Scott McKinstry

Stories are viruses. Once you’re exposed, you can’t unhear them. Over 15 years ago, my dad put in a request for his birthday – a book. Maybe you’ve heard of it: Rich Dad, Poor Dad. At that time, Robert Kiyosaki’s publishing juggernaut hadn’t demolished sales records. My dad had read a blurb somewhere and thought

The STORY I went to a county fair last month. I love outdoor fairs. Mostly for the food. To me, the prize doesn’t go to a sleek palomino horse or a purebred pup, but to the inventiveness of the cooks elbow-deep in the deep fryers. Deep fried brownies. Deep fried snicker bars. And the blue

Warren Buffett’s name is magic when it comes to money. He’s the world’s greatest investor, neh? $66.7 billion net worth. His company, Berkshire-Hathaway, owns 56 different businesses, including ad-manic GEICO and railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe. In fact, Buffett’s business is buying other businesses. He’s famous for not seeking out deals. You have to

In the last post, I talked about how gossip grabs immediate attention. The brain identifies a story as gossip if: it’s news, especially a story that’s being covered up or denied there’s a credible source it’s about somebody specific and most importantly, it’s about something bad, controversial, or threatens a reputation I looked at two

Legend has it that storytelling began in the flicker of a campfire … when the prehistoric hunters gathered round at the end of the day and wove tales of slaying the might beasts. In so doing, they exchanged useful information, with storytelling as the vehicle. But maybe storytelling evolved someplace else; Instead of the campfire,

The STORY On the first day of my improv class, my instructor Mike Christiansen asked us what we wanted out of the class. One student offered what seemed like a no-brainer: “To be funnier.” To which Michael replied: “I can’t teach you that.” But nobody demanded a refund. Because then Michael added: “But … I

I know what you’re thinking. “Yeah, yeah, stories sell, blah, blah blah … “… but I have no story. “No earth-shattering One-Legged Golfer origin story. “No life-changing testimonials. “So … I guess that means I leave the storytelling juice to the lucky ones … right?” Not so fast, amigo. I learned this well on a

Last week I wrote about the “Tilt” — the event that disrupts your hero’s ordinary life and sets the story in motion. (Without that, you just have “one damn thing after another”, which does not a tale make.) But I left something out. And that is — why should anyone care what happens to the

Here’s a story for you: “This morning I woke up and hopped in the shower. In the middle of the tub lay my green washcloth.” Wanna hear more? Nope — not unless you need help falling asleep. A story isn’t just a string of events, one after the other. No — for a story to

Last post, I said you should pick one theme for your ad. Fine. Now that you have it, how do you make it punch? Let’s see how Hollywood does it. Ever seen Saving Private Ryan? The film cleared nearly half a billion dollars in ticket sales, neatly earning back its 70 million dollar production budget with

Six weeks ago my buddy Jesse convinced me to sign up for an Improv class. “It’ll be fun,” he said. “We get to perform again. Plus, you can probably write it off on your tax return.” You may know improv from the TV show Who’s Line Is It Anyway, or perhaps your local theater sports troupe.

Master Persuaders lurk in the pages of many good stories. Think of King Henry’s Call to Action in the Saint Crispin speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V , when he must goad his English few into fighting the many French: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood

If stories work so well in marketing, why not put them to work in other areas of your business? After all, stories arouse attention, engage interest, and ignite feelings… so why miss out on those emotional accelerators when it comes to your actual product or service? I wrote a few weeks back how you can use the

Video game designers know how to press your buttons – especially your dopamine response. They design little challenges and then offer the sweet rewards of “leveling up” and winning the “sword of power.” They’ve learned to follow the classic pattern of stories – goal, conflict, result. But sadly, I never played video games much. In

The STORY Ever watch Cinderella  — the 1950 Disney version? If it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, fast forward to the last few minutes, ’cause there’s a good storytelling lesson there. It happens right at the climax of the tale (what I call the “Victory Moment” in your Magnetic Sales Story) The Grand

My toddler has entered that special time of a young person’s life when her nose constantly drips with goo. Which I’m told will last for the next three years or so. (Walking petri dishes, kids are.) Unfortunately for our upholstery, she’s afraid of blowing her nose. (And that snot’s gotta go somewhere.) So lately we

Do all sales stories need happy endings? No. Sometimes the burned hand teaches best. (Or at least a story about it.) The STORY Did you ever watch the movie Amadeus? I remember when I caught snatches of the film when I was a kid – it just about looked like the most boring movie in

