Hi Reader👋, Mark here.

You're receiving keys to empower you to craft world-class stories and presentations because you registered for the December keynote I did for Cornell on "Storytelling for Impact". If you don't want the keys, click here.

During the Cornell keynote , I opened with a question: because our brains forget roughly 90% of new information within two days, how do you make sure your story lands in the 10% that sticks? That question is the foundation of everything I teach about high-impact storytelling. And it's where I want to start with you now.

The most important storytelling decision you'll ever make happens before you write a single word.

It's deciding — deliberately, in advance — what your 10% Takeaway is.

Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve (the steep decline I showed during the keynote) isn't a flaw in your audience. It's neuroscience. The best communicators don't fight it — they build it into their design. They decide what their one essential takeaway is, then build every other element of the story to make that takeaway unavoidable. Not one of three key points. Not a summary slide at the end. One thing — predetermined, woven into the structure, echoed in the close.

Here's how to find yours:

• Ask: if my audience remembers only one thing from this story or presentation, what must it be? Write it in a single sentence.
• Now apply the 3 R's test: Is this takeaway Relevant to your listener's world? Does it point to Results they care about? Does it connect to Real-World Impact on their priorities? If yes to all three, you've found your 10%.
• Build your story so that sentence is inescapable — stated directly, reinforced through your examples, and echoed in your closing. Everything else earns its place by serving that sentence.

This is the difference between a story that feels complete to you and a story that lands for your audience. Your 10% Takeaway is the bridge between the two.

This week: before your next important presentation, pitch, or report, write your 10% Takeaway down first. Let it guide every decision about what stays — and what gets cut.

More coming Friday.

Mark

P.S. — Reply and tell me: what's a story or presentation you're working on right now? I read every response and will send you back a note.