In partnership with

Hello and welcome to the 194th edition of Fresh Salmon. For founders, marketers, and creators who want content that persuades, not just performs.

If you want your content to work in 2026, you don’t need another hack. You need to tell better stories. Below is a tight playbook of 6 storytelling techniques (with examples, prompts, and templates) you can apply to your next script, podcast, keynote, or LinkedIn post.

Find your customers on Roku this Black Friday

As with any digital ad campaign, the important thing is to reach streaming audiences who will convert. To that end, Roku’s self-service Ads Manager stands ready with powerful segmentation and targeting options. After all, you know your customers, and we know our streaming audience.

Worried it’s too late to spin up new Black Friday creative? With Roku Ads Manager, you can easily import and augment existing creative assets from your social channels. We also have AI-assisted upscaling, so every ad is primed for CTV.

Once you’ve done this, then you can easily set up A/B tests to flight different creative variants and Black Friday offers. If you’re a Shopify brand, you can even run shoppable ads directly on-screen so viewers can purchase with just a click of their Roku remote.

Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

Use code GET5K now

1) The Dance: Context ↔ Conflict (But / Therefore)

Great stories move forward through cause and effect, not lists and lore. The fastest way to force causality into your script is the South Park rule:

• Replace “and then” with “but” (conflict) or “therefore” (consequence).

Why it works: “But / therefore” creates open loops in the brain (tension), then resolves them (relief). “And then” stacks facts; “but / therefore” compels.

Mini-template

• “We launched Feature X, but retention stayed flat, therefore we rewired onboarding…”

• “Customers said price was the problem, but recordings showed confusion, therefore we renamed, re-bundled, then raised price.”

Quick audit: Print your script. Circle every “and then.” Replace with but / therefore until the story moves like dominoes.

CTV ads made easy: Black Friday edition

As with any digital ad campaign, the important thing is to reach streaming audiences who will convert. Roku’s self-service Ads Manager stands ready with powerful segmentation and targeting — plus creative upscaling tools that transform existing assets into CTV-ready video ads. Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

Use code GET5K now

2) Rhythm: Write Music, Not Sentences

Gary Provost’s famous paragraph shows how sentence length variety creates a musical cadence. Monotone length = monotone attention.

Tactic

• Draft in a doc so each sentence sits on its own line.

• Look down the left margin; you want a jagged edge (short, medium, long), not a perfect block.

Before → After

• Before: “We shipped. We saw usage. We iterated. We shipped again.”

• After: “We shipped. Usage spiked - then flatlined. For 48 hours we tore logs apart. On day three, we cut the feature in half and shipped again.”

Rule: Vary sentence length. Short to punch. Medium to carry. Long to crescendo.

Introducing WhatsApp Business Calls in Synthflow

65% of people still prefer voice, but 40% of business calls go unanswered. Now Synthflow Voice AI Agents can answer WhatsApp calls directly — resolving issues, booking, and following up 24/7 with full analytics.

Try It Today

3) Tone: Talk with Me, Not at Me

The highest-performing presenters (Jobs’ iPhone keynote), vloggers (Casey Neistat), and conversational creators (Emma Chamberlain) use intimate tone: it feels like a one-on-one conversation, not a broadcast.

Two fast upgrades

1. Write to one person. Tape a friend’s photo near your lens; talk to them.

2. Script as voice notes. Draft like texts to a close friend then read it.

Tell-tale fix: Replace “you all / everyone / folks” with “you”. Swap lecture verbs (“you must,” “you should”) for invites (“try this,” “notice,” “watch what happens”).

4) Direction: Start at the End

Christopher Nolan doesn’t “find” endings; he designs them first, then makes the middle earn it. Do the same.

Process

1. Write your last line first - a sharable, memorable sentence (your “last dab”).

2. Write your first line second - it should naturally loop back to the ending for short-form or set the destination for long-form.

