User Guide

How to use StoryMachine

Meet StoryMachine

You have an upcoming presentation. You have notes, documents, maybe some old slides, or perhaps just a head full of rough thinking. StoryMachine turns that material into a story built for your audience, then gives you what you need to deliver it: the words for the first and last minute, speaker notes, and, if you need it, a brief for your slides.

It takes five steps and less than 30 minutes:

Key questions. What kind of presentation is it? Who is your audience, and what matters to them? What do they think about the subject? What do you want them to do? What is your message?
Your material. Paste your notes and upload your files.
Your email. We send you a six-digit code. No credit card necessary.
Your story. It arrives, ready to read, revise and download.
Slides, if you need them. A slide brief, a PowerPoint outline and a prompt for your own AI tool.

Your first story is free. Each part arrives with a line saying why it is there, so you learn the method while it works.

Step 1: Key questions

Help StoryMachine understand what you want to do.

Think carefully about these questions and answer them as thoroughly as you can. They are the foundations of your presentation.

What kind of presentation is it? Pick the kind of presentation you are making and StoryMachine makes sure that each act does its job for that audience.

Kind	Act 1	Act 2	Act 3
Project update	Where we are. Where we are now against the plan, and where we want to be.	The way forward. The issues and risks in the way, and how we will deal with each, step by step.	What we need. Actions, owners, timescales, budget, and the approval we need.
Strategy recommendation	Why change. Where we are now, where we want to be, and why it matters.	The strategy. The route we recommend, step by step, and why it beats the alternatives.	What happens next. The recommendation, the actions from here, and the decision we need.
Sales pitch	The need. The need, what it is costing them, and the gap to close.	The solution. The product, idea or service, and how it closes the gap.	The proof and the close. The proof, the price, and the next step we agree.
Choosing between options	The choice. The problem or opportunity ahead, and the criteria for a good decision.	The options. Each option, with its costs and benefits measured against the criteria.	The decision. The decision required, the recommendation if one is wanted, who decides, by when and how.
Training session	Why it matters. What the skill is, why it matters, and how it will help them.	How it works. The knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits it takes, step by step.	Practise and keep going. Practice, testing and feedback, and how to keep learning.
Conference keynote	Why it matters. How your talk fits the conference and the audience.	The present. How you and your organisation are navigating the field.	The future. What happens next, what it means, and what you want from this audience.
Scientific presentation	Why the experts should care. The implications of the latest developments in your field.	The challenges. What remains unsolved, and what it means for the field and for society.	The ask. What you are doing, and how the audience can benefit from your insights.
Bad news	What happened. What happened, the impact on people, and why, in facts.	Putting it right. What we are doing now to contain it, and the longer-term fix.	Where this ends. The future state when all is put right, and the help and information for people affected.
Something else	Why. The context and the challenge.	How. The answer, and how it works.	What. What we need from this audience.

Hover over each button for a line on what it helps you do. If you choose nothing, StoryMachine picks the likeliest kind and says which.

Then four questions:

Who is the audience and what matters to them? For example: the executive committee, eight people, sceptical about cost, who care most about the pipeline number.
What does your audience think about the topic of your presentation? Do they know a lot or not much at all? Are they in favour of it, or opposed to it? Why is the topic important to them?
What is your objective? When you finish speaking, what should the audience know, think and do? For example: understand why the process needs more structure, and approve the pilot budget.
What is your message, and why should they care? For example: we should open an office in Singapore because of the low tax rate, a highly skilled workforce and proximity to our clients in East Asia.

The more you say in response to each question, the sharper your story will be. For example, "The executive committee, who approved last year's budget and want to know what it bought" gives StoryMachine far more to work with than "senior managers".

Be specific about the objective. Finish this sentence: After my presentation, the audience will... "...approve the second phase and name an owner by Friday" is much better than "...understand the project".

Each answer can run to a short paragraph. If you don't know an answer yet, leave it blank. StoryMachine will not guess: it names what is missing as a gap, so you know what to find out before you present.

Tone of voice. Choose formal, business or conversational. A line under the buttons says which rooms each one suits. Business suits most.

Step 2: Your material

Upload or add your content.

Bring whatever you have. StoryMachine works only from your material, so the more of your own thinking it has, the more the story will sound like you.

Good material might include:

your notes, however rough;
the deck you used last time;
a paper, a report or a proposal;
an email that explains the situation;
a few lines on why this matters to you.

Paste your notes into the large box. It holds up to 60,000 characters, about 30 pages of text.

Upload any relevant files: PowerPoint (.pptx), Word (.docx), PDF or plain text.

Your files stay on your computer. StoryMachine reads the words and adds them to the box. The files themselves never leave your computer. There is no size limit on the files you can upload.

Before you go on, review what landed in the box and delete anything that does not belong.

