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.

(Video) Yes, please. And cheese.

Mother: There's smoke in here.

Jenny Hoyos: This thing is still raw. Good thing there's a line.

Oh my goodness.

Mother: What are you doing? You're going to burn that car.

JH: I'll cut the tomatoes while this cooks.

Mother: I hope I don't have to eat that.

JH: Tell them to slow down.

Mother: You're doing all this for one subscriber?

You're going to make a mess.

JH: Put the ketchup on the buns.

(Stage) As you saw, without conflict, the audience just isn’t as invested,

which is why I used my mom as the B plot.

So you’re now not only invested in the competition

but also curious to see what's going to happen between my mom and I.

And after enough buildup, we finally need our answers.

Will I cook the burger faster?

Will I accidentally set my mom’s car on fire?

The key here is to build tension by making the answer feel uncertain

to make a satisfying ending.

Here's how I did just that.

(Video) We’re one person away.

We just need the burger to cook faster.

Mother: We're moving, we're moving.

JH: No, my burger is not done yet. You're driving too crazy.

It needs to cook faster.

Mother: We're next.

(Music)

JH: We're pulling up to the window.

(Music)

And, oh my goodness!

(Music)

We cooked faster and better.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

And that's it. We cooked faster than the drive-through.

Does it matter that my burger was basically raw?

Absolutely not.

Because the viewers wanted an answer,

so I gave it to them quickly and concisely, in an engaging way,

which led our video to getting over 45 million views.

And you might be impressed to know

that instead of telling this talk in five minutes, I actually did it in four,

so you now have an extra minute to practice your 60-second story.

(Laughter)

Because if it takes longer to tell your story than it does to make a burger,

then you're probably overcooking both.

(Laughter)

Thank you.

(Cheers and applause)