The secret to telling a great story — in less than 60 seconds | Jenny Hoyos

0:06You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. We can all make our stories or conversations better by being brief. In her 2024 talk, Queen of YouTube Shorts, Jenny Hoyos, shares some lessons on how to communicate in an engaging way, all within 60 seconds. She won't take very long for this talk either.

0:37Have you ever wondered how much ice cream you can get for a dollar? or what's the cheapest thing in an airport, or if it's faster to go inside or a drive-thru? Probably not. But somehow answering these weird questions and sharing those experiences have become my life's work. Now, even though I only have five minutes to share my viral storytelling framework, great stories should be told in less than 60 seconds. And it's not just about becoming a viral social media star, it's about making your conversations better, whether you're with friends, family, or trying to convince your boss for a raise.

1:12So here's how to make every second count. Many great stories start with a question because it'll make people stick until the end to find out the answer. And remember, you want to get your audience's attention immediately, so you want to start by asking something shocking. And one of the things I've always wondered was if fast food was really as fast as they say. So I answered just this in a video and got over 45 million views. And after you've hooked your audience, you want to take them on a journey, building up to your answer, where you want there to feel constant progression. So we're moving closer and closer to our answer.

1:46So we feel like we can't stop listening. And in my case, I did just this by saying that I'll be adding tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese to the burger. So now we know how close I am to finishing the competition, thus the video. But if everything is smooth sailing, then nobody cares. which is why we need to add conflict before getting to our answer. Without conflict, the audience just isn't as invested, which is why I used my mom as the B-plot, so you're now not only invested in the competition, but also curious to see what's going to happen between my mom and I. And after enough buildup, we finally need our answers.

2:28Will I cook the burger faster? Will I accidentally set my mom's car on fire? The key here is to build tension by making the answer feel uncertain to make a satisfying ending.

2:43And that's it. We cooked faster than the drive-thru. Does it matter that my burger was basically raw? Absolutely not. Because the viewers wanted an answer, so I gave it to them quickly and concisely in an engaging way. Which led our video to getting over 45 million views. And you might be impressed to know that instead of telling this talk in five minutes, I actually did it in four. So you now have an extra minute to practice your 60-second story. Because if it takes longer to tell your story than it does to make a burger, then you're probably overcooking both. Thank you.

3:26That was Jenny Hoyos at TED Next 2024. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Autumn Thompson, and Alejandra Salazar. It was mixed by Christopher Faze Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feet. Thanks for listening. Thank you.