The Influence Formula: Master the Art of Story to Persuade, Inspire, and Lead

Matthew Dicks reveals why every good story centers on one 5-second moment of transformation and shares his proven framework for crafting memorable narratives that connect with audiences in business and life.

Most business communication is "round, white, and flavorless"—intentionally forgettable because people fear standing out from the herd. The alternative to being memorable is being mediocre, and our minds aren't designed to remember pie charts, facts, or statistics without emotional connection.

Key Takeaways

• Every story centers on a singular 5-second moment of transformation or realization—98% of the story provides context for this crucial moment
• Great stories start at the end and work backward, ensuring you have something meaningful to say rather than just reporting chronological events
• Business storytelling requires personal vulnerability and connection—people want to hear from human beings, not corporate spokespeople
• Stakes must be established immediately and built throughout to keep audiences wondering what happens next, using techniques like elephants, backpacks, breadcrumbs, hourglasses, and crystal balls
• The "Homework for Life" practice of capturing daily moments builds a vault of stories while slowing down time and revealing life patterns
• Effective speakers combat nervousness by understanding 98% occurs before speaking begins, and preparation through passive listening to recordings
• Location plus action should start every story to activate imagination and signal to audiences that a narrative is beginning
• Saying yes to opportunities creates extraordinary causal chains that lead to unexpected personal and professional growth

Timeline Overview

• 00:00–04:27 — Introduction: Matthew's background as elementary teacher, storytelling champion, and author of practical storytelling framework
• 04:27–10:29 — Five-Second Moment: Every story centers on singular moment of transformation or realization, using classroom example with student Eileen building confidence
• 10:29–14:28 — Starting at the End: How knowing your ending informs everything else, creating opposition between beginning and end states
• 14:28–15:59 — Transformation Importance: Why change creates universal appeal allowing audiences to connect emotionally regardless of specific content
• 15:59–18:19 — Dinner Test: Stories should sound like elevated dinner conversation, avoiding performance art elements like unattributed dialogue or sound effects
• 18:19–20:24 — Personal Stories: Why vulnerability requires telling your own stories rather than others', with Holocaust survivor example of recentering narratives
• 20:24–23:14 — Vacation Story Problem: Most vacation stories are just recounting experiences rather than focusing on moments of change or transformation
• 23:14–25:12 — Stakes Framework: Five techniques for keeping audiences engaged including elephants, backpacks, breadcrumbs, hourglasses, and crystal balls
• 25:12–29:20 — Surprise Power: How inevitable yet surprising endings create most delightful audience experiences through careful information placement
• 29:20–32:20 — Business Benefits: Storytelling separates you from forgettable herd while creating memorable connections that last beyond conferences or presentations
• 32:20–34:02 — Practical Stakes: Charity Thief story example demonstrating how stakes make ordinary situations engaging through strategic narrative techniques
• 34:02–44:29 — Workplace Application: Boris factory owner example showing how personal stories translate to business lessons about resilience and moving past failure
• 44:29–48:46 — Personal Inventory: Strategic ways to reveal relatable aspects of yourself in business settings to create human connections
• 48:46–50:52 — Four Engagement Methods: Stakes, surprise, suspense, and humor as essential tools for holding audience attention in any presentation
• 50:52–53:09 — Business Humor: Nostalgia and "one of these things is not like the others" as safe, effective humor strategies for corporate settings
• 53:09–58:43 — Humor Development: 26 strategies for being funny with focus on business-appropriate techniques that work within story structure
• 58:43–62:06 — Biotech Example: Scientist using apple grocery shopping analogy to explain product differentiation, generating more leads than data-focused presentations
• 62:06–66:35 — Theme Matching: Speaking with adjacency by matching theme, meaning, or message rather than content-to-content for powerful metaphorical connections
• 66:35–75:26 — Homework for Life: Daily practice of capturing moments that builds story vault, slows time, reveals patterns, and recovers forgotten memories
• 75:26–79:28 — Implementation Tips: Practical advice for starting daily story capture using spreadsheets and developing storytelling lens over time
• 79:28–84:42 — Nervousness Management: Understanding pre-talk anxiety versus during-talk performance, plus preparation techniques using passive listening to recordings
• 84:42–85:24 — Talk Preparation: Recording and listening to presentations while doing other activities to internalize content and identify transition weak points
• 85:24–90:55 — Saying Yes Philosophy: Why accepting opportunities leads to extraordinary causal chains and unexpected growth despite initial fear or reluctance

The 5-Second Moment Framework

The foundation of powerful storytelling lies in understanding that every meaningful story centers on a singular moment of transformation or realization. This isn't a metaphor—it's literally a moment when someone used to think one thing and then thought something new, or used to be one type of person and became different.

Matthew's classroom example illustrates this perfectly: Working with an anxious student named Eileen, he wondered whether to call her to the board for math problems. When he asked if she was ready, she responded: "First of all, I don't like that cheeky smile of yours." That sassy comeback was his 5-second moment—the instant he realized Eileen had gained confidence and trusted him enough to be herself.

