Say This in Your Videos to Improve Storytelling by 10x

[00:01] your content more addictive. If you want your videos to actually hold viewers most important thing to focus on is your storytelling. Not the topic, not the editing, the words you say in the video. But here's the thing, to make your

[00:14] stories truly addictive, you don't need a fancy formula, you don't even need to be that good of a writer. All you need to know are six very simple storytelling techniques. I call these story locks. These are sets of words the best

[00:26] creators use to lock in attention whenever they want. And once you understand why each one works, you can take any video you're about to post, make it more addictive. So in this video, I'm going to break down all six

[00:39] story locks, the psychology for why each one works, and the exact tactics for how videos. By the way, if you don't know me, I'm Callaway, I have a million followers, I've done billions of views, and content is all I do all day long.

[00:53] called term branding. And this is going to sound so simple, but it is super branding is when you take a concept in your video and give it a name. Not just explain it, but also name it. By doing this, you're literally branding your

[01:08] this works so well is the psychological principle called the labeling effect. feels way more important, like you need to know what it means. Think about it, Hormozi could have just said, "Here's how to improve your offer." But instead,

[01:23] he named it the value equation. And that's hermonology sticks way better in memorable name. It's the same thing with a thousand true fans. Kevin Kelly could have written dozens of essays about how to build a loyal audience, but nobody

[01:36] true fans, that term has been floating around the internet for decades. Now, I personally use term branding as much as I possibly can. My LEGO brick framework, content minutes, audience matching, the trust ladder, I've got dozens and dozens

[01:50] of these in my content. They're all terms I made up that put a digital trademark around my ideas. Now, here's why this matters for storytelling more addictive content. When you say the name of a term a viewer doesn't

[02:03] recognize, it immediately creates instant anticipation. Their brain goes, that. I need to understand what that is." And that anticipation acts like a the video. They literally cannot leave until they hear it explained further.

[02:16] Term branding is one of the simplest retention hacks you can do, but it works every single time. And by the way, to prove it to you, I've already used term branding twice in this video. Story locks, that's the name of a term that I

[02:28] also referenced the psychological principle describing term branding, the labeling effect. Again, another term. That's two term brands in the first 90 really works. So, here's the tactic and how you can apply this today. Before you

[02:43] publish your next video, look at the core idea and ask yourself, could I package this and give it a name so that it's easier to understand? Not don't go too crazy, but all of your contrarian ideas and your best

[02:56] Because the moment you have a name attached to something, it will be much easier to hold someone's attention. All right, story lock number two is called embedded truths. And this one is sneaky because it works on the viewer without

[03:09] truth is when you frame something in your script as though it is already true instead of coming in wishy-washy. Let me show you what I mean. There's a huge difference between saying, "If you try this thing," versus saying, "When you

[03:22] gives the viewer a choice. Maybe they'll try it, maybe they won't. And when they hear this, their brain hits a fork in the road and they struggle to decide As soon as that happens, you've lost their attention. But "when you try this

[03:36] thing" removes the fork entirely. Now, there's only one road. The viewer doesn't stop to evaluate if what you said is true, they just take it as truth because of the way you said it. It's just one word, if versus when, but it

[03:48] their subconscious. And this embedded versus when. Here's a couple other examples of this in action. This might work because versus the reason this works so well. You might notice this

[04:02] versus once you see it, you can't unsee it. Some creators might be making a mistake here versus the mistake most creators make is this. The first ones like that, but if you look at the actual words, it gives the viewer an option

[04:16] whether or not to believe. The other ones, they sound extremely sure like they're truths that I already believe. Now, here's why this concept is so addictive. Every time you use a weak frame, if, maybe, might, it creates

[04:30] viewer's mind. And each one of those is kind of like a tiny exit door that their attention can just walk through and leave. Instead, you need to frame all of your scenarios like embedded truths. You're not asking them to believe you.

