there's a formula to make you likable 🧪💥💖
a YouTube Short with a list of traits you want to have
YT short of the week #008
Hello friends 👋
We all want to be loved, liked, and feared respected.
So what makes a character likable?
Is there a secret formula?
That’s Christopher's (a.k.a Magnify) "The Secret Formula for Likable Characters" first trick:
A universally relatable topic:
The “likeability formula”.
I don't know about you, but I'm back to studying Swedish and I like my class. It would be cool if they liked me back.
Magnify's second trick?
Trend-surfing.
He uses the latest Napoleon movie “getting shredded by the critics” to blend a timeless concept like “character likability” with a trend topic like Napoleon's flop at the box office.
“The Napoleon” YT short structure goes like this:
1. Bombastic trend surfing
2. "People Are Saying"
3. But Why Is That?
4. The Theory and the Formula
5. Formula Components
6. The Winning Formula
7. Formula Poster Child
8. Back to Napoleon
Watch the short and I'll see you for the breakdown.
The Secret Formula for "Likable" Characters
by Magnify
1.78M Views / 3.8K Comments / 152K Likes
59 seconds / 197 words
Dec 2, 2023
Storytelling beats:
1. Bombastic trend surfing
0:00 - 0:03
"The new Napoleon movie is getting shredded by critics"
Why it works:
Absolute thumb-stopper of a statement.
An invitation to have fresh insights into a current conversation.
But let's get real. If there's one thing that brings humanity together, it's the collective appeal of watching something burn.
🌎🔥☮️👫
2. People Are Saying
0:04 - 0:06
"and a lot of people are saying that the main character isn't likable"
Why it works:
“people are saying” will always do the trick.
Who are “the people”?
Why are these people saying what they’re saying?
3. But Why Is That?
0:07 - 0:10
"but what exactly makes a character 'likable'?"
Why it works:
First mystery solved, Scooby doo. The movie sucks because the main character isn’t likable.
But that’s an entree and we came for a meal.
The main question is:
What makes you root for a sleazeball like good 'ol Tony Soprano?
4. The Theory and the Formula
0:11 - 0:18
"in his book The Story Solution, Eric Edson offers a secret formula for likability based on nine positive attributes"
Why it works:
Here is the answer. An early payoff.
But a new curiosity loop comes in:
What are those 9 positive attributes?
And how many do I have?
Introducing Edson's likability formula we go from subjective opinions to a structured analysis.
5. Formula Components
0:19 - 0:32
"the character has courage, or an unfair injury, they have skill, they are funny, they are just plain nice, they're in danger, they're loved by friends and family, they are hardworking, or they are obsessed"
Why it works:
Detailing the nine attributes educates the audience. It provides concrete criteria.
Also, showing footage of characters representing these traits keeps your brain engaged in making the connections.
Much better than Magnify telling you "obsessed like Daniel Plainview".
Yes. That big brain of yours loves to connect the dots.
By the way, what’s Rome’s “unfair injury”, having a shitty billionaire dad?
6. The Winning Formula
0:33 - 0:37
"in order for us to feel like a character is likable they just need to have five out of the nine"
Why it works:
Clarifying the minimum requirement simplifies the concept and makes it actionable.
7. Formula Poster Child
0:38 - 0:47
"which explains why we can still like a character who does terrible things as long as they have courage, an unfair injury, and are a skilled hard worker who is in a lot of danger"
Why it works:
Here is where you engrave the concept into your audience’s mind with a killer example.
Using Walter White/Heisenberg as a formula poster child illustrates how the principle applies to complex, morally ambiguous characters.
8. Back to Napoleon
0:48 - 0:54
"I think the real-life Napoleon probably had most of these, but this movie chooses to take away the courage and skill that it would take for us to really feel for him"
Why it works:
Full circle.
1. The timeless: why some characters, however imperfect, are likable.
Humanity in a nutshell.
Just for the record: this is not a hallway pass to go through life being a douche holding an “it’s because I’m damaged” sign.
Be nice, kids.
2. The current: Joaquin Phoenix’s movie bombing. A trending topic that will serve as a vessel for your timeless message.
9. Ask the Audience
0:55 - 0:59
"but let me know if you can think of any character who is an exception to this rule of needing five to be likable"
Why it works:
Ending with a question helps. But ending with the question “Tell me who you think is likable/dislikable” is catnip for YouTube's comment section.
Remember:
Timeless wisdom wrapped in a current trend is a winning combo.
Any current event is fair game if you can draw genuine and insightful connections.
The World Cup for the power of rituals.
The slapping of Chris Rock for emotional regulation
Japan landing on the moon for "The Overview Effect"
The Cybertruck to talk about Hype-cycles
If you successfully wrap the timeless with the zeitgeist, your audience will walk away educated, actualized, and equipped with a cool chit-chat replacer for their next social event.
And that's my time for today, ma’ams and sirs.
So glad you're here.
See you next week
Still working on my second long-form YT, but here's my first:
See you next week
Matias Ruiz-Tagle
Founder of Atomic Stories