Can you tell where I conducted this signing for my first, published fictional story? First one to comment below, gets a $10 gift card from this hot spot.

How can you truly captivate the readers of your blog, presentation, or book? With so many rampant messages vying for everyone’s attention at every turn, you need proven techniques to blast your message through—like storytelling.

One of the best ways involves content rife with storytelling. Content must tell something interesting, real and relatable. Even in business, stories serve to attach a customer to you emotionally. Simply, they hit home.

As a novelist, and avid movie fan, I adore stories. They’ve been a part of my life since I was a small child, starting when my Mom read the magical book The Secret Garden and chilling North To Freedom to my brothers and me. I became a constant reader in high school, especially of historical romances like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and…well…anything written by Jane Austin. As I grew older and started appreciating movies with amazing special effects like Star Wars, sci-fi and fantasy became my favorite genre(s). Those continue as my favorites today. Yes, I am a total LOTR and Harry Potter fan girl, and I stand proud.

I self-published my first novel in 2011 and, although it wasn’t written to fit my favorite genre, Rhythms & Muse culminated a life dream for me—along with its soundtrack of five original songs I wrote and performed. Today, I am full-force into writing a young-adult fantasy adventure: the Delfaerune Rhapsody trilogy. This focus on stories and writing led me to my current career in which I help authors and visionary entrepreneurs share their messages through relatable stories, available technology, and creative word of mouth marketing.

So, see what I did there? You’ll note my own tale included the six basic elements in a story:

1. Introduction: “As a novelist…adore stories.”
2. Initiating incident: “They’ve been a part…to my brothers and me.”
3. Rising action: “I became an avid reader…and proud of it.”
4. Climax: “I self-published…wrote and performed.”
5. Falling action: “Today, I am…trilogy.”
6. Dénouement/Conclusion: This focus…and word of mouth.

I bet you found that:

• You connected more to the story section of this blog entry than the instruction part.
• You formed mental pictures, which captured your imagination and helped you relate to me.
• You got the sense that I really enjoy what I do and might actually be pretty good at it. (Well, I’ve been doing it long enough, I’d better be.)

That’s what you want your content to do. Engage!

So, what other ideas can you share about making content captivating? What techniques to you use?

P.S. If you want training to help create your stories, consider contacting my friend and associate Andrea Beaulieu, who specializes in performance coaching with a big emphasis on storytelling.