688: How we deliver

In episode 686, I talked about the difficulty of endings, and how hard it can be to deliver on our (implied) promises.

In fiction or drama, the ending needs to feel surprising, complete and satisfying.

But business storytelling isn't like that.

We don't want our audience to file our story away, we want them to act!

Action – as we know – is driven by emotion, and emotion is driven by change.

Not just any change of course, but change that affects the audience enough to open up a gap between where they are now and where they (suddenly) want/need to be.

We've all seen headlines that didn't deliver, or followed links only to be 'mildly' amused, excited or angry.

But if we want people to take action, 'mild' isn't enough.

Attention >> Change >> Emotion >> Action

You know you've delivered when your prospect gets to the end.

Go deeper:

Memory & Emotion
394: The right way to get Emotional
333: Emotions Build Habits