How to make boring topics go viral?

Most business owners struggle with storytelling.

Often times, their constraint isn’t raw ability to communicate…it’s just that their base topic matter is default super boring.

The real storytelling superpower is when you have the ability to make a boring topic seem interesting enough for viewers to get addicted.

That’s when you can scale any content channel extremely quickly.

Today, I want to share the easiest framework for turning boring topics into compelling stories that get viewers addicted.

I call it…The Illusion of Novelty.

It’s not that the topic is actually novel, it’s that by using misdirection, you can create the illusion that it’s novel, and get a viewer to be actually interested.

It’s a 4 step process. Here’s how it works…

Step 0

Step 0 is to understand what actually makes a piece of content addictive?

It boils down to just 3 things…

The most addictive content is relevant, novel, and interesting.

It answers yes to these 3 questions (from the viewer’s POV)…

1. Is it something I care about?

2. Is it a new concept I’ve never heard of before?

3. Am I intrigued to want to learn more?

If the viewer says yes to those 3 questions, they will be addicted and keep watching

Knowing that, these are the 4 steps for how you engineer a “yes” to all 3 of those questions for any topic.

Step 1 (New Reveal)

Step 1 is called the New Reveal.

A New Reveal is when you make an existing thing feel new based on the reveal of something that has changed about it.

Take the most boring topic on Earth…drinking water.

If I just said, "Hey, drinking more water is good for you"… you've already lost interest immediately.

And the reason is because you've heard that ten thousand times…there's nothing in there that you didn’t already know.

But watch what happens when I reveal a new angle you haven’t heard of.

What if I said…"There's new research about drinking water. It turns out, based on the time you drink it in the day, it'll spike your energy more than coffee."

Same topic (drinking water), but now there's something new that has been revealed.

All of a sudden…you’re interested.

Step 2 (Contrast Framing)

Step 2 is called Contrast Framing.

This is the piece that takes that new angle from step one…and makes it impossible to ignore.

Contrast Framing is when you position your New Reveal directly against the “old way” everyone already believes in.

If I just say, "the timing of when you drink water affects your energy"… okay, that’s mildly interesting. You might remember it, you might not.

But watch what happens when I put it up against what you already believe to be true.

"You've been told your whole life to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Turns out that number was basically made up, and what actually works isn't how much you drink… it's when."

Same exact fact. The only thing I changed was putting it right next to something you already thought to be true.

The curiosity comes from the contrast framing.

Step 3 (Urgency)

Urgency is a timeliness based principle…like a red alert that makes someone have to pay attention ASAP.

Either something just changed or a window of opportunity is closing soon.

If you add this on top of the first two pieces, it creates even more of a pull for someone to care about what you’re saying.

Here’s an example…

Let’s say a new AI tool just dropped that writes amazing email newsletters perfectly.

You could say something like…"There's a new AI tool that will write newsletters for you in your voice perfectly"

And that’s okay…

But instead, what if you said…"there’s new AI tool just dropped yesterday that writes your newsletters for you in your exact voice" 

That hits a little bit harder, because your brain treats anything that just happened as more important than something that's always been true.

Step 4 (Bullseye Proof)

At this point your topic feels new, it feels relevant, it feels interesting, and maybe it feels even urgent. 

But there's still one big problem standing between you and the viewer’s trust.

They don't actually know if what you’re saying is true.

That's what the Bullseye Proof step solves.

It's where you add evidence that the new reveal you're claiming actually will get them the outcome they want.

This could be a 3rd party study, your own result, or some client testimonial, but we need some concrete proof that our new reveal is real and applies to them.

If you stack up these 4 components, this is all you need to be able to turn any boring topic into an addicting story, all rooted in core psychology principles.

PS - If you want to work with me 1:1 to improve your storytelling & scale your personal brand, reply back with “Novelty” (only a few spots left before prices increase)