The Sound Guide to Storytelling

THE SOUND
The Sound
Guide to
Storytelling.
Or... “How to Trick People into
Listening to you and
Remembering what you Say”

THE SOUND
Hello.
We are The Sound. Today we’re
going to tell you a story. A story
about stories. How meta, right?
This one has got everything you
could possibly want — adventure,
romance, sex, intrigue, bottlenose
dolphins, and almost no marketing
buzzwords. And the best part?
Hang on, we’ll get there…
See? Intrigue!

Storytelling.
We believe storytelling is the answer to
your problems. Whether it’s getting
people to think fondly of your brand or
simply getting out of a speeding ticket,
crafting and telling a powerful story is
the way to go. True story.
It’s truly the finest way to say something
in a memorable way that moves people
into doing something.
Like moving on to page three.
THE SOUND

The Story
about the
Secret to
Telling
Good
Stories.
Once upon a time (i.e. now) most
people were not very good
storytellers. There were a few basic
reasons for that.
First, people often didn’t know the
point of their story before they’d
start telling it. It’s vital to know
where you are and where you want
to end up. If you don’t, you risk
looking like a rambler rather than a
raconteur.
Second, people often didn’t know
how in depth to make the story.
Were they supposed to tell the 5
minute version or the 45 minute
one? As a result their listeners
would end up confused or asleep.
A good storyteller knows when and
how to make a long story short.
THE SOUND

Questions
Questions
Questions.
You know you want to tell a
story… that’s wonderful news!
Did you know all good stories
start with questions?
Here are some questions you
should ask yourself before you
open your mouth to begin this
exciting adventure.
Q. What’s this story about? 
Q. Who is it about? 
Q. What happens?
Q. Why does this story matter (to your customer/brand)? 
Q. What do you want your audience to
feel/do after hearing your story? 
Q. Has this story been told before?
Q. If so, how can I tell it better? 
Q. Are you my mother?
Q. Can you stop asking me so many questions?
THE SOUND

Once upon a time there was a story and there
was a pie chart. Everyone liked the story and
nobody liked the chart.
People liked the story because it captivated
and engaged them. What’s not to like about a
bottlenose dolphin who leaves her successful
bottle opener empire behind in the ocean to
pursue a social media career on land? It made
people feel something.
Meanwhile the chart which dryly detailed the
most popular social media careers for dolphins
also made people feel something. Boredom.
The chart was quickly forgotten by the people
and soon died. Meanwhile the story about the
dolphin (supported by charts) was optioned by
Netflix and made into a somewhat mediocre
streaming series that people loved anyway.
The End.
The Story about
Stories vs Charts
THE SOUND

THE SOUND
The
Hypothesis.
Now that you’ve asked
yourself some basic
questions about your story,
guess what time it is. If you
guessed peanut butter and
jelly time, you were close.
It’s time to form a hypothesis
to help you figure out what
information you’re going to
need to tell your story.

THE SOUND
Aka
Questions
Questions
Questions.
To form a nice strong story
that will make anyone with a
pulse drool (remember when
we said this story contained
sex?) it’s helpful to ask
yourself a whole bunch more
questions.
These questions are all about
building hypotheses.
Because hypotheses help us
start from something instead
of scratch.
Q. What do you already know?
Q. What do you think you know? 
Q. What do you need to find out?
Q. What do you think you’re going to find when you look? 
And of course…
Q. Did you put on sunscreen today?

THE SOUND
My father taught me many things here - he
taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your
friends close, but your enemies closer.”
“
Michael Corleone, The Godfather II
The
Session.
At the start of nearly every Sound
project we begin with a Hypothesis
Session.
Rather than us sitting in a room
making guesses about your
business or problem, we invite you
to join us. That way we can all
gossip about it together.
These hypothesis are the
difference between ending up with
a story you think you’ve vaguely
heard before (like most 90’s rom-
coms) and a story that feels like
the greatest sequel of all time…

