orange you eat tastes amazing, the 10th one - not so much…”
Not to mention, the Scarcity Principle is also hard at work here.
Things you can’t easily get, or not enough of - you appreciate more.
As such, a short and relatable story automatically boosts its perceived value.
Let people complete the story
Lastly, another great benefit of keeping it short is that you allow your audience to play an active role in your story and fill in the missing pieces in their minds.
If you pitch investors or are planning for any important presentation, an old trick is to deliberately plant gaps in your story to trigger the right questions you’ve fully prepared for.
Another recent example is my microdrama -HUSHWAVE on Substack’s Notes that’s recently finished its 1st season.
The format was quite simple.
Every episode included 3 elements:
A few lines of story.
One cinematic image.
And the video plays in your head.
To get a full view of the story, click on this image (for some reason, the embed masks the full text):
Feel free to share how you keep brevity in your stories.
See you next time!
Best,
- Shlomi
Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
shlomi@visualstorytell.com | Follow me on Notes
story > visual > emotion > experience
