My own philosophy on storytelling is that people don’t want to be told how to feel but they do want to be told what to pay attention to. One of the most basic ways to do this when you’re telling a story is to use what’s sometimes called a “pointing arrow,” or signposting. Right before something happens, drop in a little phrase like…”and that’s the moment when everything changed”…or…” and that’s when things got interesting.” Those phrases are like little arrows that tell the listeners: pay attention to what’s about to happen because it’s important. (We use these mercilessly in Radiolab, too much perhaps). Anyhow. I felt like as I was living inside the story I’m telling you now, I’d periodically bump into these pointing arrows, but I could never predict when they’d appear or where they’d lead.

Jad Abumrad shares insights on storytelling from Radiolab’s origin story

(via explore-blog)

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