Put your Damn Slides Down.
So when do we get to the part in the story when we get to open Keynote?
Analyzing your Dump
Time to Celebrate and Pour the Keynote?
Can Keynote come out to play now?
Make it rain slides!
Toss in some visuals and you’ve got a happy ending
Here are six reasons why you
shouldn’t start making slides yet.
1) It’s a waste of time. You’re not ready.
2) It encourages sequential thinking. But you don’t
know the order of your story yet.
3) It causes retrofitting and defensiveness.
4) It encourages silo-working and banality.
5) It’s the opposite of deep thinking.
6) It’s simply bass-ackwards.
THE SOUND
Put your Damn
Slides Down.
So now that you’re feeling all confident with
your big strong hypothesis by your side,
we’ve reached the part in our story where
you (our hero) bust out the Keynote to start
making some slides, right?
Well not exactly...
In fact not even approximately.
While the Law of Insights does state that we
are required to tell stories with slides.
Writing a story and making slides aren’t the
same thing. Slides exist to enhance our
stories. But until you have your story fully
figured out, you can put that Keynote away.

THE SOUND
Put Your Damn Slides Down
So when do we get to the Part in the Story when we get to Open Keynote?
Analyzing your Dump
So when do we get to the Part in the
Story when we get to Open Keynote?
Yes, we know you love to open Keynote. But as the
saying goes, you can’t mention the Jedi before
you’ve received permission from Disney. By the
same token, you can’t open the Keynote before you
initiate the Braindump.
The Braindump is a technical industry term. It refers
to the process of strapping on an apron, tying your
hair back in a ponytail and emptying your brain of all
the data and observations you’ve collected for your
story.
It’s messy. It’s disorganized. And it’s ok. It’s what a
Braindump is.
‘Initiate the Braindump’

After you’ve taken your Braindump you should feel
a nice sense of relief (and release). Go ahead and
pat yourself on the back (assuming you’ve washed
your hands first).
Now sit back down and take a good hard look at
the giant mess of data before you. Isn’t it
gorgeous? No? Too messy for your taste? Perfect.
Time to call in the cleaning staff i.e. you.
This is where you start to identify themes and
connections in your observations and ladder them up
to land the big insights. Say what?
This is where you (for lack of a better phrase) analyze
your dump.
It’s at this point that your mess will begin to stop
looking like a mess and start showing early signs of
storylike characteristics. Be proud. It’s kind of like
your mess is going through puberty. So also be
patient. Messes can be frustratingly messy.
Find the core insights.
They look like little nuggets of truth. Then begin to
order them on a white board, Google doc or what
have you, connective thought threads will reveal
themselves. Just look at that. It’s like you’re
practically the proud parent of an outline to a
healthy narrative.
THE SOUND
Analyzing your Dump.
Analyzing
your Dump.
We call them
Sound Bites

THE SOUND
Analyzing your Dump
Time to Celebrate and
Pour the Keynote?
Not yet! You’ve got chapters to build, son.
That’s right. Take that big beautiful narrative full of
insights you’re cradling in your arms and break it into
chapters. Select your most important, impactful
insights and turn each one into their own chapter.
ProTip: Use the actual insights
as your chapter titles.
With Keynote still sealed shut, take each chapter
and flesh it out. Not to be confused with flushing it
out. Toilets are flushed. Chapters are fleshed. It’s like
you’re pimping them out with gold chains of
supporting insights, sub-points, commentary and
evidence. But careful not to overpimp and end up
looking like a hot mess. Less is often more.
Sometimes one hard hitting sentence, stat, data
point or quote is all the pimping a chapter needs.

Can Keynote come out
to Play now?
Analyzing your Dump
Can Keynote come out to Play now?
THE SOUND
Guys, can you believe it? It’s almost Keynote
time. We’ve just gotta do one more thing before
we can double click on our best friend in the
whole wide world. One teeny tiny thing. Make the
words perfect. Craft some headlines out of those
raw ideas.
Before we were only concerned with getting the
ideas down. That was then. This is now. This is
the time to tap into your inner poet to say what
you’re trying to say. Be provocative. Be direct.
Mostly be yourself. Everyone has a unique voice.
Don’t be afraid to use it. When you do, you’ll
probably have your slide divisions so you can…
(drumroll, please)...

