Here’s how to generate YouTube stories that are original yet compelling: 1. Go outside of YouTube. Your inputs and your filters define your outputs, so if you want to create something super original on the platform, it means going outside of the platform itself. 2. Brainstorm 1000 ideas. I feel it’s important to switch off the “judgment” part of the brain when generating ideas, because it just slows things down. You can apply a layer of judgement after you have material to work with. Furthermore, the more base material you have, the more you have to work with. 3. Don’t focus purely on the visuals of the title/thumbnail, but focus on the psychological appeal of those visuals. No-one will care if the dodge and burn is just a little lacking, or if the text is just slightly too big. This especially applies to when asking for thumbnail feedback from others. If you give two very similar options up for grabs, you miss the chance for trying out bigger and wilder things that may lead to better decisions. 4. “Why should I care?” It’s important to develop a sense of what is and isn’t interesting to people over time. Although you may generate 1000 ideas from the previous step, try to step outside your own brain and think directly of people’s reactions to the video you’re about to make. A video isn’t a monologue, but a dialogue between you and the viewer, where they’ve constantly got a thing they’re thinking about on their minds. As a YouTuber telling some sort of story, everything you do is management of that particular thoughtline, so just being consciously aware of it unlocks a ridiculous amount of potential. 5. Most people think they need conflict in a video in order for it to be a good one. But conflict is actually an effective *subset* of what people truly find enjoyable in a video, which is emotion. However, emotion has an extraordinarily wide spectrum, so probably the easiest way to think about it is: how do I create feelings for other people that I myself like? And to think really deeply about that. 6. What are people’s priors? Every viewer is on a journey from A->B. People enjoy being challenged about what they don’t know. A key component of spectacle is that people don’t know the precise outcome of your spectacle, otherwise they won’t find it interesting. “But how do I get the viewer to click if they already know the outcome of the video from the title?” — the point is to make the *details* of that outcome individual payoffs throughout the video. Videos that simply have a single outcome can still get views, but if that process itself isn’t funny or interesting, viewers simply go through to the bits of actual goodness. A meal is a whole meal, not just the final taste of it. 7. This is your story. Your creation is completely arbitrary. Therefore, everything and anything you knew before, can be changed. In computer science, the concept of “explore vs exploit” applies. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll probably either get the same or worse results. If you want to get better results, you need to actively experiment, because the YouTube meta (i.e. viewer preferences, competition, etc.) is dynamic in nature. “What got you here won’t get you there,” in other words. So continuing to create things that are really good requires persistence in open-mindedness. 8. Input x Filters => Output. To change, you either change your inputs, or the way you filter things. As easy and as complex as that. Don’t rely on any one strategist’s or YouTuber’s paradigms. Collect a bunch that resonate with you personally, and mesh those together to create your style. …just a few thoughts, loosely articulated.
Releasing v2 of my storytelling course soon. I took down the old one because there was so much more I wanted to say. Sign up for go.dabido.com.au/youtubeNewslet… to be notified first.
Oh, also — feel free to like this thread if you enjoyed it, since it pushes it to Twitter’s algorithm. 🙏 and also thank you for 4K followers. If you want to read more about YouTube storytelling, here’s my mega thread.
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.
