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What if you could save 12+ hours per week in your business? Being a solopreneur sometimes focuses too much on the “solo” part: doing all the jobs, figuring things out yourself, and spending too much time in your business. But we didn’t start out own solo business to spend all of our time at our desk.
We did it because we want freedom: to travel; to spend time with our family; to watch a movie in the middle of a week day. That’s why Streamlined Solopreneur exists.
Each week, host Joe Casabona talks about how you can build a better business through smarter systems and automated processes. He does this by bringing on expert guests, and sharing his own experience from years as a busy solopreneur parent — so that being a solopreneur feels…less solo.
With every episode, you'll get insights, great stories, and 1-3 actions you can take today to improve your business processes and spend your time the way you want.
Joe: A family walks into a talent agency
and says, have we got the act for you?
If you're familiar with this
opening to a joke, you may have
had a visceral reaction to it.
Either you think it's hysterically funny?
Shamefully disgusting or both.
It's the opening to the
joke, the aristocrats.
And if you have a weak stomach,
I don't suggest you look it up.
See the point of this joke,
isn't actually the punchline,
which is right in the title.
The point is to see how long
you can improv a shocking,
disgusting, offensive story.
You can think about it as a secret
handshake among comedians that
became not so secret after a 2005
documentary came out about the joke.
But it got me thinking about the
importance of telling a story.
Last week.
I got to speak to my friend,
Nick Benson's college classes
about digital storytelling.
Don't worry.
I didn't tell the aristocrats.
But I did tell them about why
storytelling is so important.
And that's what I want to
talk to you about today.
So as you listen to what
is, hopefully this story?
I look for these top takeaways.
How to tell a good story.
And how do we integrate.
Elements from the story into
the point in your making.
Where to find good stories.
And the three act structure
that dictates them.
And who you need to make the hero.
In your story.
We'll cover all of that in more
plus in the pro show, I'm going to
talk about how I am revamping my
automations database for members.
As well as how and why I deeply
upset some fans of artificial
intelligence and large language models.
So if you want to hear that, You can
head over to how I built it slash join
and become a member of the Foundry.
But that's it.
Let's get into the intro.
And then the episode.
Hey everybody, and welcome to How
I Built It, the podcast that helps
busy solopreneurs and creators
grow their business without
spending too much time on it.
I'm your host, Joe Casabona, and each week
I bring you interviews and case studies
on how to build a better business through
smarter processes, time management.
And effective content creation.
It's like getting free coaching
calls from successful solopreneurs.
By the end of each episode, you'll
have one to three takeaways you can
implement today to stop spending time
in your business and more time on
your business or with your friends,
your family reading, or however
you choose to spend your free time.
So I got to speak to a college
class, two college classes actually.
About the importance of storytelling.
And I loved it.
It reminded me of how much I miss.
Teaching in the classroom.
For those of you who don't know, I
taught intro to computers and computer
science at the university of Scranton.
From when I was a grad student in 2007,
until I got married and moved away.
At the end of 2016, I continued
to teach online courses.
For a while, but it just wasn't the same.
It's not the same as being in
a classroom full of students.
Who are increasingly younger than you.
Uh, and understanding
what makes them think.
And the zeitgeists and the culture.
Uh, and that is something
that I really miss.
And so I thoroughly enjoyed,
even though it was via zoom.
Joining my friends class and teaching him.
Uh, and his students, the
importance of storytelling.
And so most of this.
Most of these thoughts I have
are in the context of podcasting.
I think that not enough people
tell stories with their podcasts.
Uh, and I think that storytelling is
important in any context, in any content
you create, but especially podcasting.
Uh, and I say again, I, I say, especially
because up until this point, the vast
majority of podcasts, haven't integrated
storytelling in some way, they've been
back and forth interviews, emulating.
More of a late night host format.
Then a movie or a TV show,
but if you'll notice everybody
brings a story with them, right.
They're not just.
Shooting it, uh, I can send
to myself here, shooting there
because, uh, they feel like it,
they, they want to make an impact.
They want to tell people
about their cause.
