The best way to tell a story, as Robert Caldini explains in his book Pre-suasion, is with a well-told mystery.
A mystery draws you in.
It holds your interest.
Knowing the answer becomes an itch you just have to scratch.
Not only is it captivating.
Not only can keep it you glued to the page, even for subjects that would be dead boring if presented in almost any other way.
But a mystery requires you to pay attention to the details.
It requires you to consider all possible alternatives.
And if forces you to understand the actual explanation.
Forget about boring and dull lists, descriptions, questions and answers,
Tell a mystery instead.
Plant the seed of doubt and make the reader wade through the subject, until they’re familiar with all the pieces of the puzzle, and can then fully understand the answer and its implications.
These are the steps as outline by Caldini below:
Pose the mystery
Deepen the mystery
Consider the alternatives
Clue to the proper explanation
Resolve the mystery
Implications
If you’d like to see a mystery story in action, check out the post on trustworthiness.
