Watch
Listen
“A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way.”
Flannery O’Connor
When I wrote my first Trends.vc reports, I focused on density. Each report was raw research, clear data, judgment and conclusions.
Each good piece of content does one of two things.
It makes you afraid to stop consuming. Or it makes you unable to stop consuming.
Same outcome, different mechanism.
The first path is signal-to-noise. The reader stays because each sentence delivers value.
“What will I miss if I leave?”
The Economist does this. Trends.vc reports do this.
Dense research where skipping a paragraph might cost you an insight worth thousands of dollars.
The reader gets smarter by the minute.
The second path is escapism. The viewer stays because the story won’t let them go.
“I can’t walk away.”
Netflix does this. Serialized storytelling does this.
The viewer gets so deep in the world that leaving feels like withdrawal.
Great comedians and edutainment pull off both.
Each piece needs at least one.
Without signal, there is nothing to learn. Without story, there is no reason to stay.
📡
What will your next piece optimize for: signal or story?
