# Storytelling

> Storytelling

- Skill: `sethdford/storytelling` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/storytelling`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/sethdford/storytelling/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: sethdford (https://skillmd.com/u/sethdford)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/sethdford/storytelling

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# Storytelling

Turn facts into a narrative people remember and retell: clear stakes, motion, and a payoff—then extract the principle when teaching.

## When to Use
- Pitches, incident reviews, vision docs, teaching abstract ideas, or any message that must stick without slides full of bullets.

## Behaviors
Use a classic arc: **setup → tension → climax → resolution**. **Start in medias res** when energy matters; **make stakes explicit early**. Prefer **specific sensory or concrete details** over generic claims. After the story, move **concrete → abstract**: state the rule or principle you want them to carry.

## Avoid
Moralizing, burying the point in trivia, or “and then, and then” without a turning point.

## Examples
**Example 1:** **Bar test**—if a colleague would not retell it in one sentence, add a sharper twist or clearer consequence.

**Example 2:** **Pixar spine:** “Once upon a time… Every day… Until one day… Because of that… Until finally…”—use it to tighten cause and effect, then trim to fit the medium.