Welcome to Issue 33 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to use storytelling to grow your brand. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.)

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Hello Reader,

Books don’t change lives. Sentences do.

I heard that from a founder I admire and have written about—someone whose entire business is built around short, sticky truths that settle into your chest.

I paused and thought to myself:

Is that true?

It stuck with me (as these things do) because it felt true.

A single sentence, received at the right time, can change everything. It can shift the way you think, act, communicate, or lead.

Of course, we need the story for context. But the thing that makes the story occupy space in your mind like the melody of a song you haven’t heard in years?

That’s the big, simple idea.

It’s the things you highlight in a book. The line in an article you screenshot. The tweet (RIP) you repost.

It’s not platitudes. (Although those have their place.)

But small, unconventional truths or ideas that put into words something you’ve struggled to articulate.

Why do these sentences hit so hard? How do you write them on purpose? And why are they so critical in storytelling?

Let’s talk about it.

A Good Question

This came up earlier this week in my very first storytelling cohort (more on that later), when one member, Owen—an organizational psychologist and somatic coach—shared a post that had gone viral.

We pulled it up in a live content audit, and immediately, I could see why it resonated. It’s an elegant, simple post that contains all the elements of a great story for social.

He starts with a line that pulls people in:

This line surfaces a quiet, widely held belief and then immediately flips it. (Classic storytelling hook.)

Commonly held belief → opposite take.

It creates tension, curiosity, and a reason to keep reading.

Then, he shares a vulnerable story—a moment of personal realization—that builds credibility and warmth.

But the real reason I think this post resonated is contained in this sentence:

Poetic. Memorable. Shareable. It distills a universal, deeply human experience into just a few words. It's sticky.

And everything else—the reversal, the story, the invitation at the end—made space for it to land.

A Good Takeaway

The story is the delivery system. But your takeaway—your new realization, perspective shift, or insight—is the message. And the message is the most important part of brand storytelling (or any storytelling).

It doesn't need to be controversial or overly clever or even especially personal.

But, if you want your stuff to be memorable, you need that one line that cracks something open.

A new perspective. A clear articulation of a feeling. A shift in the way someone (you or someone else) sees the world—or themselves.

So how do you find that line? You can start by asking:

1. What’s the one truth you believe that not everyone sees yet?

The best content often starts by naming what feels obvious to you, but not to everyone else.

Examples from my clients just this week:

“If you want your team to trust you, you have to go first.”
“Being good at your job doesn’t mean you’re ready to lead.”
“You don’t need more strategy. You need more courage.”

2. What’s the moment that changed your perspective?

Zoom in on when something clicked. What did you realize? What’s the simplest version of that insight?

3. What’s something you’ve felt but didn’t have language for—until now?

Your job as a storyteller isn’t to translate. It’s to put words to what others can’t quite name yet.

Before I start writing anything—and certainly before I publish—I ask myself: What’s the one line I want them to remember?

Sometimes it comes to me fully formed. Usually, I find it halfway through writing. But I’m always looking for that line. The one that makes someone pause and message me to say, “I felt that.”

And it’s almost always a small, simple truth. One that reveals something about how we think, work, or feel.

If you can write toward that sentence—refine it, sharpen it, strip it down—you’ll make your stories more memorable, your content more powerful, and your brand more felt.

Because in the end, it’s not the full story they remember. It’s the sentence that changed something.

A Few Good Resources

1. ​The title of this video is a bit misleading, but the topic around the half-mark might be helpful to hear. It's about how one viral storyteller said something that got him in trouble and how he responded.
2. Lindsay Hope, a writer in my community, recently spoke on all things AI without losing authenticity, as well as what you need to know for marketing emails.
3. ​Loved this series of 20-minute stories from successful entrepreneurs. It includes little backstories and that one little realization that changed everything.

One last note: I'm off for Spring Break with my girls and mom next week, where I'll be sharing a big piece of my childhood with them for the first time. It's weird, but awesome, to say Cancun is home. All that's to say: No newsletter next week. See you the week after!

Hope you have a good one,
Renee