Hi TrueLie,
Whether your essay word limit is super-short or more extended, one of the best storytelling techniques you can learn is "parachuting" into a story. This is also a skill that will be helpful to you in management consulting interviews if you are interested in recruiting for those jobs.
Parachuting into a story means you begin the story right in the middle of the action, giving the reader only the essential information needed to understand what is going on. It allows you to launch right into the most important part of your story as well as leaves enough word count for you to give details on your thought process, lessons learned, etc.
Here is an example of an introductory sentence that parachutes right into the action of the story:
It was only my second month at work as an associate brand manager at Nestle when my supervisor's superior pulled me aside to inform me that my supervisor had been hospitalized. Therefore, I would now be in charge of managing the new product launch.
Then, you go ahead and tell the rest of the story, making sure that you let the reader know how everything turned out in the end.
When I edit client essays, this is one of the most common things I help them learn to take their essays from good to great.
Best,
Kaneisha
Kaneisha Grayson, Harvard MBA + MPA '10
Founder, The Art of Applying®: get into the graduate school of your dreams and get money to pay for it
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