This framework applies universally:

• Star Wars: Luke's transformation from technology-dependent to faith-based when he turns off his targeting computer and uses the Force
• Romantic comedies: The moment two people who claimed to hate each other realize they're in love
• Business narratives: The instant a leader understands a new approach or a customer discovers unexpected value

The key insight is that 98% of any story exists to provide context for this crucial moment. Everything else—backstory, character development, plot points—serves to bring that transformation into the clearest possible focus for the audience.

Starting at the End Strategy

Most people tell stories chronologically, which often leads nowhere meaningful. Professional storytellers work backward from their ending, ensuring they always have something important to say.

The process works like this:

1. Identify your 5-second moment of change
2. Determine the opposite state that creates the most powerful contrast
3. Begin your story with that opposite condition
4. Build toward the transformation moment

Why this works: Beginning and ending in opposition creates natural narrative tension. If Eileen shows confidence at the end, the story must begin with her lacking confidence. This guarantees dramatic arc and emotional payoff rather than mere event reporting.

Universal application: This principle applies whether you're crafting a business presentation, sharing a personal anecdote, or developing marketing narratives. You always start with the ending to ensure your story has purpose and direction.

The Business Case for Storytelling

In professional settings, most communication is deliberately "round, white, and flavorless" because people fear standing out from the herd. However, this safety strategy guarantees mediocrity and forgettability.

The stark choice:

• Stay in the herd: Be forgettable, blend in with everyone else, risk nothing
• Separate yourself: Risk standing out but become memorable and impactful

Why stories win: Human minds aren't designed to remember facts, statistics, or abstract concepts without emotional context. Stories provide that context through imagery, emotion, and personal connection. You'll never dream about a PowerPoint presentation, but you'll watch the same movie repeatedly.

Conference example: Matthew attended an education conference where one speaker shared a childhood lunchbox story about parents who had nothing but kept him in new shoes and provided daily lunches. Fifteen minutes later, neither Matthew nor his wife could remember anything the other (technically competent) speaker said, but the lunchbox story remained vivid and meaningful.

Adding Stakes to Maintain Attention

Stakes answer the crucial question: "What should the audience be worried about?" Without stakes, people stop listening. Matthew teaches five specific techniques for building and maintaining audience engagement:

The Five Stakes Techniques:

1. Elephant: Plant something immediately worrying at the beginning (like "big spaceship shooting at little spaceship" in Star Wars)
2. Backpack: Tell the audience your plan before executing it, so they can hope for your success and fear your failure (like heist movie blueprints)
3. Breadcrumbs: Drop hints about future developments without revealing everything (Chekhov's gun principle)
4. Hourglass: Slow down time when audiences most want to know what happens next, prolonging suspense through detail
5. Crystal Ball: Predict negative futures to create worry, even if the prediction proves false

Key principle: Don't front-load all stakes at the beginning. Spread them throughout the story, with most occurring in the first half, leaving the second half as a "roller coaster to the end."

Personal Inventory for Business Connection

Rather than remaining "round, white, and flavorless" in professional settings, strategic personal revelation creates human connection and memorability.

The framework considers:

• Total addressable market: How many people could connect with this aspect of yourself?
• Intensity of connection: How strong will the bond be when people relate?

Examples:

• Being married: High addressable market (most people are in relationships), moderate intensity
• Marathon running: Low addressable market (few marathoners), extremely high intensity among fellow runners

Practical application: Instead of answering "How are you?" with "Fine," try: "Pretty good—my fifth graders were actually decent human beings today and didn't try to kill me." This reveals you're an elementary teacher (universally beloved profession) while demonstrating humor and self-deprecation.

The Homework for Life Practice

This daily discipline transforms how you experience life while building an endless vault of stories. The practice involves capturing one meaningful moment from each day before sleeping.

The process:

1. Each evening, ask: "If someone kidnapped my family and demanded I tell a story about today to get them back, what would I share?"
2. Record that moment in a spreadsheet (just one line of description)
3. Include recovered memories that surface through the storytelling lens
4. Don't worry about story quality—focus on moments that touched your heart or mind

Extraordinary benefits:

• Time expansion: Life feels longer because you retain daily experiences rather than losing them
• Pattern recognition: You start seeing recurring themes in your behavior and relationships
• Story vault: You develop more material than you could ever use
• Lens development: Matthew went from finding 1.8 moments daily to 7.6 moments—not because life got more interesting, but because his awareness improved

Therapeutic effects: The practice helped Matthew realize he was "fighting with his wife through chores"—getting angry about household tasks but expressing it passive-aggressively rather than directly. This self-awareness came from recognizing patterns across multiple captured moments.

Four Ways to Hold Audience Attention

Business audiences are particularly challenging because they don't automatically want to hear from you. Matthew teaches four essential engagement tools:

1. Stakes: What should people worry about? What's at risk?
2. Surprise: Moments that feel both inevitable and unexpected
3. Suspense: Keeping audiences wondering what happens next
4. Humor: Strategic comedy that differentiates you from others

The humor challenge: Everyone wants to be funny, but few people are willing to risk actually trying. Most business people want to "have been funny" (past tense, no risk) rather than "be funny" (present tense, requiring vulnerability).