A scanned PDF is a picture of text, so it has no words to read. Export it again with text, or paste the text in.

Step 3: Your email

Sign in with a six-digit code.

Press Find my story. If this is your first visit, a box opens beside the button. Enter your email and we will send you a code. Type it in the box. No credit card required.

Everything you have typed stays on the page while you sign in. Once the code is accepted, StoryMachine carries on.

The code works on any device.
Each code works once, for an hour. If you ask for another, use the newest code you have received.
Nothing after a minute? Look in your junk folder and mark the email as safe.

If you already have an account, click Already a user? Sign in at the top of the page. Your stories are waiting.

Signing in also adds you to the Presentation Guru list: one helpful email a month, full of useful ideas for your presentations. Unsubscribe any time.

Step 4: Your story

Perhaps a question or two, then the whole story.

Up to two questions. If something important is still open after your answers and your material, StoryMachine asks you up to two short questions before it writes. Each comes with an example of a possible answer. A couple of lines will do, but the more detail you give, the better the story. If you don't have an answer, leave it blank and press Write my story: the story will name what is missing as a gap.

The story. Stage 1 arrives first, usually in under 45 seconds. Stage 2 follows straight on, in the same run, in about a minute. Read Stage 1 while Stage 2 is on its way. Then notes on the rhetoric in your story appear under the lines they belong to.

Everything saves as you work. Open My stories at the top of the page to return to any of your stories at any time.

Stage 1: Get your story straight

Together with StoryMachine, you build a three-act story.

Here is what arrives, from the top.

The Big Idea. The one line that people will repeat in the corridor afterwards. It is the memorable form of your argument. Everything else rests on it, so spend whatever time it takes to get it right.

The audience. Who they are, what they need to hear, and what to leave out. The "leave out" list matters: it keeps your story free of unnecessary detail and leaves space for what is truly important.

The hero. Your audience is the hero of the story, and you are the faithful friend who helps them. This section names what they want and what stands in their way. Act 1 shows that obstacle; the rest of the story gets them past it.

The statement of intent. Your completion of the sentence "After my presentation, the audience will...". If you can't finish this sentence, the presentation is not ready.

The argument. Your case in one sentence. Everything in the three acts supports the argument.

Three acts. Each act has:

a headline that makes a point, written as a sentence you could say aloud;
a core message that explains it;
a soundbite, a line worth quoting. It is marked "from your notes" when the words are yours, and "proposed" when StoryMachine wrote it. Put a proposed soundbite in your own words before you present;
supporting points: only the evidence that carries the point. Everything else goes in the handout.

The gaps. What your material does not say and only you can supply: examples, numbers, the reason your presentation matters to you. StoryMachine never fills a gap with something plausible. It asks.

Stage 2: Add interest and impact

Headlines, soundbites and signposts.

Stage 2 arrives automatically after Stage 1. There is nothing to press.

The Prologue: the golden minute. Your opening, written as words for you to say. It earns attention in the first sentence, states the Big Idea, explains why it matters now and tells the audience what to expect. The word count and speaking time sit underneath. Aim for about a minute.

A signpost into each act. The sentence that tells the audience the important thing has arrived.

The Epilogue: end with certainty. Audiences need certainty. The Epilogue recaps your headlines and the actions from here, and sends the audience away with your message ringing in their ears.

The story in five lines. The whole talk in 30 seconds. If it works here, it will work with your audience.

If you change the Big Idea after Stage 2

The Epilogue ends on the Big Idea. If you change the Big Idea afterwards, a red panel appears above the Epilogue. Press Rewrite the ending and StoryMachine rewrites the Epilogue, its line in the five lines and its speaker notes so they land on the new Big Idea. Your Prologue and your acts stay exactly as you left them.

Add power to your language

The devices you use already, and where one would help.

One well-made line sticks in an audience's mind like the hook of a song. Strong speakers choose their words on purpose, and most presenters already use rhetorical devices without knowing it.

After Stage 2, StoryMachine adds short notes under the lines they belong to:

Rhetoric, in grey: up to three devices your story already uses, such as a tricolon (a list of three) or anaphora (the same words opening each phrase). Each says what the device is and why it works.
Add power, in red: up to three lines where a device would make your story stronger, with the line rewritten. Press Use this line to put it in your story, or copy the part you like.

Using a suggestion is an edit by hand, so it is always free. After you edit, press Check the rhetoric again after your edits. The notes print in the PDF and the Word file.

Make it your own

You can add or edit every section.

Type. Click any line and change it. Your edits save as you go.

Ask for a better version. Each line has a row of quick edits: sharper, simpler, more provocative, more senior, a different version, more memorable, or clearer. You can also type your own instruction, such as "use the hospital example" or "make this about the customer". StoryMachine rewrites that one line and keeps the rest of the story true to it.