3. Fill the middle with but / therefore beats.

Examples of “last dab” lines

• “That’s how we cut CAC 42% without touching ads.”

• “Do this for 30 days and your pipeline will stop surprising you.”

• “It wasn’t the price. It was the name.”

5) Story Lenses: Your Angle Is the Differentiator

Topics aren’t scarce. Angles are. Take the same beam of news and pass it through your prism.

Lens ladder (from common → rare)

• Common: What happened?

• Less common: What will happen next?

• Rarer: What this means economically / operationally / culturally.

• Category-of-one: What this means for my specific audience’s workflow (and what to change Monday).

Example
Everyone covered Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl with fashion takes. A better lens: “How Swift’s presence added $X to NFL’s female viewership and what that means for sponsor CPMs.” Same event, new story.

Prompt: “Ten lenses on [topic] my audience hasn’t seen: __.” Pick the one that makes your stomach flip (usually the right one).

6) Hooks That Hold: Get to the Point and Show While You Tell

Two rules:

A) Be literal from word #1
If the video is about the best strawberry trick, say “This is the strawberry trick that doubled my yield,” not “wait till you see this…”

B) Use a visual hook
Eyes process faster than ears. Put the object of the claim on screen in the first second (Epic Gardening nails this: he says “strawberries” while holding one in frame).

Hook templates

• “If your [metric] is stuck under [X], do this.”

• “The fastest way I [outcome] without [undesired thing].”

• “The mistake that killed my [goal] - and the one change that fixed it.”

Quick Diagnoser: Why Your Story Isn’t Landing

• It’s linear. Switch “and then” → “but / therefore.”

• It drones. Vary sentence length (look for the jagged edge).

• It’s broadcasty. Talk to one person. Reduce “shoulds.”

• It wanders. Write the ending first.

• It’s generic. Add a rarer story lens (economics, culture, ops, Monday-change).

• It hides the point. Make the first line literal and add a visual hook.

7-Day “Story Upgrade” Sprint

Day 1 - Inventory
List 5 recent posts. Under each, write the ending line you wish you had. Rewrite them.

Day 2 - Hooks
Write 10 literal first lines for your next topic. Pick the one a stranger would understand in 1 second.

Day 3 -The Dance
Convert your outline to but / therefore beats. No “and then.”

Day 4 - Rhythm Audit
Print the script, one sentence per line. Edit until the left edge is jagged.

Day 5 - Tone Drill
Tape a friend’s photo under the lens. Record the same opening line twice: broadcast voice vs. talk-to-one. Keep the second.

Day 6 - Lens Swap
Take a trending headline in your niche. Write three angles: common, less common, category-of-one. Record the third.

Day 7 - Visual Hooks
Reshoot three old clips adding a physical object / on-screen proof in the first second. Compare retention curves.

Swipeable Prompts (Paste into your doc)

• “This happened, but , therefore .” × 5

• “The last line I want people to repeat is: __.”

• “If my video were a text to a friend, the first sentence would be: __.”

• “Five rarer lenses on this topic: economic, cultural, workflow, talent, pricing.”

• “What object can I put in frame in the first second to prove this claim?”

The Key Takeaways:

• Structure beats charisma. A solid “but / therefore” engine outperforms cleverness.

• Cadence is a feature. Write music; attention rides the rhythm.

• One-to-one scales. Talk to one person; the right many will follow.

• Your angle is the asset. Topics are free; lenses are scarce.

• Show while you tell. Visual proof in second one changes the trajectory.

Do these, and you won’t just get more views, you’ll get viewers who remember (and buy).

That’s it for this week! If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend.

See you next time!

Do what is good for your soul ❤️

All the best,

Vivek

PS. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways in which I can help you and your business:

#1: B2B Marketing and Go-To-Market Advisory for your business.

#2: 1-on-1 Personal Coaching and Mentoring on anything related to Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategies for you.

#3: Promoting you or your brand via this newsletter.

For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.