So, well, there are popular podcasts
that don't weave storytelling
into the fabric of their content.
Uh, most of, again, most
of the popular podcasts do.
Uh, look at lore, which was one
of the first to really do that.
Uh, before that, right?
Most.
Podcasts were, I mean, stuff you
should know, that was, that was,
and still is a really good one.
But most of them were like white
guys talking about apple, right?
No story required.
Uh, so lore American storytellers
is a recent favorite of mine.
And serial Ray.
Those kinds of podcasts kind
of transformed the landscape.
And they all tell a compelling story.
If you're trying to differentiate
in today's world, no matter
what content you make.
Uh, the world where everything
is vying for your attention.
As we talked with, uh,
the clarity king, Steve.
Back a few episodes ago.
Uh, you can't just have a conversation.
You can't just be two people talking.
Uh, unless you happen to be a Superbowl
winning tight end dating the world's most
popular pop star and American royalty.
You need to tell a good story.
So, where do you start?
Well, just to quickly level set here.
I'm talking about nonfiction
information focused podcasts here.
Uh, the interviews are solo shows
where you're teaching or doing
some sort of knowledge transfer.
I suspect I don't need to convince
people who are already telling
a story that they need to.
Tell a story.
So.
How do we tell a good story?
Where do we start?
I've talked about this
before my three act.
Process.
But we have to go a little bit.
Back further back.
To really understand the
importance of storytelling.
Uh, my friend Mike Paki.
He owned, who was on this show
is a public speaking coach.
And he knows the power of storytelling.
He knows that you need to hook
your listeners and take them
on a journey through your talk.
It doesn't have to be an epic story.
It just needs to be a.
A story with a beginning or a hook.
Uh, middle some conflict.
And some conclusion.
Even if that conclusion.
Is a cliffhanger.
Mike opens up one of his talks
by telling a story about how
he was staying in a hotel.
And he got.
A very scary call in
the middle of the night.
And he thought he heard
a knock on his door.
And he doesn't end the story.
Just leaves it there.
Hanging out.
Because that's not the point.
The point is to hook your listeners.
If you.
No, the aristocrats.
Then I immediately hooked you
with a family, walks into a talent
agency and says, If you don't
know the aristocrats, then you're
like, what is Joe talking about?
Right.
So you want to hook your
listeners right off the bat.
In a minute, I will talk about the main
difference between the two courses.
The two sections of the
course I taught back to back.
Because this is also a really
interesting thing to me.
But first, I want to tell you.
About the format that most or
many stories at least to follow.
And that's the hero's journey.
The basis of many, many stories is
Joseph Campbell's hero's journey.
It's the idea that we have a hero,
the main character go through
some life altering adventure.
With the help of a guide.
The hero experiences, a trial
that eventually leads to growth.
We see this format all the time.
Star wars.
Harry Potter.
Lord of the rings.
Those are very commonly cited.
But they don't have to be epics.
They don't have to be
science fiction or fantasy.
Uh, one of my favorite shows is 30 rock.
Which is a bit more fluid.
But you could argue that both Liz lemon
and Jack Donaghy go through their own
hero's journey throughout the series.
They're almost like their own heroes
and they're each other's guide.
Guiding each other to be better versions.
Of themselves.
Barney Stinson and how I met your mother.
While, not the main character.
Goes through considerable
character growth.
From the first to last season.
And if we look at scrubs.
J D is our main character.
Uh, Dr.
Cox is his most obvious guide.
But he helps Dr.
Cox grow to Jed's friends, help him grow.
He has several guides.
But he changes dramatically from the
very first episode to the very last.
This doesn't need to be in fiction either.
And in fact, one of Nick's
students asked me how to turn
non-fiction events into stories.
It's something.
I think we wish we were all
good at, but are kind of bad.
Right?
Uh, or most of us are right.
We all have that friend or family
member who gives you too many details.
And the story goes nowhere.
It's like, oh, so I was
like up at midnight.
Uh, and I couldn't sleep.
So I got in my car and, uh,
I drove, uh, down the 4 0 5.
No, maybe it was the night.
