The Storytelling Cheat Sheet

George Ten

Introduction
Welcome CopyThinker!
By now you probably went through the materials I gave you and
know how to write storytelling emails.
Let’s start implementing!
Follow the instructions in this cheat sheet we made for you.
It’s the entire step-by-step process in a condensed way.
So you will be able to start writing emails RIGHT NOW.
With that said… Let’s begin!

Before you write

Follow these steps before you start writing your emails.
Sit down for an hour and answer everything seriously.
Do it once and it’ll give you the ammunition to write endless emails.

Market assumptions
Answer the following questions about your audience:
1. What are their beliefs about [your product/service]?
2. What are their objections about [your product/service]?
3. What are their challenges (struggles) about [your
product/service]?

Write at least 20-30 assumptions in each list.

You can copy and use this Google Sheet to make it easier.
What are their beliefs about [your product]?
Example: (Storytelling) Should use a well-known framework (Southpark
or Hollywood etc)
What are their objections about [your product]?
Takes a long time to write stories
What are their challenges (struggles) about [your product]?
They DO NOT know how to come up with ideas for their stories

Number What are their What are their What are their
beliefs about [your objections about challenges
product]? [your product]? (struggles) about
[your product]?
Example: Should use a well- Takes a long time to They DO NOT know
(Storytelling) known framework write stories how to come up with
(Southpark or ideas for their stories
Hollywood etc)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

The AHA moment

Answer the following questions about your audience:
How does [your product/service] play into their beliefs? (or breaks
them)
How does [your product/service] solve their objections?
How does [your product/service] help them overcome their
challenges?

Use the table you made in the ‘market assumptions’ step as a

reference.
Write at least 20 answers for each list.
You can copy and use this Google Sheet to make it easier.
How does [your product/service] play into their beliefs? (or break
them)
Example: (storytelling) You don't need to use any framework to write
your stories.
You just need the idea (snapshot) and the AHA moment.
How does [your product/service] solve their objections?
You can use prompts to write stories in less than 15 minutes!
How does [your product/service] help them overcome their
challenges?
Storytelling is not about ideas for stories.
It’s about the tease of the story – the story itself doesn’t matter

Number How does [your How does [your How does [your
product/service] product/service] product/service]
play into their solve their help them
beliefs (or break objections? overcome their
them)? challenges?
Start writing the email
Now that you have all of your ammunition ready, you can start
writing the email.

Remember that there are multiple ways to tackle this section:

 You can find the problem or false belief first,
then come up with the story
and then connect the AHA moment.
 You can first come up with the story,
then see if you can connect that story to the AHA moment
and then see if your AHA moment actually solves the problem.
 Or you can even start with the AHA moment
and then come up with a story to connect it to.

Choose what feels the best FOR YOU.

The snapshot
Find a snapshot (idea) to write your email about.

Places to find a snapshot in:

 Movies you’ve seen
 Stories you’ve heard
 Books you’ve read
 Your imagination
 Experiences from your day
 Reddit (r/WritingPrompts) –
https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/
 101 storytelling prompts (Link) –
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fcvowgW6Y4CQ6YhWtmMCy
qVOO2i5__DD/view

Find an idea here.

The story
Start writing the story.
The logical sequence of events of the idea/snapshot you found.
Start by writing it rough and unedited. No overthinking.
Then clean up any sections that are not important for the reader to
know about your AHA moment.

Connect the story and AHA moment

Use the ‘kinda like’ approach to connect the story and the AHA
moment.
Remember you’re relating 2 things together here.
Relating the story to the AHA moment.
(Use the lists you made in the ‘AHA moment list’ step as a reference).

The lead
Write the lead of the story.
Make sure to tease the fact that there’s something in there for the
reader.
Keep the rule of What’s In It For Me.
Don’t forget about these two framing elements:
1. Softeners
2. Zooming out

Make sure that you frame your lead in a way that will catch the
attention of as many interested readers as possible.

Connectors and open loops

Add connectors and open loops to keep the reader invested.

There are 3 types of open loops:

1. The question:
 Are you following along?
 Did you get this?
 Wanna know more?
 Does that make sense? etc.

2. The statement:
 But there’s more…
 But it gets worse.
 And this is what happened next…
 I’ll tell you about that right now.
 You probably want to know what I was thinking. etc.
3. The complete thought but incomplete sentence:
 I got the idea but didn’t know what to do next.
 You now know this but don’t know that.
 This is where it all went downhill.
 I couldn’t believe what I saw. etc.

Some examples of connectors:

 and
 then
 but
 see…
 understand?
 does that make sense?
 I’ll explain
 let me show you
 wanna see?

Editing for clarity

Make your story easy to read.
Keep it as clear as possible.
Go over the:
 formatting
 grammar
 flow of the email

And make sure you didn’t break any rules while writing the email!

Subject line
Take a look at your story.
Find the most juicy part there.
Fold it in a couple of words into a subject line.
It can:
 Open a loop
 Tease the AHA moment or
 Show some weird contrast.
Remember, the goal here is to generate as much curiosity as you can.
Get them to read the email.

The end
Voila! You got yourself an email!
Listen.
Go through this cheat sheet, step by step.
I’ve laid down everything for you to start acting.
It doesn’t have to be perfect.
But know that the only way to become a better email storyteller is by
writing more emails :)
Happy writing!
The 3-Minute Checklist
1. Find a snapshot
2. Choose a problem to solve
3. Choose an AHA moment
4. Write the story
5. Connect story and AHA moment
6. Write the lead
7. Add connectors and open loops
8. Edit for clarity
9. Write the subject line
10. Send!