Dialogue + Peak + Imagine + Bridge =

Monday through Thursday gave you the pieces. Here's how they fit...

Author

Stephen Stanberry
January 16th, 2026

In partnership with

Welcome back, friend!

So this week, you learned the 4 core storytelling principles:

Monday: Dialogue - Give people their own voices

Tuesday: Peak Moment - Cut everything except what matters most

Wednesday: Imagine - Transport readers with sensory details

Thursday: The Bridge - Connect your story to their struggle

If you did the exercises?

You now have one complete story ready to use.

I've recently been obsessed with how all these pieces actually fit together.

So I asked myself:

"What's the simplest way to turn these 4 principles into one complete story that actually converts?"

I sat with this for a bit.

And although no story structure is perfect, I came up with something that I think almost everybody can use to build stories that drive business.

If you haven't done any of the exercises this week, it'll take longer to get good at this.

But if you've been practicing along, here's the exact structure I use for every story I tell:

1. The "Imagine" Opening

This is 10-15% of your story.

Set the scene with sensory details.

Pull readers INTO the moment before anything happens.

"Imagine you're sitting in a Zoom room at 2pm. Your third back-to-back call. Coffee's gone cold. Your kid's teacher just emailed asking for a 'quick chat.' And the prospect on your screen just said..."

You see what that does?

It creates the world before the peak moment hits.

2. The Peak Moment with Dialogue

This is 60-70% of your story.

The conversation. The decision. The breakdown. The breakthrough.

This is the meat. This is where you live.

Use actual words. Go back and forth. Make us FEEL it.

"He said: 'We've been burned before.'

I said: 'I get that. What happened?'

He leaned forward: 'The last agency promised us the moon. Delivered a pile of shit. Three months. Forty grand. Nothing to show for it. So yeah, I'm skeptical.'"

This is the bulk of your story.

The part people will remember.

Don't rush through it.

3. The Bridge

This is 15-20% of your story.

Connect it to them.

Without this, you just told entertainment that goes nowhere.

"The reason I'm telling you this is...

Every founder I work with has been burned by someone who overpromised. And now you're skeptical of everyone, even the people who can actually help.

That skepticism? It's costing you momentum.

Here's how we fix it..."

In this model, you only need:

  • An "Imagine" opening (10-15%)

  • Peak moment with dialogue (60-70%)

  • The bridge (15-20%)

And you also need to practice these four principles:

  • Dialogue (Monday)

  • Peak moment (Tuesday)

  • Imagine (Wednesday)

  • Bridge (Thursday)

But when you have this structure in place, all you need to do is spot the moments, apply the framework, and connect to their problem.

You only need one good story per week to build trust and drive business.

Which isn't easy at first, but it's certainly doable.

If you've been doing the exercises all week, you can probably write your first complete story in the next 30 minutes.

Now here's what you probably noticed this week...

Some of your stories worked better than others.

Some felt flat. Some felt forced.

And you're wondering: "How do I make EVERY story hit this hard?"

That's exactly what Week 2 is about.

Next week, I'm teaching you the advanced stuff:

  • How to add specificity that makes characters unforgettable

  • The difference between reporting vs. reliving (emotional secret sauce)

  • Where to find unlimited stories daily (never run out of material)

Week 1 gave you the framework.

Week 2 shows you how to master it.

Till Monday...

Stephen

P.S. 25 of you completed all four exercises this week. If you're one of them, you're ahead of 90% of founders/creators trying to figure this out. Week 2 is where you separate yourself even more.

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