Nobody cares about your story. They care about theirs.
StorytellingThat Connects
The Ten-Word Story
Everything from tonight in one place. The framework, the worksheet, and the one sentence to remember.
It’s fillable. Open it on your laptop and type straight into it.
You get seven seconds to answer three questions.
That’s how long someone gives your website, your Instagram, or your pitch before their gut decides. Whether you planned it or not, they read a story.
What do you do?
In plain words. If a stranger has to guess, you lost.
Why does it matter to me?
Not why it matters to you. What changes in their life.
What should I do next?
One clear step. One button. Not five.
1,726 people looked for a band like mine. None of them clicked.
I play fiddle in a country band. Last year I pulled the search data on our website. Here is what it showed.
She searches.
She is planning a wedding in Kearney. She types “country singer for hire in Nebraska.” Google shows her my band, page one.
We are the hero.
Our headline said “A real concert. Not background music.” True. And it is about us. It is her wedding. She is the hero, and we made ourselves the hero.
She leaves.
Can you play June 14? What does it cost? Are you any good? None of it was on the page. So she left. So did the next 1,725.
The site was about us. She was looking for her.
The only people who clicked already knew our name. Fans, not buyers. Nobody tells you. They just leave.
You’re not the hero. You’re the guide.
Your customer is Luke. Be Yoda.
Most businesses tell their own story. How long they’ve been around, how hard they work, how much they care. Customers skim right past it. They’re looking for their own story: their problem, their win, and someone who can get them there. Every sale walks the same path.
Hero
Problem
Guide
Plan
Action
Win
Framework credit: Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller. Worth reading before you write a single line of copy.
We rewrote ourselves this summer. Twice.
Same company. Same band. We just changed who the first sentence is about.
Your customers already wrote your marketing.
You don’t have to invent a story. You have to find the one they’re already telling.
Ask them
“What were you worried about before you called?” Write down the exact words.
Read your reviews
Whatever they praise is what you should promise. Out loud. On the homepage.
Steal the phrase
The best headline you’ll ever write was already said by a customer.
The AI part, honestly. AI doesn’t invent your story. It finds it. Feed it real reviews and real conversations, ask it for the patterns, and then check every word yourself. If it sounds like a robot wrote it, a human needs to fix it.
Four questions. Ten words.
Who’s your hero?
One person, not “everyone.” The farmer with 300 head. The bride who needs a band for June 14.
What keeps them up at night?
Say it the way they’d say it, not the way you would.
What do you make possible?
Their new normal, not your feature list.
Say it in ten words.
What you do, who it’s for, why it matters. Count them. Cut until it fits.
That’s your headline.
Six reasons an idea sticks. Tonight used all six.
Simple
One idea, said like a proverb. Nobody cares about your story. They care about theirs.
Unexpected
The part they did not see coming. You are not the hero.
Concrete
Numbers, not adjectives. Seven seconds, three questions, ten words.
Credible
Proof in their words, not yours. Reviews write the headlines.
Emotional
One person, and what scares them. Her wedding. Her risk. Her fear of picking wrong.
Story
A path they can rehearse. Hero, problem, guide, plan, action, win.
From Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. The class text, and a good one.
People don’t buy the best product. They buy the one they trust to fix their problem.
Make the customer the hero. Be the guide, ready to serve. That is how you earn trust, and that is how you win. Grab the worksheet and write yours tonight while it’s fresh.
Want the full nine-section version of the page formula? The Landing Page Formula lives here.
Want to hear two guys argue about this stuff every week? Slow & Steady, wherever you get podcasts.