Engage Viewers with Powerful Channel-Building Stories

The Best Storytelling Techniques to Grow Your YouTube Channel

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.

Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:

• Method 1: CREATE SUSPENSE
• Method 2: USE EMPATHY
• Method 3: TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MEANINGFUL JOURNEY

1. Create Suspense

The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.

The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.

What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?

When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.

Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:

- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)

- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)

- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)

- Limited time (example: prom is next week)

- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)

You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!

Raise Questions After Questions

A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.

For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?

This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.

Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.

Include a Cliffhanger

We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.

But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.

In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.

How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger

Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.

Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.

A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.

Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.

Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .

Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:

1. Slow Down and Have Pauses

As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.

Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.

2. Use Repetition

Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.

In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.

The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?

Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.

The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.

2. Use Empathy

A storyteller must be empathetic.

If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.

If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.

Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.

Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures

If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.

It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.

However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.

Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.

Evoke the Senses

If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.

Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What does it smell like?

- What can you hear?

- What do you see?

- What can you physically feel?

This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.

Use Metaphors

As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.

If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”

That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.

By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.

3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey

Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.

- Is it educational?

- Is it entertaining?

- Is it motivational or inspiring?

Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?

YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.

It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.

His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.

Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.

Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers

Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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Dissecting Your Profit Share in YouTube Short Creation

YouTube Shorts have become a craze in the recent past as creators try to get the best out of them. These are short, vertical videos that are 60 seconds long. Originally a way of YouTube attempting to compete with TikTok, Shorts have become a household name. However, are YouTube shorts monetized? Can you get paid for YouTube shorts? The increasing interest in monetizing Shorts has inspired many creators working on their video creation. This article answers the question of can YouTube Shorts be monetized and explains how the revenue-sharing model works.

YouTube Shorts Editor A cross-platform helps creators edit the vertical videos quickly and easily!

Free Download Free Download Learn More

Part 1. Unveiling the Mystery of YouTube Shorts Revenue Sharing

YouTube launched the Shorts platform in 2021, which gained popularity within a short period. By the end of the first year, some videos had racked up more than half a billion views and counties. This begged the question: can you get paid from YouTube shorts?

Yes, YouTube updated its Partner Program, allowing the revenue-sharing model to benefit Shorts creators. The platform pools all the money it gets from advertisers every month from the Shorts feeds. It then shares that money with creators based on the number of views. Since the launch of this program in February 2023, the previous YouTube Shorts Fund became defunct.

The ad revenue-sharing model on YouTube Shorts may seem complex, but let’s break it down

• Every month YouTube pools all the revenue it generates from ads that appear in the Shorts feed.
• YouTube calculates that is going to the Creators Pool. A chuck of this money goes towards paying for songs used in YouTube Shorts. For instance, only a third of the ad revenue generated from a Shorts goes to the Creator Pool if it used two songs while the rest goes to paying for the music.
• YouTube divides the Creator pool depending on the number of views they contributed. If a creator generated 5% of the Shorts views during a period, they are assigned 5% of the Creator Pool.
• From that amount, YouTube keeps 55% of its share while you get paid the remaining 45%. If a creator’s 5% amounted to $800, then they will receive $360.

So, is YouTube shorts monetized? Yes, the ads-sharing model defines the amount of money a creator can earn from Shorts every month. Depending on the number of views generated, high-performing Shorts can bring in a huge amount of money.

Part 2. YouTube Shorts Monetization: Eligibility Criteria and Earnings Potential

YouTube Shorts provides creators with an exceptional way of making extra income. Let’s have a look at what it takes and what the numbers say:

Eligibility Criteria

If you are wondering, can I monetize YouTube shorts? To start earning ad revenue from Shorts, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) This is the gateway to YouTube monetization opportunities. With the latest YouTube shorts monetization 2023 policy, the platform lowered the eligibility criteria.