Argue with StoryMachine. Talk the story through. Tell it what feels wrong, push back on its choices, ask it to try a different angle. It explains its thinking and, when you agree, revises the story.

Run it again. Press Rework the notes, change your material or your answers, and press Find my story again. This rebuilds the whole story.

Your free story includes one rerun and five AI edits. A rerun rebuilds the whole story from your changed notes. An AI edit is one line StoryMachine rewrites for you, or one reply when you argue with it. A line under the downloads shows what is left. Edits by hand are always free. A story you pay for has no limits.

Every story ends with a panel headed Make it your own: the gaps in your story, followed by advice to help you rehearse. Do these things before you present. Audiences believe speakers who sound like themselves.

Rehearse from your speaker notes

Your story in PDF or Word.

Under the story you will find Rehearse it into life:

Speaker notes. Short cues, in the order you say them. Speak from these. A cue reminds you what comes next; the words come from you in the room, so they sound like you. Word for word is for legal and political speeches only.

The words in full. The Prologue, the signposts and the Epilogue written out, for rehearsal. If you must read anything, read only the Prologue and the Epilogue. The acts are yours to tell.

Download your story to rehearse from it:

PDF. The whole story in one document: Stage 1, Stage 2, the suggestions, the speaker notes, the words in full and a final page on the method. Use it to rehearse, to share with a colleague, or to keep.

Word. The same content as an editable document.

Every figure in the story comes from your material. Check each one against its source before you present.

Then:

Review StoryMachine's suggestions. Add the example, the number or the story only you have.
Say the Prologue and Epilogue aloud. Change any word that feels borrowed.
Rehearse from the speaker notes. Talk it through with a colleague and ask three questions: What was my argument? What do I want you to do? What will you remember tomorrow? If your colleague's answers match your intent, the story works. If not, fix the story. Slides cannot repair a weak argument.

Add slides, if you need them

Step 5: in PowerPoint or using an AI tool.

The slides come last. That is the point of the method. When your story is finished, press Now make your slides. The slides page gives you:

What great slides do. One idea per slide, the three-second rule, titles that tell the story.
The slide brief. Every slide in order: the words, the picture and the part of the story it serves.
A prompt for your own AI tool. The brief with the rules for slides built in. Press Copy the prompt and paste it into whichever AI tool you use to make slides.
The PowerPoint outline. Each slide's words in the title placeholder and its picture brief in the content placeholder, with the cue in the speaker notes. Apply your company template and the slides take on its look.

Or build the slides yourself from the brief. Whichever route you take, keep the titles as written. Read in order, they tell your story.

If your talk has no slides, StoryMachine says so. A talk built for words alone is a strength.

Choose a payment plan

Your first story is free, start to finish: both stages, the PDF and the Word file, and the slides. You need only your email; there is no credit card. It includes one rerun from Rework the notes and five AI edits. Edits by hand are always free.

After that, press Upgrade at the top of the page:

each additional story, $9.99: that story, for as long as you keep it, edited as often as you like;
one month, $19.99: as many stories as you like for one month, cancel any time;
one year, $149.99: as many stories as you like for one year, cancel any time.

A story you pay for has no limits: rerun it, edit it and argue with StoryMachine as often as you like, and download it again whenever you want.

If you cancel a month or a year, you keep every story you made while you were subscribed, and you can still edit them without limits. You need a story or a new plan to start another.

On one of our programmes? Use the link from your programme email. Sign in on that page and you will receive 20 stories that you can work on any time. You can also enter a programme code at any time under Programme code at the top of the page.

Billing. Monthly and yearly subscribers manage or cancel from Billing at the top of the page. Payments go through Stripe.

Get help

The code did not arrive. Check your junk folder, wait a minute, then send another request. If more than one email arrives, use the newest.

The code did not work. Each code works once, for an hour, and a new request cancels the old one. Request a new code and use that.

My PDF upload added no text. It is probably a scanned document. Export it again with text, or paste the text in.

The story missed my point. Sharpen your answers to the key questions, then press Find my story again. Those answers steer everything else. Or tell StoryMachine what you meant.

A figure looks wrong. StoryMachine keeps every number exactly as your material gives it. If one looks wrong, check the source. Then correct the line by hand.

The soundbites do not sound like me. They are not meant to sound like you until you edit them. This is a collaborative process. Put each one in your own words.

I have used my free rerun or my five AI edits. You can still edit every line by hand, and download the story as often as you like. For more runs and edits, choose a plan under Upgrade.

I lost my notes when I signed in. That should not happen: the page keeps everything while you sign in. If it does, write to us at the address below.

Can I use it for a client presentation? Yes. The story is yours: your material, your conviction, your words.

For anything else, or for training for you or your team in the method behind it: storymachine@themessagebusiness.com

Terms, privacy and refunds are linked at the foot of every page.