In YouTube storytelling, there’s a 3x3x3 grid of stakes. In descending complexity for each set: 1. Stated 2. Realised 3. Implied a. Fake b. Real c. Authentic x. Physical y. Emotional z. Existential What happens if you use these for your YouTube videos? I’ll explain 🧵
For set 1: 1. Stated stakes are the character directly saying the stakes. This is the most common, easily understood by audience, and easily executed. Just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. Below is from the anime Bluelock: a 1-b-y stake.
2. Realised stakes are not always verbally said, but are easily anticipated by the audience. If you sign up to go into the loudest room, won’t your ear drums burst? That’s the stake.
3. The implied stake is beautiful, but super hard to pull off on YouTube because it requires a really smart audience. A story example: a mother doesn’t want her son to learn cooking. On the surface, it’s selfish. But the implied stake is she doesn’t want him to grow up + leave.
a. Fake stakes are really, really common on YouTube. “If I don’t win X, I have to do Y punishment” is really common. They’re okay. But it’s more like a game show. If you want the audience to care and be deeply invested, then you need…
b. Real stakes. A character (you) in your video is extremely invested in an outcome. Contrary to intuition, it doesn’t matter what that outcome is, so long as they super care about it, and the audience feels too that it’s a believable stake that actually matters to them.
c. Authentic stakes are an IRL YouTube specific thing. They’re similar in many ways to real stakes, except there’s an emphasis on the vulnerability of a YouTuber that’s deeply personal and moving. It goes beyond the story of an individual video. For example: Airrack’s journey
x. Physical stakes are pretty straightforward but effective since viscerally felt by the viewer. - Here’s a genuinely great YouTuber @reallyzealous playing a game of Horse with his friend where they trade slaps. - Ludwig vs Connor in a slap fight
y. Emotional stakes. There’s something extremely personal to the character that makes the stake important. It’s not physical in nature, but rooted in the goals they want to accomplish.
z. Existential stakes. The one stake that defines a character’s deepest motivation. In both anime and IRL, it’s their “live or die trying” reason. For Anya, it’s to be with family, and not lose them. For MrBeast, it’s to become the biggest YouTuber in the world.
I’m writing more YouTube storytelling tips at go.dabido.com.au/YouTubeNewslet… if you want more detailed advice on YouTube storytelling. Otherwise, feel free to RT + follow if the first thread if helpful. :) you can also check out this next:
If you master YouTube storytelling, you'll definitely grow your YouTube channel. If someone made a thread with *100* tips about YouTube storytelling, that would be *absurdly* valuable, right? But would anyone actually do that...? 🧵/100 1. Story starts from the thumbnail.