Well, either way I was driving, I was
wearing my red hoodie and I went to
Walmart and now you're like, why does it
matter what road they were driving on?
Why does the red hoodie matter?
What, what's the point of this story?
Um, But we should be able to turn
nonfiction events into stories
because those are going to help.
Relate our.
Knowledge or our information, the thing
we're trying to teach to the audience.
It's something I spoke to Cody
Sheehy about on this show.
Uh, but there's another person
who's very good at telling
stories based on her own life.
And we know her all too well.
But before we get into that, I want to
take a quick break for our sponsors.
If you haven't listened to the 10 minute
version of Taylor Swift's all too.
Well, I highly recommend it.
Not only is it a bop?
But it tells an incredible
story about a several months
relationship and well, 10 minutes.
She uses her words.
To paint, incredible
pictures for us to imagine.
It used to be a little kid glasses.
And your mother's telling stories
about you on the tee ball team.
You told me about your past thinking.
Can't you see that scene?
In your head.
I can picture it perfectly.
I actually picture my own
childhood bedroom for some reason.
But she's painting a picture for you.
To see what she remembers all too well.
But Taylor swift also uses similes.
To convey.
How she, and whoever she's talking about.
Uh, Treated there clan
desk, dine, rekindling.
This is maybe one of my
favorite parts of the song.
It's so good.
'cause you really.
You understand, we, you immediately know
the difference between how she viewed
them covertly getting back together.
Versus how.
The subject.
Views them getting back together.
And then finally her use of metaphors are
also powerful and powerfully convey the
emotion that she and we should be feeling.
In here.
Remember?
A crumpled up piece of paper.
Crushed.
Wasted.
And thrown in the trash.
The truth is.
Most of this was probably mundane.
But she highlights the important bits.
And how she felt as a 20 to 21 year old.
Dating someone seemingly older than her.
At one point, she says, you said
if we had been closer in age,
maybe it would have been fine.
And that made me want to die.
You really feel.
The emotion that she is feeling.
And the hook in all of this isn't
necessarily the song itself.
It's the mystery.
The song came out in 2012.
The 10 minute version of
this song came out in 2021.
And I read what was basically an
investigative article dated the same week.
I'm recording this
episode in October, 2023.
Diving in.
To who the song is about.
And why it's about them.
It's all speculation.
And none of this is confirmed
by any of the parties who have
been named in this article.
But we love to talk about it.
Taylor swift knows how to hook us.
With a good story.
So, where can we find the story?
For Taylor, it's usually based
on her own life experience.
I also like to draw on my own experience.
As well as lessons from pop culture.
If you couldn't tell by now, You
can find inspiration anywhere.
You just need to make sure
it drives home your point.
Mike Paki.
I don't recommend that you get a long
sheet of paper and draw a timeline
of your life on it, where you mark
important events from your life.
Then you can find stories
based on what was going on.
Around that time.
For Nick's class.
I presented my information
into very different ways.
And this gets to.
Practicing your story, which
you definitely also have to do.
'cause the second class got a much
better version of this than the first.
And that was always true when I taught
in the classroom as well, I would teach
three sections back to back to back.
The first section always got the short
end of the stick they got the first time
I was going through the information.
The third class always got the
best one I had given it twice
before I knew the questions.
And I knew the best way.
Up until that point to deliver it.
But for next class, the second
session I opened with a story about
the first time I sought therapy.
And the events that led to the
conclusion that I needed help.
I chose this story because
it was very personal.
And this allowed them to maybe
trust me a little bit more.
But it also hooked them.
I, uh, relatively young guy, I
have kids, but it was the pandemic,
which was stressful for everybody.
I had a panic attack in front
of my three-year-old and she's
the one who ended up helping me.
That's just a compelling story.
I'm not embellishing.
I'm picking the important parts to.
Tell people.
About.
In this case, the power of story.
Usually when I tell that story,
it's this is the inciting incident
that led me on my transformation
to systematize my whole business.
So that I wouldn't.
Be stressed about at
least that part of it.
But that's the power of story.