To be eligible to the YPP, you will need:

• At least 500 Subscribers
• At least 3,000 valid public hours in the last 12 months, or
• At least 3M valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days

This means that your YouTube channel must have gained some traction before monetizing your shorts. The following YouTube short monetization 2023 requirements are also needed:

• Live in a region where the YPP is available
• Comply with YouTube’s channel monetization policies
• Have no Community Guidelines strikes on your channel
• Have an active AdSense account
• Have 2-step verification turned on for your Google account

How Much Can You Earn With Shorts

YouTube Shorts have the potential to make a huge amount of money for creators. In fact, YouTube monetize Shorts in a quite generous way. Here are a few examples to give you an idea of the numbers:

• James Seo (573,000 subscribers) - Earned $445.09 from 10.3 million Shorts views
• Riley Lemon (84,000 subscribers) - Earned $76.23 from 1.9 million Shorts views
• Matthew King (212,000 subscribers) – Earned $163.73 from 4.2 million Shorts views
• Hassan Khadair (2.1 million subscribers) – Earned $872.14 from 22 million Shorts views

Part 3. How to Start Earning from YouTube Shorts

Eligible creators start earning from YouTube Shorts when they opt-in to the program. You need to make sure you are eligible and agree to start receiving revenue from your creations.

Are You Eligible for YouTube Shorts Earnings?

Shorts creators growing their channel and are yet to meet the minimum requirements can track their eligibility status by selecting “Notify me when I’m eligible” in YouTube Studio’s Earn section.

When you become eligible, follow these steps to apply for the YPP program:

• Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the YouTube Studio app on a mobile
• Click on your profile picture, and choose YouTube Studio
• Click Earn on the left menu, then select Apply
• Click Start to review your eligibility and accept the base terms
• Click Start to set up an AdSense account. You may also choose to link an existing active one.
• Your application will be in Progress in the Get Reviewed step.

Once you have completed these steps, your YouTube Channel will be reviewed. You can expect to hear a decision within a month of enrolling you in the program.

How to opt in for YouTube Shorts Monetization

After being approved and enrolled in the YPP program, you need to opt in to monetize your channel. Remember that you will not be automatically signed up for the ad revenue-sharing model. Here are a few more steps you need to take:

• Sign in to YouTube Studio
• Select Earn in the left menu
• Click Get Started for every module to review and accept their terms
• Accept the Base Terms and the Shorts Monetization Module to monetize Shorts

Once your Shorts are monetized, track the progress and amount of money earned through YouTube Analytics.

Other Ways to Monetize YouTube Shorts

The YPP program is the only ad-based monetization option for YouTube Shorts. However, there are other ways of earning:

• Selling Subscription Memberships: Turn your YouTube to membership and charge monthly payments in exchange for perks like badges and exclusive content.
• Monetize Livestreams: Features such as super stickers and super chat allow creators to make money when fans pay to send highlighted messages.
• Selling Merchandise and Products: Make additional income by selling branded merchandise like apparel or product lines in your content niche.
• Secure Paid Brand Partnerships: Interacting directly with brands and negotiating sponsorship deals.
• Join an Affiliate Program: An affiliate program will pay you revenue associated with clicks to links hosted on your channel.

Part 4. Edit Your YouTube Videos to Shorts with Wondershare Filmora

To earn more from your YouTube Shorts, you need quality content that keeps your viewers entertained. With Shorts having a limit of 60 seconds, you want to make sure that you cover the most essential footage. Wondershare Filmora is a versatile video editing software that helps creators edit their vertical videos quickly and easily. The mobile app is specifically great for editing shorts on the go:

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Editing your videos with Filmora is quite straightforward. One of the features that work well for YouTube shorts is the Auto Reframe.

Auto Reframe

The Auto Reframe feature allows creators to resize videos automatically with no editing skills needed. This is a great tool for converting your horizontal YouTube videos to Shorts format. It also boosts your potential audience while saving you precious time and effort you would have used editing. To use this feature, choose any of the following options:

1. Open Filmora and Select Auto Reframe

After opening Filmora, head over to the main interface. You will find the Auto Reframe option on the right side. Click on it to open the reframing feature.

