There’s been a murder in the White House.
It happens during a state banquet.
A world-famous detective is called.
No-one’s allowed to leave – presidents, ambassadors, famous stars… they’re all locked in until the murder is solved.
Classic whodunnit stuff.
Not my invention, unfortunately. It’s a new Netflix show called “The Resident.”
Fast-paced. Gripping.
But then, suddenly, something strange happens…
The entire show screeches to a halt!
At the start of episode 4, we’re suddenly transported to some point in the past, where our detective protagonist, Cordelia Cupp, is sitting on a beach doing nothing.
For 15 whole minutes.
Just staring through a pair of binoculars and chatting to a child.
Think about this as an editorial decision —
The directors deliberately killed the pace of their thriller to give us a slow, meandering backstory that risked viewers clicking away in boredom.
Why on earth would they do that?
Well I’ll tell you why…
Because they understand something fundamental about storytelling.
It’s the power of the origin story.
See, those 15 minutes weren’t just random filler. They showed us what made the detective tick. Why she became who she is. The emotional drivers behind her choices.
And something magical happens when we learn someone’s origin story – we become invested in them as a person.
We start to care.
We feel like we know them.
The character transforms from “that detective solving the case” to “Cordelia, who I understand and care about.”
This makes us more invested in the rest of the series, more likely to recommend it to our friends, and, should there ever be a sequel, awaiting it with eager anticipation.
This is brilliant storytelling, but it’s also a masterclass in audience engagement.
As an educator, your audience is your livelihood.
And engagement with that audience is your currency.
In my business StoryLearning, I talk about my origin story a LOT.
Not because I fancy myself particularly interesting (though I do have my moments), but because I know it creates an emotional connection that nothing else can match.
When someone understands WHY I do what I do, they’re infinitely more likely to:
- Follow my work
- Engage with my content
- Trust my recommendations
- Respond to my offers
I’m often shocked by how many brilliant entrepreneurs hide their most compelling stories. They think customers only care about information.
But Netflix doesn’t spend millions on shows about faceless detectives solving crimes through pure logic. They invest in characters we connect with emotionally.
Your audience craves the same connection.
Which is why you should make a big deal of your origin story in your content.
Especially in your email welcome sequence — it’s what everybody sees when they join your email newsletter.
But there’s a fine art to crafting an effective origin story…
Get it right, and you create lifelong fans who have a real emotional connection with you.
Get it wrong, and you run the risk of boring people to tears and having them reach for the unsubscribe button faster than a Trump tariff reversal.
Namaste,
Olly