With my interviews, I try to
define the interviews using a
three-act structure that you may
have heard me talk about already.
The first act is the setup
where we introduce our guide,
the guest more on that later.
And have some sort of inciting incident
that forces the need to change.
Then enact to, we have the
confrontation where we create
some sort of conflict or tension.
This is usually a challenge to
the guides main point, which
we introduced in act one.
So, for example, in an upcoming
interview, an episode I have with
henna Pryor, she talks about.
What being awkward is she has
a book called good, awkward.
And so the confrontation is me saying
shouldn't we try as hard as possible.
Not to be awkward.
She set up her whole thesis statement,
which is being awkward is actually good.
And I'm immediately
challenging it by saying why?
Like, why is being awkward?
Good though.
Take our listeners through this
thought process because usually.
If the listener feels
awkward, they immediately no
longer want to feel awkward.
So why are you saying it's a good thing?
And then act three, is
the rev, the resolution.
Where we confront the conflict except
the guides point of view and learn how to
implement what the guide has taught us.
Again, in hennas episode a which.
Is coming up as this comes out.
Is.
Okay.
So it's good to be awkward.
How do we embrace our awkward.
And I know what you're thinking here.
Shouldn't the guest.
Be the hero.
I mean, it's their
journey after all right.
Where we're talking about them.
And I think no.
I think if you're telling a fiction
story, Or you're doing something
like what American storytellers
does or lore or cereal then yes.
You need to have some hero closely
related to the story, but when
you're doing knowledge transfer,
And you're creating this sort of
podcast or any other content video.
Uh, course.
Written word.
Someone else should be the hero.
If you want sticky, helpful content.
Your listener.
Your reader.
The person you're writing
for should be the hero.
Everyone roots for the hero.
And believes in them.
As they approach the end of the story.
Making your listener, the hero.
Empowers them.
Gets them to believe in themselves.
And opens them up for the
possibility of transformation.
If you have guests, your
guests can be the guide.
Our hero, our listener
doesn't want to be awkward.
But they've just learned that
being awkward can be good.
So how can we leverage that?
Good.
Our guide had a prior
is going to tell you.
If you don't have guests.
Then you should be the guide.
I am the guide for you in this story.
I'm not the hero.
I'm not the one who's so
amazing at telling stories.
I'm the person who's teaching you.
How to tell good stories.
And positioning yourself as the guide.
It does two things.
First of all, it makes you
an authority on the topic.
And it helps your listener know,
like, and trust you faster.
After all who doesn't like Obi wan
Kenobi, Dumbledore, and Gandalf.
You do that?
By focusing the content
around the listener.
And what they need to do to transform.
In star wars, obiwan appears
to Luke and tells him.
Trust in the force.
Obiwan doesn't manipulate
the force for him.
Dumbledore puts in entire system in place.
To help Harry do.
What only Harry can do.
Gandalf doesn't deliver
the ring to Mordor.
He helps Frodo deliver the ring to Mordor.
Your job as the podcaster
video creator writer.
Is to be the guide.
And it's to help your listener.
You can't do that unless
you make them the hero.
So the next time you prep a podcast,
episode, blog, post or video.
Think about the story you're telling.
What are you or your guest?
Guiding the listener towards.
What conflict will they overcome?
How will the story evolve?
Cody Sheehy in my interview with him.
Said it telling a good story is
opening a bunch of doors in a house.
And then running through that house
and slamming most of them shut.
How can you help your
listeners slam the door?
Shut.
On a problem.
They are having.
Thanks so much for listening.
You can get all of the show
notes, everything I talked about,
as well as our written to be
read version of this article.
Over at how I built it slash 3, 3 7.
Those links will also be in the
description for your podcast player.
If you liked this and you want to get
more behind the scenes, looks at how
I produce my podcast and how I am pre.
Uh, fixing my workflows, how I'm improving
my processes, what I wanted to say there,
you can become a member of the podcast.
Foundry.
There will be a link at that same.
Place over at how I built it slash three.
Three seven.
Thank you so much for listening.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks to our sponsors.
And until next time.
Get out there and build something.