Micro Story Posting Checklist

each story needs:
- protagonist: you or someone else (the builder, the underdog, the thinker)
- antagonist: an idea, a system, a corporation, a cultural force (ai hype, vc groupthink, corporate mediocrity)
- climax: the aha, the reveal, the betrayal
- resolution: the lesson, the irony, or the twist
the fewer characters you need to deliver all four, the sharper the post. most great posts will have nearly all of these ...

Another solution sell adjacent steer from 'ai agent dev', "signull".

Here making the link between why people revisit a tweeter when they find themselves wondering on them, "so what happened this time?".

In Lockdowns I ran a fair few sessions on storytelling. Specifically, how to do so over video calls. I deliberately didn't want to be seen as part of the 'industrial storytelling complex'. So built on the work I'd long done for many an Enterprise salesteam when sitting around a table with pad and pen, standing at flipchart or whiteboard, and mid slide-deck punch. Lasering on the remote power. Where added focus lifts your personal delivery, beyond merely underlying format.

You can think of three main stories we tell in our world.

The origin/back story, new product pitch and glowing client testimony.

I often ask salesteams to recount these. You can tell plenty about how the prevailing culture runs.

I seldom find anyone that's been introduced to the different ways of doing them.

Whether it be a more graphic guide like the plot mountain, memorable template mnemonic/initials or remix of a favourite media styling, there's much merit in such starting points.

The above quartet is linear. It neatly sets out where we begin, and travels to the impact. It doesn't appear suggested as a rigid structure, more a checklist. After all, take its initials; PACR. With an unfortunate anagram.

Nor does it fully bring out the nuance that helps make your story stick. Yes we have both protagonist and antagonist. The hook often stems from the precise conflict or confrontation between these. With added oomph when detailing the explicit ordeal.

Likewise, we're best going further than plain resolution. Hammering home what has changed, and why that is now of such great import to our audience.

I gladly note the tip to keep characters to a minimum. There's an interesting hierarchy from the Greek root to consider here.

Where this uses the readily understood English construct of protagonist as its primary character, literary tiers run from the concept of '-agonist' as suffix, meaning actor, competitor, contender or combatant.

Beyond protagonist (the first actor) and antagonist (the opposing one), there's deuteragonist (& then tritagonist) for second (& third) actors.

The analysis is right to counsel that adding at least a 'deuter' dilutes, with layers of complexity that our (certainly Sales) story could do without. Best keep our message uncluttered, wherever possible.

Build stories around this and your prospect will be more likely to side with you.