THE SOUND
Analyzing your Dump
Make it Rain Slides!
Make it Rain
Slides!
At last! We’ve reached the climax of our story.
Congratulations! Time to bust open Keynote and
get our rough draft going. And hey; it’s not even
that rough of a process.
Simply, mindlessly cut and paste from the outline
you made for your narrative. Put your headlines on
top. Paste the supporting pimped out content
below. Then boom! Move to the next slide. Look at
you. You’re doing the electric Keynote slide.
But how’s your slide flow?
Meaning slides should flow horizontally and
vertically. That’s side to side and up and down. So
basically you’ll want each slide to flow horizontally
into the next slide to tell your story in a coherent
narrative.
Good? Now check to make sure the content within
each slide flows vertically so that your support
points are paying off your headlines.
Good? Now check your blood pressure and your
cholesterol levels. Though not part of your slide
flow, it’s always a good idea to have them checked
periodically.

Unpack The Model
The visualization of a tension or mental dynamic at
play is awesome. But simply organizing it on a slide
isn’t enough... now you need to take the time to
‘unpack’ each of the points you make. It’s best to do
your unpacking on a subsequent slide or two.
Parallel Structures
Ah... unpacking a series of similar points requires
finesse and structure. Parallel structures to be
specific. In our stories Parallel Structures can be: 
• Organizational frameworks for each point.
Think of it as creating a series of boxes you
know you must check in order to make your
point clear and sticky (ewww... That’s gross.)
• Could be a simple side by side... e.g.
maybe this, definitely not that.
• Or a consistent way of laying out each slide in a
series... e.g. deciding every point needs a
headline, subhead and 3 bullets.
Cadence of Language
This is some real poetic stuff here people! We love
to find a way to tell stories that flow easily. The kind
that can pass from generation or generation or from
Brand Manager to CMO. It helps the reader find a
rhythm. And rhythm’s help things stick in our brain.
Just ask anyone who has ever written an ear worm
of a pop-song. 
For example you might say about a person... they
think, they feel, they do 
Breathing Room
Not every slide needs to be a killer onslaught of
brilliance. Only 97% of them should be. That leaves
3% of wiggle room to give the reader a chance to
pause, digest and comprehend. Those slides give
us all some much needed air.
We like to use quotes, bridge slides and imagery to
help give the audience some air.*
THE SOUND
Analyzing your Dump
Make it Rain Slides!
*Little air was used in this deck because we knew you were going to
be holding your breath with excitement the entire time you read this.

Well done! High five! Poorly orchestrated
elaborate handshake!
You did it. Your story is solid. But...yes
there’s still one more thing. And it’s not a
small thing. It’s a visual thing.
No matter how amazing your story is, if it’s
not told in a visually appealing way it can fall
flat. So use film. Use evocative images.
Gather ye models and visualizations while ye
may. Pull up some pull quotes. Use all the
tools at your disposal. Invent new ones. Do
what you’ve got to do to make all your
brilliant story look as impressive as it is.
That said, style can never totally make up
for lack of substance. The best visuals and
formatting will never make up for a lack of
real strategic thought and analysis.
We’re all familiar with the story of The
Emperor’s New Clothes. Don’t let your
story serve as the living embodiment of it.
Do let your story win the hearts and minds
of the world.
Toss in some Visuals and
you’ve got a Happy Ending.
THE SOUND
Analyzing your Dump
Toss in some Visuals and you’ve got a Happy Ending.
Use all the tools.
Invent new ones.

THE SOUND
Our Job.
If we’ve done our job here today you should feel inspired and intrigued.
If this was really bada$$ enough I suppose we’ve taught you how to master the Art of
Storytelling without us. So that means we can all hit the beach and grab a pina colada.
But…. we suspect there are other things you’d rather do than learn a new skill and start
doing everything by yourself.
So we will hold off on one-way plane tickets and wait by the phone to hear from you.
Seriously. Call us. Invite us to help solve your brand and marketing problems.
We promise to be clever and witty and tell a damn smart story that will get noticed.

The Sound Guide to Storytelling

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