[04:43] their brain just follows along. Let me that's not me. This is a creator shot by Sammy. He's super good. Watch this. >> This is the fastest way to fix your boring ass videos. 80% of visual

[04:55] least it should be. And Christopher Nolan couldn't fix your videos for you if you don't know about this filmmaking rule. Movement equals energy equals source. Actual movement, not keyframe zooms, is a psychological cheat code

[05:09] that is the difference between an average video and an instant follow. >> Did you catch what he did? He said 80% of storytelling is subconscious. Actual psychological cheat code between an average video and an instant follow. The

[05:22] framing here is not here are some tips that might help you. It's stated from him as a truth, so the viewer's brain never has a chance to doubt if what he's for how you can apply it. Go through your script today and remove anything

[05:35] that has these types of words, if, maybe, might, could, probably, anything where it sounds non-committal. And replace them with things like when, the reason why, once you do this, this is how it works. And those are just some

[05:48] When you read it, if it sounds like you're hedging, don't. Close the doubt, stop being wishy-washy, and tell them the truth bluntly like it is. And by what you're saying, you're closing down those exit doors, so their attention

[06:01] you're a business owner, you're trying to build a business using content, and you like this type of stuff, I actually built a free community just for you. other free trainings like this one in there. Bunch of business owners working

[06:15] We're actually going to close down the open enrollment for Wavy World and make it application only to verify everyone's a business owner. So, if you want to get the description below. It's completely free. All right. Story lock number three

[06:27] is called thought narration. And honestly, this I think is my favorite Thought narration is when you say out loud what the viewer is already thinking correctly, it will feel like you're reading their mind. It will build a much

[06:41] show you what this looks like in practice, cuz you're probably thinking, mind when I'm making content?" You see, that right there, what I just did, cuz read someone's mind?" That is thought narration. I do it all the time.

[06:55] Basically, I guessed what I think you're thinking, and then stated to create this magical hypnotist type effect. If you've watched a lot of my videos, you've heard the question you're probably thinking is this." Or, "If I were you, the thing

[07:09] that would be biggest on my mind right now is this." Or, "If there's one thing this." I do this all the time. This is called thought narration, and I'm doing it for a very specific reason. When you say what someone is already thinking as

[07:22] benefits. The first one is, they immediately trust you. Because if you then they think you must know what you're talking about. And second, now to hear your answer to the thing that they were just actually thinking. It

[07:37] basically turns their internal monologue into a simulated one-on-one conversation valuable in content and how it makes it more addictive is that it creates this feeling of personalized content at scale. Think about that for a second.

[07:50] You're only making one video. There's only one script. I'm only doing this one thinking, it breaks the fourth wall and conversation. Personalization at scale. That locks people in and gets them

[08:03] narration as much as I can because when you do it, it creates this frame breaker effect and gets people to re- focus. Hormozi does this a lot, too. This is a common tactic he uses. He'll stop mid explanation and be like, "All right, now

[08:16] thinking, well, that possibly couldn't work for me." Da-da-da. And then he goes thinking. It's almost like he's there with you inside your own head. That's your own content and you want to do this for yourself, here's the specific tactic

[08:29] writing a script, after every major point or a huge kind of take that you have, stop and ask yourself, "What should the viewer be thinking right now?" Then, when it makes sense in a transitional moment, out loud, say that

[08:43] do it all the time, but just a few times in the video really helps the viewer lock number four is called negative frames. And this one is based on a showing up everywhere as soon as you hear it. Let's start with an example.

[08:58] attention more? Here's how to build a strong personal brand or the worst possible thing you could do for your personal brand is this. Be honest, it's time. You're always going to gravitate more towards that. Now, why is that? The

[09:13] reason is that the brain is wired to prioritize threats over opportunities. aversion. And this is crazy, the research shows that people are twice as motivated to avoid pain as they are to seek an additional reward. Two times

[09:29] more motivated. So, when a viewer hears things like, "Stop doing this. This is a warning. Don't make this mistake." A negative frame, it immediately locks play out in practice. I'm going to play three videos from three other creators

[09:42] with hooks that are in negative frames, and I want you to see how well they hook do for your brain is create content every single day. Hear me out. I know >> Now, that hook works because you're like, "Wait, am I doing that negative

[09:56] talking about." You're not opting into learning something new. You're mistake that would prevent you from getting what you want. That is a which drives attention. All right, here's another example.

