61. Tell a Terrifying Ghost Story
We spend all day suppressing our emotions and hiding how we feel that there’s something wonderfully cathartic about letting it all out with a good scare. We love to be terrified. Two of the most popular things in the world are roller coasters and horror films (note: a horror film set on a roller coaster is a license to print money).
Armed with this knowledge, it is obvious you need to have a killer ghost story in your tool belt. Whether it’s told by candle light during a power failure or by campfire light during a corporate retreat, if your story is bone chilling enough, people will be emotionally roused. Emotional arousal is proof of cool.
(note: Try having a funny ending to your story. Lead your audience down a terrifying path only to let them off the hook with a hilarious conclusion. This has the effect of eliciting two emotions. First you freeze the heart with horror and then you use comedy to start it right back up again. It’s almost too easy.)
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