Safe humor strategies for business:

• Nostalgia: "The first VCR I had was 22 pounds with a remote control cord thick enough to trip my brother" (always funny, often relevant to product evolution)
• One of these things is not like the others: Two expected things plus one unexpected thing creates automatic humor through contrast

Speaking with Adjacency

Rather than matching content to content, effective business storytelling matches theme, meaning, or message. This creates powerful metaphorical connections that help audiences understand complex ideas.

The biotech example: A scientist needed to explain why their company's multiple tube sizes were better than competitors' one-size-fits-all approach. Instead of discussing tubes, Matthew helped him develop an apple grocery shopping story:

His family required different apples (honey crisp for wife, gala for daughter, MacIntosh for pies, red delicious for himself). The nightmare of buying multiple apple types became a metaphor for laboratory needs—some companies offer only MacIntosh and say "good luck," while his company provides exactly what each customer needs.

Results: The scientist generated more leads than all other presenters combined, despite presenting zero data. The story created positive associations (every grocery trip reminded potential customers of the company) and memorable differentiation through emotional connection.

Overcoming Speaking Nervousness

Matthew's approach to public speaking anxiety focuses on understanding the actual problem rather than fighting inevitable feelings.

Key insights:

• 98% of nervousness occurs before speaking begins—once you start talking, anxiety typically disappears
• Everyone is nervous except psychopaths—you're in normal company, including famous performers
• Preparation reduces anxiety more than any other factor

The listening technique: Record your presentation and listen to it passively while doing other activities (grocery shopping, folding laundry, driving). This allows content to "seep into your soul" and become part of you. You can deliver presentations you recorded a decade ago after listening just once.

Transition focus: Most people don't forget their content—they forget transitions between sections. While listening, play a mental game of predicting what comes next. When you can't predict the transition, create a mnemonic device for that specific moment.

The Power of Saying Yes

Matthew's philosophy extends beyond story collection to life philosophy: saying yes to opportunities creates extraordinary causal chains that lead to unexpected growth and discovery.

The principle: Saying no assumes you understand what's behind a door you've never opened—a presumptuous and potentially limiting attitude. Yes can always become no after investigation, but no often becomes permanent missed opportunity.

Personal example: When a friend suggested trying stand-up comedy, Matthew's initial response was no. Recognizing his fear, he immediately sent a second email saying yes. Six years later, he performs regularly in comedy festivals, while his friend (who originally suggested it) has never tried stand-up once.

The deeper insight: The things that frighten us are often the things that are best for us. When something scares you, that's precisely when you should "run to that thing as quickly as possible with all of your might."

Common Questions

Q: How do you find the 5-second moment in your own experiences?
A: Look for times when you used to think one thing and then thought something new, or when you were one type of person and became different. The moment of change might have felt gradual, but there was usually one instant when the flip actually happened.

Q: What if I'm naturally introverted and don't want to share personal stories in business settings?
A: Start small with strategic personal inventory items. Instead of dramatic revelations, share simple relatable details (being a parent, having a pet, your profession) that create human connection without requiring deep vulnerability.

Q: How can I make mundane business topics more engaging through storytelling?
A: Use adjacency—don't match content to content, match theme or meaning. Find stories from your life that illustrate the same principle you're trying to convey, then "snap" the connection between your story and your business point.

Q: What if I try the Homework for Life practice and can't find anything interesting each day?
A: Start with the standard that anything is better than nothing. Some days your best moment might be a neighborhood cookout. Months later, that seemingly boring moment might become part of a larger story when unexpected events give it new meaning.

Q: How do I know if my story is working when I tell it?
A: Watch for audience engagement signals—leaning forward, asking follow-up questions, sharing their own related experiences. More importantly, practice the dinner test: would you tell this story to friends over dinner in the same way?

Conclusion

Effective storytelling requires intentional practice and systematic approach rather than natural talent. By focusing on transformation moments, building stakes strategically, and developing daily awareness through practices like Homework for Life, anyone can become a compelling storyteller who creates memorable connections in both business and personal contexts.

Practical Implications

• Start every story with location plus action to activate imagination and signal narrative beginning
• Identify your 5-second transformation moment before crafting any story, then work backward to create compelling opposition
• Build a personal inventory of relatable characteristics and strategically weave them into business conversations
• Practice Homework for Life daily using simple spreadsheet format to capture meaningful moments and develop storytelling awareness
• Use the five stakes techniques (elephant, backpack, breadcrumbs, hourglass, crystal ball) to maintain audience engagement throughout presentations
• Prepare for public speaking by recording presentations and listening passively during other activities to internalize content
• Apply speaking with adjacency by matching themes rather than content when explaining complex business concepts
• Combat nervousness by understanding that 98% occurs before speaking and focus preparation on smooth transitions between sections
• Say yes to opportunities that frighten you, recognizing fear often indicates growth potential
• Replace generic business communication with strategic storytelling that includes vulnerability and human connection
• Focus on theme, meaning, and message when adapting personal stories for business applications
• Develop humor skills using safe techniques like nostalgia and contrast rather than risky joke-telling approaches