If you don’t read today’s blog from puny human, Tripp Braden, Hulk will smash!!

Now you know the pressure I was under to produce a great blog sharing some of the secrets that Stan Lee has used to keep people involved in his heroes and their stories for over 50 years. There’s nothing worse than a big green Hulk looking over your shoulder as you try to share the secrets of his and The Avengers’ longevity. All the time I spent with Nick Fury in Washington has paid unexpected dividends over the past several days.

The Avengers had a record opening weekend with over $200 million in ticket sales. What can we learn from Stan Lee that would make our marketing more powerful? Stan Lee is the master of good storytelling. He’s been doing it for over 50 years and his stories are as popular today as they were 50 years ago. How does Stan do it and how can we apply some of his storytelling magic to our organizations to create better opportunities?

I believe there are three keys to Stan Lee’s storytelling success. Let me share what I’ve learned from Stan Lee and how it applies to the writing we do for our organizations and causes.

Key 1 – Include drama. The first key of Stan’s success is to include drama. What is drama? Drama is the context in which your message is placed. Drama is the secret of a good story. Most good drama is driven by conflict. Good versus evil, light versus dark, overwhelming situations that would challenge anyone. Drama sets up the story by grabbing your attention at the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the end of the story.

In good storytelling, there are usually several conflicts in the story. The more, the better. In Stan’s stories there are always subplots to keep your attention during slow times in the story. In most cases, these small hooks allow us to choose sides, see ourselves in the characters, and sometime allow us to release ourselves from our daily activities.

Good drama is important to your story because without out it, people won’t come back for more. As a salesperson, I know it might take several calls before a client decides to buy from me. In good storytelling, you want people to read you often and share it with their friends and family. A good story will be easy enough to share but have enough twists and turns that it makes people want to share it with their friends. Don’t be afraid to give a little more detail and maybe even embellish the facts a little. People are not moved by small ideas and lack of detail.

If you’re still reading it means that you are looking to become a better communicator. I believe that in the past we could get away with mediocre writers and still get people to read our stories. With people seeing thousands of messages every day, we must learn to change if we hope to compete for our stakeholders minds. Today, everyone is in the entertainment business and we must teach as well as entertain. If your marketing tries to compete with the facts only, you’ll be lucky if someone reads you once and may never read you again. So, take time to think out your story before you start writing. Look for interesting bits of information about your situation. Learn to look at things from the point of view of your reader not from your point of view. Because we are so exposed to our own situations, we sometimes fail to share it in a way that it’s new or exciting to our readers. Share details that help people understand the situation, but don’t fill in all the details. Allow the readers’ imagination to be an active participant in the storytelling.

Now that I’ve covered the first of Stan Lee’s storytelling keys, drama, I’ll start covering the next element, character creation, in my next blog. This key helps you draw your best stakeholders into your story and they won’t even know you did it. Learning how to create great characters is the next step to make your writing more memorable. But you already know this, because I know where you hide your stash of comic books in your office.