The Secret to Telling a Great Story — in Less Than 60 Seconds | Jenny Hoyos | TED

Have you ever wondered how much ice cream you can get for a dollar?

Or what's the cheapest thing in an airport?

Or if it's faster to go inside or a drive-through?

Probably not.

But somehow, answering these weird questions

and sharing those experiences

have become my life's work.

Now even though I only have five minutes to share my viral storytelling framework,

great stories should be told in less than 60 seconds.

And it's not just about becoming a viral social media star.

It's about making your conversations better,

whether you’re with friends, family

or trying to convince your boss for a raise.

So here's how to make every second count.

Many great stories start with a question,

because it will make people stick until the end to find out the answer.

And remember, you want to get your audience's attention immediately,

so you want to start by asking something shocking.

And one of the things I've always wondered

was if fast food was really as fast as they say.

So I answered just this in a video

and got over 45 million views.

Let's check out how I hooked my viewers.

(Video) Can I have a burger?

Can you put cheese, lettuce and tomatoes? This thing's not hot enough.

(Laughter)

(Stage) That thing really wasn't hot enough.

But as you can see, I took this question very seriously.

And after you've hooked your audience, you want to take them on a journey,

building up to your answer,

where you want them to feel constant progression,

so we're moving closer and closer to our answer

so we feel like we can't stop listening.

And in my case, I did just this by saying

that I’ll be adding tomatoes, lettuce and cheese to the burger,

so now we know how close I am to finishing the competition, thus the video.

But if everything is smooth sailing, then nobody cares,

which is why we need to add conflict before getting to our answer.

So here's how I did that.