~ by Michele Cushatt

“Structure is a selection of events from the characters’ life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and to express a specific view of life.” ~ Robert McKee, Story

Within moments of his opening, I was spellbound. He described characters I could almost see, and painted a setting so exquisite I could picture it as if I were already there. He continued on for 20 minutes, or maybe an hour. Who knows? Time stood still, and he could’ve talked for hours for all I cared. I was a child lost in story, unaware of the world around me.
A communicator who knows how to weave a story into his message is the best kind. Regardless of the topic–a stadium packed with fans or a conference room filled with staff–the communicator who learns the art of story, practices it, and then masters it can command the attention of anyone. And deliver the message he was made to tell.
To tell a story, you need to understand story composition. Like bones for the body, the right elements have the ability to make a story–and your message–stand. Learn the rules, and you can move your message (and audience) anywhere you want it to go. Ignore them, and your message is likely to flounder.
Depending on which story resource you study, a story can be broken down various ways. Because our application is speaking rather than writing, I’ve simplified the process into five basic elements. To help us understand it in real time, I’ve used the Biblical parable of The Prodigal Son as an example. (Luke 11:15-24)
Element #1: Exposition. This is the story’s beginning, the every-day life of the main character before complications interrupt the status quo. Whereas a novel may take pages to establish ordinary life, a speech can not afford to do so. This may be a sentence or two at most. Or it may be woven into the other elements of your story. When Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son, he provided very little details into the father and sons’ ordinary life. But we know enough to have a context for what’s about to happen: There are two sons, a father, and enough wealth to make for an inheritance.
Element #2: Inciting Incident. Just as life, every good story is ripe with tension. Without conflict, we’d question its authenticity. The inciting incident is an event that initiates conflict and pushes the main character to a point of no return. Ultimately it requires change, which is the substance of the rest of the story. In our parable, the youngest son asks for his inheritance, an offensive request of a still-living father. In this case, the son initiates the conflict, creating his own inciting incident and taking him in a direction that will change him forever.
Element #3: Rising Action. As with most stories, tension isn’t typically limited to one event or scenario. The best stories are those thick with complications, one right after the other, until the character faces insurmountable odds. We see this clearly in the predicament of the youngest son. He leaves his father with a fat wallet and more than enough selfish ambition. He takes off sky high, ready to party and live it up. But soon his money runs out, a famine hits the country, and eventually he has no food, nor any hopeful prospects. We see him feeding swine, starving, longing to eat pig slop but without a single friend or advocate to help fill his belly.
Element #4: Climax. This is where tension hits a peak. It’s the character’s worst case scenario, the fork in the road where the character’s life could literally go one way or the other. Everything hangs in the balance and we don’t yet know how the story will end. When the Prodigal Son realizes he is likely to starve, it occurs to him he can return home and beg to be a servant on his father’s staff. Still, the tension hasn’t yet hit its peak. I believe the climax of this story is that brief moment when the son and the father, still separated by distance, see each other. In that split second, the son doesn’t yet know if he’ll be received. The story could go either way.
Element #5: Resolution. Also known as denouement (from a French word meaning to “untie,” as in knots), this is how the story ends. The tension is relieved, crisis is averted. As a result of the journey, the character is transformed. We see this beautifully portrayed in the story of the son. When the father sees his lost son in the distance, he is moved with love and compassion and takes off in a run. When the dejected, lost, hungry, and humiliated younger son sees his radiant father at a gallop, he changes. The son who asks to be a servant is a much more humble and meek version of the child who took his father’s money and ran away.
I have one final instruction for the crafting of your story. Really, it’s where you should begin. When choosing a story to tell, you must first establish the objective of your message. A story is nothing but entertainment unless you know what you hope to accomplish in the telling of it. We have enough entertainers; what we need more of is masterful messengers. Determine your objective, and then identify these five elements of your story. Use each one to further your objective, concluding with a resolution that drives your objective home. If you do, your audience will be spellbound and your message delivered like a master.