2. Launch Directly from the Video

Click File, followed by Import Media. Select the file that you gave imported in the timeline and right-click on it. Then select Auto Reframe.

3. Use the Tools Option

You may also use the Auto Reframe feature by clicking on the Tools feature on the top menu bar. Then click on Auto Reframe.

Other Filmora Features for Editing Shorts

• Split Screen Video Editor – A choice of pre-made templates to create split-screen videos instantly.
• Add Text to Video – Directly add texts to your videos, including subtitles and captions.
• Text To Speech – Instantly convert your text files to voice and introduce more elements that will enrich your Shorts video.

Conclusion

YouTube Short’s revenue-sharing programs offer a great opportunity for creators specializing in short-form content to earn money on the platform. Once eligible for the YPP program, you can start earning a nice cash bonus monthly. However, you will need to create quality content that keeps your audience entertained and engaged. We recommend using Wondershare Filmora to edit your Shorts and make them more relatable to the audience,

Free Download Free Download Learn More

Part 1. Unveiling the Mystery of YouTube Shorts Revenue Sharing

YouTube launched the Shorts platform in 2021, which gained popularity within a short period. By the end of the first year, some videos had racked up more than half a billion views and counties. This begged the question: can you get paid from YouTube shorts?

Yes, YouTube updated its Partner Program, allowing the revenue-sharing model to benefit Shorts creators. The platform pools all the money it gets from advertisers every month from the Shorts feeds. It then shares that money with creators based on the number of views. Since the launch of this program in February 2023, the previous YouTube Shorts Fund became defunct.

The ad revenue-sharing model on YouTube Shorts may seem complex, but let’s break it down

• Every month YouTube pools all the revenue it generates from ads that appear in the Shorts feed.
• YouTube calculates that is going to the Creators Pool. A chuck of this money goes towards paying for songs used in YouTube Shorts. For instance, only a third of the ad revenue generated from a Shorts goes to the Creator Pool if it used two songs while the rest goes to paying for the music.
• YouTube divides the Creator pool depending on the number of views they contributed. If a creator generated 5% of the Shorts views during a period, they are assigned 5% of the Creator Pool.
• From that amount, YouTube keeps 55% of its share while you get paid the remaining 45%. If a creator’s 5% amounted to $800, then they will receive $360.

So, is YouTube shorts monetized? Yes, the ads-sharing model defines the amount of money a creator can earn from Shorts every month. Depending on the number of views generated, high-performing Shorts can bring in a huge amount of money.

Part 2. YouTube Shorts Monetization: Eligibility Criteria and Earnings Potential

YouTube Shorts provides creators with an exceptional way of making extra income. Let’s have a look at what it takes and what the numbers say:

Eligibility Criteria

If you are wondering, can I monetize YouTube shorts? To start earning ad revenue from Shorts, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) This is the gateway to YouTube monetization opportunities. With the latest YouTube shorts monetization 2023 policy, the platform lowered the eligibility criteria.

To be eligible to the YPP, you will need:

• At least 500 Subscribers
• At least 3,000 valid public hours in the last 12 months, or
• At least 3M valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days

This means that your YouTube channel must have gained some traction before monetizing your shorts. The following YouTube short monetization 2023 requirements are also needed:

• Live in a region where the YPP is available
• Comply with YouTube’s channel monetization policies
• Have no Community Guidelines strikes on your channel
• Have an active AdSense account
• Have 2-step verification turned on for your Google account

How Much Can You Earn With Shorts

YouTube Shorts have the potential to make a huge amount of money for creators. In fact, YouTube monetize Shorts in a quite generous way. Here are a few examples to give you an idea of the numbers:

• James Seo (573,000 subscribers) - Earned $445.09 from 10.3 million Shorts views
• Riley Lemon (84,000 subscribers) - Earned $76.23 from 1.9 million Shorts views
• Matthew King (212,000 subscribers) – Earned $163.73 from 4.2 million Shorts views
• Hassan Khadair (2.1 million subscribers) – Earned $872.14 from 22 million Shorts views

Part 3. How to Start Earning from YouTube Shorts

Eligible creators start earning from YouTube Shorts when they opt-in to the program. You need to make sure you are eligible and agree to start receiving revenue from your creations.

