Turning Curiosity Into Attention

When I heard the sound of the gun fire, I was out of there.

Adrenaline coursing through my veins. My heart beating straight out of my chest. I was sweating bullets. There was absolutely no way I was looking back. I mean I couldn’t, right?

The only thing I could think about was getting out of there and making it to the end.

A 1-2-3-4…

The voice in my head was screaming at me to take things one step at a time. And I had to. After all, if I lost concentration and tripped and fell, it was over for me.

Jumping over obstacles along the way, I was passing by others who were desperate to do the same.

It was every man for himself. And my only concern was me, myself, and I.

As we approached the final hurdle, I knew it was going to come down to the wire. Taking one final stride, I gave it everything I had. There was nothing to lose. I either qualified for state or I didn’t and my track career was over.

Lunging out as we crossed the finish line, it was as close to a photo finish as you could get. Exhausted and out of breath, I looked up at the screen, anxiously waiting for the results to come in.

As expected, the runner in first had won by a second or two. But who would get second place and book the final ticket to the state championships?

When my name appeared on the screen, I could’t believe it (I also couldn’t really comprehend it because of how exhausted I was lol).

#2: Connor Flynn - 40.92 sec.

In what was my first and only year of high school track, I had qualified for state in the 300-meter hurdles, a thought that was almost unfathomable just two months earlier at the beginning of the season.

Now, why am I telling you all this? First off, because it makes for a pretty fun story if I don’t say so myself.

But second of all, because I knew I could grip your attention with that first line. And if you’re still reading this, I would say I did a pretty good job.

And that’s exactly what I want to cover this week – how to capture attention by starting in the middle of the action.

Here’s what you’ll learn this week:

• Turning curiosity into attention

• Why it works so well

• How you can use it

Now that I have your attention, let’s get to it!

Starting a Story in the Middle of the Action 🎬

If done properly, your opening line or opening shot is the single most important part of your entire story.

Whether you’re writing a blog post, producing the next big action movie, or sending a cold email, your goal is always going to be to capture your audience’s attention as quickly as possible.

Because here’s the thing. You could have written the best article in the world, but if your reader gets bored and closes their browser after reading your first sentence? Well, your world-class article doesn’t mean much, now does it?

We all know humans have short attention spans these days. And if you want to capture the attention of your audience, you need a way to hook them in.

I believe the best way to do that is to start in the middle of the action.

Take James Clear and his best-seller Atomic Habits for example. The book’s opening sentence is this:

“On the final day of my sophomore year of high school, I was hit in the face with a baseball bat.”

Really makes you do a double-take, huh? If you open the book and read that first sentence, it’s nearly impossible to not keep reading. There’s no way you could have predicted to read that sentence. You have to know what happens next, right?

That’s the exact reason I started this newsletter in the middle of the action:

“When I heard the sound of the gun fire, I was out of there."

You couldn’t have known I was talking about a track race. There were probably several questions running through your mind in the moment. Things like:

Where were you? What happened? Are you okay?

Starting a story in the middle of the action is the single best way to grab the attention of your audience.

But why exactly does it work so well?

Why It Works So Well 🤔

Curiosity.

Humans are curious creatures. And no, I don’t mean humans are interesting and strange and fun to learn about (well, that too).

I mean we’re always wanting to learn more about the world around us. We’re always wanting to gather new information and see where it takes us.

If you read the opening sentence of Atomic Habits or watch the opening scene of The Dark Knight, you’re hooked from the very first second. Why?

Because you’re curious to learn more. You desperately want to know what happens next.

James Clear and Christopher Nolan both leave you thinking “Wait, what?”

The best storytellers keep you on the edge of your seat from the very first sentence. They grab your attention and make it impossible to stop reading or watching.

Because they know exactly how to tap into one of your deepest desires and understand how to keep your attention from the get-go.

And that, my friend, is how the world’s best storytellers pull you in and force you to pay attention.

But how can you use human curiosity in your own stories and content?

How to Use It 📝

As a creator or brand, you’re in business to capture attention. It’s the most valuable currency that exists in the world today.

So if you want to capture your audience’s attention and tell stories worth listening to, you must learn to work your way backwards.

The most basic story outline is: Beginning → Middle → End

But if you really want to grip attention and turn curiosity into viewers or readers, you story outline should ideally look something like this:

Middle → Beginning → Middle → End

Starting in the middle of the action allows you to capture attention as quickly as possible. It pulls your audience in. Then when you’re certain you have their attention, you can go back to the beginning and add more context as you work your way from start to finish.

• Turn curiosity into attention

• Turn attention into an audience

• Turn an audience into money-making opportunities

So next time you’re telling a story or writing a piece of content, think about how to hook your audience and make them think, “Wait, what?!”

Create curiosity. Capture attention. Evoke emotion.

That’s all for this week. Now go out there and tell a story worth listening to!

Cheers,

Connor “just a curious guy” Flynn

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