– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

After watching this video, you will

never look at storytelling the same

again. It took me 30 years to learn

this, but I'm going to teach it to you

in 15 minutes.

See, I've spoken in front of crowds of

60,000 people, in front of the

presidents of every nation in the world.

[music] And the way I did it, the secret

was focusing on the neuroscience

of storytelling. Because storytelling is

a dangerous skill, and if you practice

what I'm going to show you in these 15

minutes, I guarantee you will become

magnetic. But not just magnetic, [music]

you will win on every level of life.

Business, speaking,

content creation, relationships. Now,

why is storytelling so powerful?

Because if you understand it, you will

be able to control the mind of your

listeners. [music] Because the closest

distance between a person and the truth

is not a straight line, it's a story.

Storytellers were admired highly in

every civilization during every time

period on Earth for one reason.

Because stories

connect us. And there's nothing [music]

more satisfying for people

than connection. Stories are are are

needed to carry important information

across generations. They literally play

the most vital role to our existence

[music] as a species. Stories can make

someone feel heard, connected to you,

and transform their entire life without

ever even meeting you. Storytelling

is a superpower. See, the human brain

is literally wired for stories. Stories

are older than written language, 200,000

years older. Stories are in our DNA.

Yes, I have a degree in anthropology, I

know what I'm talking about. See, there

is a reason why the Bible uses parables.

And these

>> [music]

>> parables are still told and repeated.

Humankind used to gather around fire

telling stories. [music]

Now, we gather around

our phones. Modern-day storytellers are

content creators and speakers, but we're

all storytellers in one form or fashion.

But, if you want to be successful, if

you want to make your stories

sticky

and unforgettable, then you must follow

my eight secrets

of storytelling. Secret number one,

stop calling it storytelling. Get that

word out of your mind, out of your

vocabulary. From now on, mentally call

it not storytelling,

but story showing.

>> [music]

>> You never want to tell a story. You want

to show a story. You want to get your

listener to visualize the scene in their

mind as if [music] they are there with

you. A good story is like a time

machine.

It doesn't tell you about what happened.

It takes you there. You want people to

be in the scene. So, when you're telling

a story, describe the five senses

vividly. All right, what's the the

sights, the smells, the taste, the

touch, the sounds? Be as specific and

colorful as [music] possible, because

the more senses you integrate, the more

of the listener's brain will start to

light up. Because most speakers, they

just speak.

But, the best storytellers, [music]

they take the audience by the hand

and carry them through and into [music]

an experience. Secret number two,

never tell a story without a point and

never make a point without a story.

Please, please, please, I beg you, stop

giving facts. Stop spewing boring

numbers. Numbers numb people. Nobody

remembers that and they won't remember

you. Studies show it is 21 times more

powerful to tell a story

than give a fact. You can use facts. You

can use numbers, but you always have to

wrap them, right? Package them inside of

a story. The facts, again, they only

activate the left side of the brain, the

logical [music] part. But, good

storytelling lights up both at once.

Secret number three,

the secret is feeling. See, the key to

great storytelling

is you want to light up two organs, the

brain

and the heart.

See, if you want to tell an

unforgettable story,

if you want to be unforgettable, it has

to be emotional. See, when emotion is

linked to information, it is retained

and you are remembered. But, don't just

tell an emotional story. No, no, no.

You got to tell it in an emotional way.

And this doesn't mean you have to act

any any type of way. You simply have to

embody and feel it if you want others to

feel it. Because our brains are mirrors.

Scientists call this phenomenon mirror

neurons. When people see you

experiencing an emotion, that emotion

will light up in the exact part of their

brain. So, the more [music] you feel it

when you're telling a story, the more

that feeling will will transpose

into the mind of your listener.

Remember, it's not about the words that

you say because words are just noises.

It is the texture, the energy around the

words that connects with people. Every

great story has vulnerability. When you

take off your armor

>> [music]

>> and share your own pains and feel the

pain as you're experiencing it, you

become relatable

and memorable. And this is what we teach

in Creator University. This is my

private community where I teach speakers

and creators how to tell their story,

how to how to speak with influence and

go from invisible to impactful to

profitable [music] in 90 days. But,

secret number four, this is very

important.

Even with feeling,

you need a structure. You need a story

structure. See, the normal storytelling

structure is beginning, middle, end.

That's trash. You need to think about it

like hook,

body, payoff, right? Hook, body, payoff.

Hook, body, payoff. The hook, or the

intro, is the most important part of

your story, and you want to start as

dramatic as possible, [music]

maybe even negative. I know what you're

thinking. Prince, Prince, you're so

positive. What do you mean negative?

You're right. I am the most positive

person you will ever meet. I don't even

have weekends. I have strong ends.

I don't catch colds, I catch warm. But I

know that the human brain seeks out

negative more than positive

because it's a survival instinct. As

someone who has studied

>> [music]

>> evolutionary psychology, I'm always

trying to understand how to put the

brain's natural tendencies

on my side. [music]

See, every great story, think about

every great movie you've seen, they've

all had conflict.