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato certainly thought so. That’s why Plato – who, ironically, flourished under Athenian democracy – was all for censorship. In his book The Republic, Plato’s mouthpiece Socrates has this to say about educating the young: “So our first task, it seems, is to supervise the storytellers: if they make up a

A few weeks back I set off a minor firestorm with a story about a magic stapler. The story and stapler were both fabricated. Completely and utterly, just to illustrate my point in the piece – but that enraged some readers who were wound up for a stapler with nowhere to blow their wad of cash. I hope

My parents had a great baby making strategy: Produce four strapping boys. That way, when they’re ready to pack up their house and seek greener pastures, they’ve got their own personal moving company. Okay, so they didn’t exactly plan it that way — designer babies are a few more years off. But my bro’s and

Transformation is powerful magic. We are drawn to stories about change. And that’s why it pays to learn how to tell a good transformation story. Perry Marshall knows this. In his book 80/20 Sales & Marketing, he tells how he was an underperforming salesman who banged his head against the phone, trying to cold call

The STORY When I graduated from high school, my dad took me on a celebratory trip to New York City. This was a big deal – I never travelled much. But an even bigger deal was where we were bound – Broadway. In fact, in the 5 days we trekked through the Big Apple, most

Back when I was tutoring English, one of my students told me a story about how she escaped punishment. My student — let’s call her “Susan” — was drinking vodka with some friends at an overnight school event. Two of the kids got so sick that paramedics were called in. Those two were quickly suspended

Is a good story the only thing we need to make a sale? Well, no. A story is not an offer. But stories are a fast and effective way to prepare the reader for an offer. They help to establish the right emotional frame of mind. Especially when the story’s “theme” — revealed in its

The Story One winter break from college many years ago, I was a bit depressed. I can’t remember exactly why. I think college wasn’t measuring up to be the adventure I had been looking forward to. I felt like the kid in the Joni Mitchell song “The Circle Game” … “And so the years go

Thank goodness for storyteller Mo Willems. He is the wildly popular children’s book author & illustrator of  Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!  and many other literary gems. Why am I so grateful to this man? Well, two reasons. First, as any of you parents know, kids (particularly toddlers) love to read the same story

You ever wish movies would just get to the good stuff? Like cut out the first 63-odd minutes of Rocky and race right to the fight with Apollo Creed. Show us the scene in The Shawshank Redemption when Andry Dufresne escapes in the thundering rain. Zoom in on Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan when they finally

The Story I went to the zoo with my family the other week – and I noticed something very interesting when I paid for admission. When the cashier handed me my tickets and credit card back, she also dropped three shiny coins in my hand. I was puzzled at first. She explained that these coins

You ever wonder whether old sayings are really true? Like this chestnut: “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Recently I put on my “myth buster” goggles and put the old adage to the test. I contacted an expert at converting words to pictures: a police sketch artist. A sketch artist turns the words of a

It’s time to talk about Mad Men. After all, how can I write about stories and advertising without mentioning one of the most famous stories about advertising? I know, I know. Hard-nosed direct response marketers often have less than flattering things to say about Madison Avenue advertising methods. No accountability. Entertainment but no sales. Limp, milk-toast

Okay, I admit it. I’m a bit of a geek. I know what the “T” stands for in James T Kirk and it’s not the same as the “T” in William T Riker. I can recite Green Lantern’s oath from memory: “In brightest day, in blackest night …” And, if you care to bend me your

Yup. Because that’s exactly what helped Disney acquire the hit-producing animation machine known as Pixar. Now, these two companies – Disney and Pixar – are both master storytellers. In film, print, and in merchandise. Disney we know about. Mickey Mouse. Snow White. The Little Mermaid. And maybe you know that Pixar was born from a

The STORY Last night, when I settled on the couch to relax in front of a movie from Netflix that I hoped wouldn’t suck, I picked Bloodsport, the 1988 film that catapulted Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career. Unless you’re a 10 year old boy, or a grown man who watched it as a 10 year old

Sometimes we don’t feel comfortable telling our story. And other times we just don’t have a story to tell. But fear not, friends — we can still capture the persuasive punch of a good story. How? We lie. Now, before you get the wrong idea and go tattling on me to Kevin … I’m not

Do you remember the last battle sequence in Star Wars? Luke is strapped into his X-Wing, racing down the narrow metal canyon in the Death Star … … Darth Vader and a brace of TIE Fighters hot on his tail … And Luke is about to fire the missiles that will either hit the target