This doesn’t necessarily mean chronological, but simply, in story order. We all tell stories. Some tell them better than others! Sponteaneously telling a story, and writing or crafting stories to tell is a different task altogether and it’s here, we can get our underwear in a twist.
Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. This is your linear line. When crafting, decide where your story needs to start, and where it ends. Do this first. Now you can focus on the middle. Everything in the middle serves to tie these two points together and only relevant and necessary information should be there, anything else, throw it out. Agreeing your start and end points, can be a useful tool when crafting your story and one I often recommend to people writing their talks. Is it the only way? Of course not. Can it be super helpful? Absolutely. Do I use it? Yes!
So why does it not need to be chronological? Simply because you choose when information is revealed, and the timing of the reveal isn’t always chronologically faithful to the event timeline. For example, you may save the revelation about a significant characteristic of a person in your story, until the very end. Doing so, could totally change the meaning or understanding of the story and have the most impact on your audience and end with the biggest ‘reveal’ the audience never saw coming. This is powerful crafting, which leads to powerful storytelling. When crafting, you are the magician.
To recap, agree your start and end points, the rest serves the journey between the two. Choose the timing of your reveals carefully and for maximum impact - your secret wand! Have fun crafting your next impactful story.