1152: Because It Will Hurt More

My favourite lines from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves comes (of course) from the scenery-chewing Sheriff of Nottingham:

"LOCKSLEY, I’ll cut your heart out WITH A SPOON!"

Moments later, when his dim, witted, cousin questions his choice of cutlery, the peerless Alan Rickman, answers with a snarl:

"BECAUSE It's blunt, you idiot. It'll hurt more!"

Funny, as these lines are, there's no hidden meaning here. They are puddle deep. The Sheriff intends to cut Robin's heart out with a spoon because it will hurt more.

That's it.

But contrast them with Rickman’s final line as Severus Snape, 20 years later. He’s on the verge of death, looking up into Harry Potter’s face.

"You have your mothers eyes."

As the audience will learn, these five words contain the depth of Snape's entire life and motivation.

In other words, they have subtext.

There are books about subtext in storytelling, but in business, we can start with a two-step process.

1. What do we want our audience to think, feel or know?

2. What do we need to tell them so that they can work that out FOR THEMSELVES?

Here’s a dumb example.

After I sold my first business, I felt insecure about the weird loss in status. I wanted people to know that I had done it, but how..?

Option one:

"I’m Nick. I built an agency with clients around the world."

Option two: Start a story.

"The first time I travelled to Hong Kong for business …"

The first is clear, but sounds needy (which I was). The second is smoother, inviting the audience into a story, and letting the subtext begin the work.

What do you want your audience to know?

Now, work backwards.

Nick

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This is one of 30 riffs on #*Business #Storytelling*. Follow me to get the series.

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