[10:08] >> Never, ever, ever post a video on Instagram without using this feature. >> Notice the triple negative they used, never, ever, ever. They didn't do that by accident. Somebody figured that out, and then this got replicated a bunch.

[10:20] onto the warning, and that locks in attention. All right, let's do one more >> You're making content way harder than it has to be, and that's why I'm here. >> This one is interesting because it's a little bit of a softer negative frame.

[10:33] something wrong explicitly, but it is saying you're making things harder than it has to be. And that still triggers that same negative instinct, "Wait, what makes these negative frames so useful for storytelling. If you're struggling

[10:46] to get someone to lock in, you can just take the piece of advice you have and flip it. This is called inverting. Use this hook format becomes stop making your hooks like this. Here's how to grow on YouTube becomes this is killing your

[10:58] YouTube growth. Try posting more consistently becomes this posting mistake is costing you followers. Same information every time, but the negative frames always pull your attention more because of that loss aversion principle.

[11:10] positive to the negative a negative flip. It's one of the easiest upgrades you can make to your scripts to get people to lock in. So, here's the tactic scripts, if you have a great point, but you don't think it really hits, try

[11:22] negative. It doesn't always have to be negative. Sometimes the positive frame negative a little bit more, you'll get people to lock in much, much quicker. All right, story lock number five is called loop openers. And this one is

[11:35] list cuz you can literally drop these in into any script right now and it will explain what a loop opener is, I just need you to understand how viewers typically watch content. Every viewer's attention in their brain is on a timer.

[11:49] moment your video starts, the hourglass down. Now, every brain is different. The sand falls at different speeds for gone, the attention is out and they

[12:01] churn. Now, a great hook is good at flipping that hourglass at the beginning and that buys you that first chunk of time in your video. But here's a problem most creators run into. They nail the hook and then they just deliver straight

[12:13] facts for the remaining 30, 45, 50 seconds or longer of the video. No re-hooks, just information. And the problem is about halfway through after 20 or 30 seconds, that hourglass runs out and the people leave. This is what

[12:25] is actually happening when you look at a retention graph that's just decaying down. Over time, people just churn because the sand runs out in their head. And that's where loop openers come in super useful. A loop opener is a phrase

[12:37] that you drop in your script to flip that hourglass back over and reset the timing. Think of it like reopening a second curiosity loop once the first one frame called re-hooking. The best creators do this every 20 to 30 seconds

[12:52] for shorts and every 60 to 90 seconds for longs. Now, the way a loop opener confirms what you just covered is valuable, but then teases that the next thing is going to be even more valuable for a different reason. And that tease

[13:05] resets the attention clock. The hourglass flips, the curiosity boosts, here's some examples of how these loop openers actually look in practice. You would use sentences like this. Here's the thing though, but that's not even

[13:18] where it gets crazy. Most people stop here, but actually, here's what nobody talks about. Okay, so that was powerful, but the next one the next one's even of transitional sentences to go from A to B all the time in videos, but if you

[13:33] realize what they're doing is reopening a new loop. Now, here's the detail most people miss when they try to do this. The best loop openers use a contrasting word in the middle. That was great, but this next one. Most people stop here,

[13:47] but something else. Here's the thing though, something else. See how they almost all have a contrasting word built in? That's not a coincidence. Contrast words help redirect attention from A to B, and that is the core thing that

[14:00] major tactic for you, not to get too in the weeds. After every major section or try to add a loop opener that transitions the viewer from one thing to the next by resetting that attention clock. Think of it like a bridge. You

