Here’s my 11 commandments for YouTube storytelling for better retention and therefore more views. I hope this is helpful to both new and seasoned YouTubers alike. 🧵/11 1. A banger title/thumbnail can’t arise from non-banger idea. Spending 10 minutes here can save 7 hours.
2. Reaffirm the click immediately. An introduction to yourself done poorly almost always dips viewer retention, unless you’re the precise reason why a viewer clicked the video. Carry the momentum of the click forward.
3. Pace is NOT talking speed. I’ve seen a bunch of 80%+ retentions at 0:30. It’s a misconception to think you have to talk at lightning speed to reach that sort of retention. One 87% I saw was at a relatively relaxed talking speed, like an interesting podcast.
4. Stakes is NOT just consequences. The emotional stakes of a good story is not what happens to people. It’s how much your characters care about what happens. If you’re the YouTuber, you’re the character: your genuine emotional investment is more interesting than flashiness.
5. Contextual clarity is of utmost importance. It’s easy in the edit to know what you recorded and assume that people follow along. But, in *any* set of editing cuts that you do, you MUST make the viewer feel like they’re not lost. Confusion is a killer of joy.
6. Sameness is the opposite of interestingness. The phrase “watching paint dry” is that way because it’s the most static thing you can imagine. But it’s not just visuals and cuts. Think about sameness in audio, emotion, intensity, pacing — and destroy it strategically.
7. Juxtaposition gives proper context and therefore better emotions. My next video is “I Type 100 words per minute…but on my phone”. But that’s only mildly interesting, until juxtaposing it with the fact that the average typist types 40wpm on a *normal keyboard*.
7b. @HHillierSmith actually has a set of amazing videos with creators where he roasts their editing. One of his superb videos was on Logan Paul’s intro where he uses a “Contrast Editing” technique, to juxtapose intensity with just talking head A roll.
8. Genuine conflict is genuinely interesting. In the book ‘The Science of Storytelling’, Will Storr attributes this to the fact that stories are interesting because they help us learn to survive. Conflict is between you and challenges, people, self. Just show it properly.
9. Foreshadowing is critical for anticipation. Something many YouTube videos lack — sadly including many of my own! — is properly teasing the various payoffs of a video frequently enough to keep people watching to the payoff. @airrack @MrBeast do this really well.
10. The climax is something that’s built up to, like a bumpy upwards ramp. The best videos almost always have this very purposeful direction towards the “best part” of that video. That part is the moment you turn a casual viewer into someone who loves your content — a sub.
11. Emotional meaningfulness > superficial engagement tactics. The YouTube meta is shifting away from an engagement-at-all-costs mentality. If we can tell stories that are really meaningful to people - the ones that we loved ourselves - then you create something beyond views.
There’s WAY more I wanted to say about YouTube storytelling for retention. I actually made a whole course about it here for YouTubers of any kind: go.dabido.com.au/storytelling But here’s 11 more tips, too. :)
Here’s 11 more tips for YouTube storytelling, for better retention and therefore more views. Once again, it’s for new and seasoned YouTubers. 🧵/11 1. The opening visuals of the hook should match the thumbnail. That immediate feedback is already a mini-payoff in itself.
Also, a mega-thread of what I think are the most useful things to know about YouTube storytelling:
I write a HUGE amount about YouTube storytelling. Better stories ➡️ higher retention ➡️ more views ➡️ greater impact. I’ve been told by YT’ers from 0 to a few million subs, that these have been super helpful. Here’s the strategies I think will best help you grow. 🧵/∞ 1.
