Location and Action Openers
Start every story with where you are and what's happening — it activates imagination and silences the room.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
Dicks's single most tactical rule: begin every story you ever tell with two things — a location and an action. Location is one word imbued with a thousand adjectives (it activates the listener's imagination instantly); action signals the story is already moving forward. Together they grab attention immediately and, crucially, signal 'a story is starting,' which earns quiet and space to speak — especially valuable for people from groups who struggle to be heard.
Origin
Matthew Dicks's closing tactical advice; he notes marginalized storytellers he's taught report the technique wins them the room's attention.
Core principles
- 01Location is one word that comes 'imbued with a thousand adjectives' — the listener fills in the picture
- 02Action signals forward motion, so the audience knows something will actually happen
- 03The opener functions as a social signal — 'the movie's on, nobody talks during the movie'
- 04This single move makes you '50% better' than before
How to run it
- 1
Open with a location
State where you are in the first breath — 'I'm standing in the kitchen.' The listener instantly renders a fully realized place from their own memory.
Pro tip Only specify particulars of the location if they're relevant to the story; otherwise let the listener's imagination furnish it.
- 2
Add an immediate action
Have something happening right away — 'I am in a place and I'm doing a thing.' Like a spaceship already firing or a cop already chasing someone, not a static setup.
Pro tip Action reassures the audience the story is moving forward, not warming up.
Watch out Don't open with 'nonsense' or throat-clearing; something must already be in motion.
- 3
Use the opener as a signal to claim the room
Recognize that 'location + action' announces 'I am now telling a story,' which prompts listeners to quiet down and grant you space — a powerful tool if you find it hard to be heard.
Pro tip People Dicks taught reported 'my god, people listen to me' after adopting this opener.
In the wild
Dicks repeatedly cites openings that begin mid-action in a place: a big spaceship shooting a small one, and a Hitchcock film opening on a police officer chasing a man across a roof. Something is already happening the instant we arrive.
→ Models the location-plus-action opener that grabs an audience before they know any details.
Common mistakes
Warming up before the story
Static setup or preamble wastes the opening; the audience needs a place and motion immediately.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone telling stories aloud — especially those who find it hard to hold a room's attention or claim space to speak.
Not ideal for
Written long-form where a slower literary opening is intentional.
From the transcript
“So, you start with location. Where are you? Location activates imagination.”
“you start with action, meaning something needs to be happening right away”
“start every story you ever tell for the rest of your life with those two things and you're already going to be like 50% better”
“it just tells people like the movie's on. Nobody talks during the movie.”
From the episode
How to tell better stories
Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy)