Story Spine

- Share the framework (see below)
- Share examples with familiar stories like fairy tales, popular movies
- Then have participants drop in their own content
For example, their presentation, case studies, personal journey, 'tell the story of ...'

Prompts

Once upon a time...
The starting condition
The status quo / routine / problem

Every day...
Statement of fact about the person(s) or setting. 
This establishes the starting 'platform'

Until one day...
The discovery or event that breaks the routine.
This creates the pivot point

And because of that...
The consequences / results of breaking the routine.

And because of that...
More consequences / results.

And because of that...
More consequences / results.

Until finally...
The lasting change / pivot / climax.
This establishes the new normal, the ending 'platform'

And ever since then 
The new reality / next steps / conclusion.

And the "moral of the story is..."
Optional ending
The lesson learned, the takeaway, the wisdom gained

Teaching tips

Platform - Tilt - Platform
It can be helpful to share the visual of a starting platform as horizontal plane, then the "tilt" that begins at "until one day" (the pivot point), the 'because of that' beats as steps up to the "until finally" horizontal platform. 

Constructing your story
- People are compelled by emotions and contrast. We want to see a story of transformation. Something is fundamentally different with the person in the story by the end. 
- Begin the story in the opposite condition as where you end.
- If you're clear about where you want to end the story (the ending condition), consider where there is a natural platform that is the opposite situation. ie. If your protagonist is successful at the end, start when they are mired in failure "every day". Establish that starting platform.
-Make your pivot clear. What ONE change led to all the other changes? If you're telling a story for persuasion, the pivot point is when the person interacted with whatever you're being persuasive about (your service, product, insight, etc.)

Applications & Variations

Understanding your story
Start with the ending condition and back-engineer the steps of how you got there and where you came from. Tell that story. 

Tell alternative future stories 
- Hyper story spine - Everyone starts with the same story until the 'until one day" pivot point. 

- See "Your Amazing Future" that focuses on the because of that component as a generative tool

Identify common patterns
For example, collect case studies where intersecting with your organization/product/service is the pivot point. Fill in the other elements of the stories and look for themes in the starting platform, the because of that steps, and the ending condition. In person you can do this with post-it notes where each story spine component has a section of the wall.