You have to start with tension,

or you won't capture attention. And if

you can't hook them,

nobody's going to remember you. There

was a Microsoft study

done in 2015. It studied how digital

lifestyles affect [music] human

attention spans, and the key finding was

that the average attention span had

dropped from 12 seconds in in 2000,

[music]

it dropped from 12 seconds in the year

2000 to just 8 seconds in 2013, which

is, as they said in the article,

lower than the attention span of a

goldfish. And this is 2013. I can't

imagine what it is today. So, you have

to knock people's socks off with the

beginning of your talk to stand out.

See, three hooks, three types of hooks

that will always work.

A shocking question, a shocking

statement, or shocking story. If you're

on stage, you may want to start off with

something like, "Thank you for having

me, but this is the worst city I've ever

been to." That is how you grab

attention. After you have the hook,

right? After you've really dramatized

the intro of your story, you need to

work on the body. The body is where you

take people through a journey.

Some people call this the hero's

journey. Now, as you're writing

the journey, how do you segue?

How do you make connections [music]

throughout this journey? You've got to

use a method called the South Park

writers strategy. South Park has been a

successful show for over 30 years, and

one of the reasons is the writing. They

use what is called the butt, therefore

transition. You see, most movies are

terrible. I'm sure you've seen this. You

haven't seen a good movie in a while

because they follow a transition like

this happened and then this happened and

then this happened and this that

>> [music]

>> No, no, no. Throw that away. The South

Park writing method is so successful

because they use the butt,

>> [music]

>> therefore method. This happens,

but this happened,

therefore this happened. [music]

See, this adds continued [clears throat]

conflict to your [music] script and

keeps the audience on their toes. And if

it's good enough for South Park,

>> [music]

>> it should be good enough for you. But

you also need multiple hooks throughout

your story. All right? I call this

dopamine spikes. It's kind of like

giving them sugar for the brain. All

right? It keeps them wanting more. In

other words, you want to have multiple

places where the audience is given an

insight and teased to continue watching.

[music]

Or as I sometimes like to call it, an oh

my god, I had no idea moment. Points

where people go, oh my god, I had no

idea. The more of those you have, the

better engagement and retention you will

have in your story. See, if you have

enough of those, people will continue to

listen to your talk or watch your video

because they are constantly getting a

dopamine hit.

Now, warning. I want to talk about the

payoff. Do not give people the big

payoff

>> [music]

>> until the final moments of your story.

Because, you know, when we watch movies,

we all ask the same question

subconsciously. And that question is

this, how will this end? You got to keep

that in mind. This is the feeling you

want to give people. You're essentially

you've got to give them breadcrumbs

and lead to the big gourmet meal. This

is called the payoff or [music] the

resolution. It's everything

that they've been waiting for. Now,

secret number five.

You say Prince,

how do I find my story?

How do I find my story? How do I find

it? Well,

this may be surprising and shocking to

you, but you want to start with one

question. What do you hate?

What are you against? Because what you

hate

is what you were born to fix.

Let me say that again. What you hate,

you are here, you were born to fix that.

Look at some of my most popular videos.

I'm speaking about the injustice of

things that I hate. The audience, they

could feel my energy, my passion,

whether it was about climate change,

education. See, when you do that, when

you choose something you hate, you

express vulnerability. Don't be afraid

to share your anger with strangers. The

secret is to turn your mess into your

message. You want to turn your pain

into gain. And if you want to learn

storytelling from me, come join my

school community where I will teach

[music] you how to craft your signature

story. We do workshops on how to speak

on and off camera, [music] and you can

come in and ask me questions along the

way. It will be an honor to be your

speaking coach.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
neuroscience ˈnjʊərəʊsaɪəns C1	noun - The scientific study of the nervous system and brain.
magnetic mæɡˈnetɪk C1	adjective - Exerting a strong attractive power or charm.
satisfying ˈsætɪsfaɪɪŋ B1	adjective - Giving fulfillment or the feeling of having achieved or received something desired.
vital ˈvaɪtl B2	adjective - Absolutely necessary or important; essential.
anthropology ˌænθrəˈpɒlədʒi C1	noun - The study of human societies, cultures, and their development.
parable ˈpærəbl C2	noun - A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
visualize ˈvɪʒuəlaɪz B2	verb - Form a mental image of; imagine.
vividly ˈvɪvɪdli B2	adverb - In a way that produces powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the mind.
spew spjuː C2	verb - Expel or gush out in large quantities, often rapidly and forcibly.
embody ɪmˈbɒdi C1	verb - Be an expression of or give a tangible or visible form to an idea, quality, or feeling.
phenomenon fəˈnɒmɪnən B2	noun - A fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question.
transpose trænˈspəʊz C2	verb - Cause (two or more things) to change places with each other; transfer or convert.
vulnerability ˌvʌlnərəˈbɪləti C1	noun - The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
relatable rɪˈleɪtəbl B2	adjective - Enabling a person to feel a connection or to understand based on similar experiences.
evolutionary ˌiːvəˈluːʃənri C1	adjective - Relating to the gradual development of something, especially living organisms.
segue ˈseɡweɪ C2	noun - An uninterrupted transition from one item or topic to another.
breadcrumbs ˈbredkrʌmz C1	noun - Clues or hints that lead someone toward a destination or resolution.
gourmet ˈɡʊəmeɪ B2	adjective - Of high quality, delicate, or specialized food.
injustice ɪnˈdʒʌstɪs B2	noun - Lack of fairness or justice.