Vintage on Tap

Tag: Matthew Dicks

  • If There’s No Story, There’s No Video

    If There’s No Story, There’s No Video

    I’ve made tutorials online for years.

    And I’m only now confronting my YouTube kryptonite: storytelling.

    Sitting at my desk didn’t prep me for when the bucket of cold water hit: “Stop talking AT your audience, start talking TO them.”

    The truth hurt; I stopped making videos for nearly two years after that.

    I questioned myself, my vision for the videos, and went into analysis paralysis: what I could possibly say that wasn’t just… here’s a tutorial?

    Existential questions arose: Does anyone care about what I bring to the table? Do I even have a story to tell?

    Lightning struck in the form of a book recommendation, Matthew Dicks’ “Storyworthy“, which I devoured in less than a week, walking on the treadmill. Nothing like a series of mind-fuck moments when you’re trying to get your steps in after work.

    Page from the book "Storyworthy", with a section outlined in black, with green and pink highlighting. The passage reflects on what is the story of the day.

    Big stories need to be more about the little moments than the big ones.

    Matthew Dicks, Storyworthy

    What an unlock at Speed 5.7, Incline 2 to stop the audiobook in its tracks:

    Are there really Little Moments about sewing and vintage that are Big Stories? Is that something I can talk about? Will people care if I do?

    Carefully, I picked up that idea. Carefully, I held it close and really asked myself, what would it look like if every video had a Five Second Moment? What if I leaned on storytelling?

    Moments of real meaning that I had never noticed before. …Transformation.

    Matthew Dicks, Storyworthy

    The idea has grown inside me like a seed. It’s like finally being able to see the possibilities of what my videos can say.

    Storytelling and Video Production is picking up steam.

    I’m practicing every day to find the Five Second Moment, the key to not talking AT people but TO them. It’s meant reflecting daily on where there are stories in my life and how those stories might connect with my audience, especially those who’ve been with me for a while.

    Is it scary? Absolutely.

    Notebook with writing and a fountain pen on top. Notebook has the date of April 27, with text in black describing the experience of getting a tattoo
    Five Second Moment in my Journal
    Close up of a tattoo on a leg. The tattoo is of a mai tai drink, with a pineapple garnish, skull swizzler stick, and flowers.
    What prompted the moment

    To find those moments means being vulnerable about transformation, having a perspective, and using that to drive connection. It moves away from the transaction of a tutorial and instead to the human relationships that my channel has been lacking up till now.

    References

    1. Matthew Dicks: Storyworthy, 2018
    2. Tattoo design, Nestor Gonzalez, 2025