Growth Newsletter #230

“The waiter slapped me across the face with a baguette, and I didn’t know why.”

This opening line to a story is significantly better than the more commonly used, “my vacation to Paris was a disaster.”

But why?

They both induce curiosity and beg a follow-up question.

The problem with the second, more general one is that only someone who cares about the person speaking would bother to ask a follow up.

It’s simply too risky.

You might be about to receive a banal story about waiting in lines at the Eiffel Tower or a French person being rude to you for speaking English.

The first, however, puts you right into the action of a specific moment

Your brain instantly paints the scene:

• You see the cute French café
• You see the waiter’s outfit
• You see his funny mustache.
• You see him swing a baguette across the person’s face 

It’s tangible. It’s hilarious.

And then it leaves you with a mystery.

“What do you mean you didn’t know why he slapped you with a baguette? What happened?”

You’re hooked. You’re invested.

Better yet, you’ll be miserable if you don’t hear the conclusion.

This is what Matt Dick calls “Anchor in a specific moment” in his book Storyworthy.

And it’s precisely what you need to get people invested in your stories.

Why anchoring in a specific moment works

#1. Clarity for the listener/reader:

A specific moment helps your audience visualize what’s happening immediately. It gives them something tangible to latch onto rather than vague descriptions.

It also removes the risk of asking a follow-up question to a generic opener. They’re already hearing the story and know that they’re interested. 

#2. Eliminates rambling

When you anchor your story in a moment, you avoid rambling on about random details that matter to you but don’t matter to the story—starting with a clear "where and when" lets you get to the interesting bits faster.

This is what Wes Kao calls finding the “Minimum Viable Backstory” when she recommends, “Start right before you get eaten by the bear.

#3. Creates a sense of time and place: 

Anchoring helps orient the audience. They immediately know where they are, when this is happening, and often what’s at stake—pulling them into the story.

How to anchor effectively

1. Start in the middle of the action: Open your story by describing something happening right now rather than explaining what led up to it.
   1. Example (weak): "When I was in college, I used to do a lot of embarrassing things."
   2. Example (strong): "I was standing on a cafeteria table, pantsless, holding a loaf of bread over my head like a trophy."
2. Use the five senses: Use sensory details to help the audience see, hear, or feel what’s happening.
   1. "The cold metal of the handcuffs clicked shut around my wrists."
3. Avoid broad generalizations: Sentences like “It was a normal day, until....” or “Life was good” are too abstract (and cliché). Be specific and drop us into the moment that matters.
4. Don't make me wait: Every story is about a transformation. The opening anchors us as close to that moment of change as possible so we can follow the journey.

Let’s dissect a famous example

“Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive.”

Here's what's powerful about this opener to the Chamber of Secrets:

• Economical and direct: One sentence sets the scene, introduces conflict, hints about who’s involved and perhaps what it’s about, and establishes a pattern (this happens often).
• Immediacy: We’re thrown straight into the argument, bypassing unnecessary description.
• Colorful writing: Starting with “not for the first time” makes the sentence stand out and frames it in a negative (leaning into the Negativity Bias)
• Specificity: “Number four, Privet Drive” anchors the story in a precise location—that’s well known to fans, so they instantly know who might be wondering and start wondering what they’re arguing back this time.

 It’s a powerful opener that’s doing a lot of work in a short amount of time.

“But I’m a startup founder. What do I care about  telling stories!??”

Because humans are obsessed with stories and narratives:

• Christmas is a story.
• The concept of what “The United States” is is a story.
• The rising popularity of personal branding is a story.
• Bitcoin, gold, and money are shared narratives and concepts that have value because we believe that story.
• The US dollar goes up because people start believing a story that people start spreading because of Trump getting elected who got elected because of stories he and others told about him and the future that would unfold if he was elected. 
• Tesla’s stock shoots up because Elon tells a story of a future where people don’t need to own cars because there’s a fleet of autonomous cars driving everyone around for super cheap.
  • He first told this story back when the tech wasn't remotely close to doing that, but he sold the dream, which helped keep the company afloat long enough to the moment when we were getting close.

Stories are powerful.

Use stories to your advantage to:

• Sell your product
• Get investors
• Convinces people to invest years of their career at your startup