Steal Like A Storyteller

I’m an average math student.

Not an endearing quality for a data analytics student.

But it’s not completely my fault.

Math teachers don’t typically spend much time on storytelling principles. Math classes tend to focus on the “how”, not they “why.”

Good storytelling needs both.

Imagine some of our most beloved stories distilled down to just their “how”.

Anne Frank becomes “Anne was a nervous girl in an attic.”

Harry Potter becomes “Harry flicks a stick.”

The Hunger Games becomes “Katniss goes for a run in the woods.”

But why is this important?

Without properly setting the context, the “why” of a story, the “how” becomes irrelevant.

It took me a third of my life to figure out that, at its heart, math simply tries to measure or count a thing. That’s it.

But there’s all kinds of letters, and Greek letters, and formula, etc….?

Mathematical formula is the story of how characters relate to one another. Those characters being, not Anne or Harry or Katniss, but pi or alpha or any other character important in the relationship.

Thank goodness for YouTube these days! No longer are we at the mercy of the storytelling skills of a single teacher!

What if your teacher can’t tell a story that makes sense? Like math?

I’ll never forget sitting in a trigonometry class and, like any teen, asking “when will I ever use this?” And the response, 90% of the time, being “if you’re ever a math teacher.”

Noted.

How many insightful Einstein’s are out there, they just didn’t understand the story?

There are now hundreds of creators wanting to tell you the story of math. Not just how to do it, but why to do it.

What other issues are out there for lack of proper storytelling? Both problems of “why” and “how”?

As solopreneurs, instead of parroting “find a niche, find a niche, find a niche, squawk, squawk, squawk”, maybe the niche is in the storytelling.

What groups haven’t had their “why” properly understood? What groups share similar “why” stories?

How is the story told in other mediums such as YouTube, Reddit, or in memes? Do they tell the story better than another medium?

X (Twitter) is always a fantastic place to find a “why” in less than 280 characters. Great for straight to the point content, terrible for telling a full story.

Through this new formula for finding a niche, how much new value can be created? Will that value be in new products, or helping someone else find their voice to tell their story?

Time will tell. Let’s watch it add up.