CHAPTER 3

The Story's Contrast

IN THIS CHAPTER

  • Finding your story's key conflict
  • Maintaining tension for longer talks
  • Exploring different levels of conflict
  • Creating a hero-based story
  • Examining why your best hero is always based on you

This chapter explores something called “the controlling idea” of a story—the story's conflict, usually created by two or more contrasting agents. You will read about different ways to set up the conflict, ultimately learning about the most difficult, yet effective way: hero versus villain. The chapter covers two types of heroes used in presentations: the cartoons or stock characters and the heroes based on real people like you. Finally, you will learn about common pitfalls with personal stories and explore some workarounds.

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