Are You Eligible for YouTube Shorts Earnings?

Shorts creators growing their channel and are yet to meet the minimum requirements can track their eligibility status by selecting “Notify me when I’m eligible” in YouTube Studio’s Earn section.

When you become eligible, follow these steps to apply for the YPP program:

• Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the YouTube Studio app on a mobile
• Click on your profile picture, and choose YouTube Studio
• Click Earn on the left menu, then select Apply
• Click Start to review your eligibility and accept the base terms
• Click Start to set up an AdSense account. You may also choose to link an existing active one.
• Your application will be in Progress in the Get Reviewed step.

Once you have completed these steps, your YouTube Channel will be reviewed. You can expect to hear a decision within a month of enrolling you in the program.

How to opt in for YouTube Shorts Monetization

After being approved and enrolled in the YPP program, you need to opt in to monetize your channel. Remember that you will not be automatically signed up for the ad revenue-sharing model. Here are a few more steps you need to take:

• Sign in to YouTube Studio
• Select Earn in the left menu
• Click Get Started for every module to review and accept their terms
• Accept the Base Terms and the Shorts Monetization Module to monetize Shorts

Once your Shorts are monetized, track the progress and amount of money earned through YouTube Analytics.

Other Ways to Monetize YouTube Shorts

The YPP program is the only ad-based monetization option for YouTube Shorts. However, there are other ways of earning:

• Selling Subscription Memberships: Turn your YouTube to membership and charge monthly payments in exchange for perks like badges and exclusive content.
• Monetize Livestreams: Features such as super stickers and super chat allow creators to make money when fans pay to send highlighted messages.
• Selling Merchandise and Products: Make additional income by selling branded merchandise like apparel or product lines in your content niche.
• Secure Paid Brand Partnerships: Interacting directly with brands and negotiating sponsorship deals.
• Join an Affiliate Program: An affiliate program will pay you revenue associated with clicks to links hosted on your channel.

Part 4. Edit Your YouTube Videos to Shorts with Wondershare Filmora

To earn more from your YouTube Shorts, you need quality content that keeps your viewers entertained. With Shorts having a limit of 60 seconds, you want to make sure that you cover the most essential footage. Wondershare Filmora is a versatile video editing software that helps creators edit their vertical videos quickly and easily. The mobile app is specifically great for editing shorts on the go:

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Editing your videos with Filmora is quite straightforward. One of the features that work well for YouTube shorts is the Auto Reframe.

Auto Reframe

The Auto Reframe feature allows creators to resize videos automatically with no editing skills needed. This is a great tool for converting your horizontal YouTube videos to Shorts format. It also boosts your potential audience while saving you precious time and effort you would have used editing. To use this feature, choose any of the following options:

1. Open Filmora and Select Auto Reframe

After opening Filmora, head over to the main interface. You will find the Auto Reframe option on the right side. Click on it to open the reframing feature.

2. Launch Directly from the Video

Click File, followed by Import Media. Select the file that you gave imported in the timeline and right-click on it. Then select Auto Reframe.

3. Use the Tools Option

You may also use the Auto Reframe feature by clicking on the Tools feature on the top menu bar. Then click on Auto Reframe.

Other Filmora Features for Editing Shorts

• Split Screen Video Editor – A choice of pre-made templates to create split-screen videos instantly.
• Add Text to Video – Directly add texts to your videos, including subtitles and captions.
• Text To Speech – Instantly convert your text files to voice and introduce more elements that will enrich your Shorts video.

Conclusion

YouTube Short’s revenue-sharing programs offer a great opportunity for creators specializing in short-form content to earn money on the platform. Once eligible for the YPP program, you can start earning a nice cash bonus monthly. However, you will need to create quality content that keeps your audience entertained and engaged. We recommend using Wondershare Filmora to edit your Shorts and make them more relatable to the audience,

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