I have written here previously on Message, Structure, Story and Signposts in public speaking. See eg here.

This piece (c/o the ever-excellent Browser) is a super look at how to structure a movie plot by telling a simple story. It works for speeches too:

Here is my detailed description of the steps on the circle. I’m going to get really specific, and I’m not going to bother saying, "there are some exceptions to this" over and over. There are some exceptions to everything, but that’s called style, not structure.

You (a character is in a zone of comfort)

Need (but they want something)

Go (they enter an unfamiliar situation)

Search (adapt to it)

Find (find what they wanted)

Take (pay its price)

Return (and go back to where they started)

Change (now capable of change)

Simple? Yes. But read the whole thing to see how the variations can be spun:

In Die Hard, John McClaine is advised by a terrorist to whom he earlier showed mercy: "The next time you have a chance to kill someone, don’t hesitate." John shoots him several times and thanks his corpse for the advice. The cop has begun to fall away, piece by piece, revealing his inner cowboy.

The man in the pouring rain opens his trunk, revealing a pile of laundry and fast food garbage. He tries moving it around, but finally his frustration takes over and he begins tossing things over his shoulder, emptying the contents of his trunk on the side of the road.

We are headed for the deepest level of the unconscious mind, and we cannot reach it encumbered by all that crap we used to think was important…

Off to Romania for the first time today. To Paltinis in Transylvania in fact, for a Young Markets conference looking at the exciting future of markets and trading.

This one came about because Patrick Young, a huge expert and innovator when it comes to trading, liked this website. More please!