[14:14] piece before getting bored and leaving. If your video has five main sections, three or four loop openers. And when you do this right, you'll notice in the retention graph people stop dropping off in the middle, and it holds flat. That's

[14:27] Now, I just mentioned that the best loop openers have a contrast word in them, but contrast words are way more powerful than just being a part of loop openers. story lock. So, the last story lock number six is contrast words. And if you

[14:42] only remember one thing from this video, make it be this one because this really is the universal principle of storytelling. Contrast is the single most reliable way to create curiosity in content. And here's how contrast works

[14:54] at a base level. Curiosity comes from a gap. It's a gap between what someone expects and what you believe to be true. The bigger that gap, the more curiosity creates, and the more someone wants to find out what the thing you believe that

[15:07] they don't is. Contrast words are the bridge that create that gap. The most powerful contrast word is the word but, and to be honest, but is probably the storytelling. And here's why. When you use the word but, it doesn't just

[15:21] transition you from A to B, but it actually creates a comparison, which is actually creates a comparison, which is what contrast is. A but B. Doing A but what contrast is. A but B. Doing A but also B. Doing A but doing B instead. You

[15:33] can use it a million different ways. You might think A but actually the answer is word, but it's not the only one. Sometimes people overuse but and it ones you could use to create this contrast. The word actually implies that

[15:48] That's an A versus B. Actually the data shows the opposite. The word instead also redirects to an alternative. Instead of posting this, try this. The phrase turns out is another good one. It turns out the algorithm doesn't care

[16:03] creates an exception to what they already assumed. Again A versus B. Every creator does this except the ones that are actually growing. And the word yet implies a contradiction. Yet's a little old school so you typically don't hear

[16:16] people say that. Everyone knows this yet almost nobody does it. Every single one does. You get them leaning on A and then whatever the viewer thought, flips it and gets them to re-engage on something

[16:29] for last. If you go back and rewatch this video or any videos that I make, you will notice these contrast words all over the place. In the hook, in the transition, is how I set up each story lock. I'm using it all day long. And the

[16:42] reason why is because contrast is the engine that powers the other five foundational layer that all the rest of the complex storytelling stuff is built on top of. Term branding works because the name you say contrast versus what

[16:56] they're expecting to hear. Embedded truths works because when you speak certainly that contrast with uncertainty. Thought narration works out loud that contrast with what you expected to hear. Negative frames work

[17:09] because a warning contrast from advice you were expecting. And loop openers, you're teasing something else is going to come versus what you just heard. Contrast really is the thread that runs through all great stories. If there's

[17:22] So, here's the last tactic and how you actually infuse contrast in your own scripts. Next time you write a script, go through every sentence that makes a haymakers of your story. Do your best to

[17:35] some contrast. Don't just tell them what it is, lean them one way, use but or one other way. This will rev up their attention clock. Now, you obviously sentence. When I teach this, sometimes people overuse the word but and it

[17:50] sounds a little friction heavy. So, don't try to force it too much, but if then B, it really makes your stories more addictive. All right, guys, that is a ton of ground, so let me quickly recap what we went through. In this video, we

[18:03] broke down the six key story locks. These are these specific storytelling techniques you can use to lock in attention and you can just substitute script and really use these pretty quickly. And those six story locks were

[18:15] term branding, embedded truths, thought narration, negative frames, loop openers, and contrast words. Now, here's the thing. You don't need to force all six of these in every video, especially if you're making short-form videos. But,

[18:29] your scripts, the more addicting your content will seem and the viewer will of it like your storytelling stack. And the best part is you don't need to be a great writer, you just study this and then swap the words in. As always, guys,

[18:42] I'm trying my absolute best to just give you the sauce when it comes to content If you're a business owner, this is the best channel in the world to help you figure out how to make better content that can actually drive leads and sales.

[18:55] free, I got a link below. If you guys want to learn more about the contrasting and get more live examples, I'm putting up a video right here. I think this has this one, where it breaks down this contrast piece a little bit more. So,

[19:08] we'll see you guys on the next video. Peace.