How to Find the Emotional Core of Any Story

What your story makes people feel is what they'll remember.

Why This Matters

Stories work because they make people feel something. But too often, we focus on what we want to say—not how we want people to feel. And that’s a miss.

If you want your story to resonate, you need to understand its emotional core. Because emotion drives attention, recall, and action—especially in high-stakes moments like a pitch, a campaign launch, or a big talk.

Research shows that emotions influence decisions more than logic, especially in consumer behavior, leadership, and memory retention. The best stories don’t just inform—they transform.

The Tool: The Feeling Wheel

Created by Dr. Gloria Willcox, the Feeling Wheel helps you go beyond generic labels like “happy” or “sad.” It breaks emotions into six core feelings—mad, sad, scared, joyful, powerful, and peaceful—then expands each one into more nuanced, specific emotions.

Using this tool helps storytellers pinpoint what their audience is feeling (or should be), so the message lands on an emotional level—not just an intellectual one.

How to Use the Feeling Wheel in Storytelling

1. What should your audience feel when the story ends—joy, fear, peace, anger, sadness, power?
2. Go one layer deeper. Are you trying to evoke pride? Shame? Gratitude? Hope?
3. Tone, imagery, rhythm, even word choice should all align with that emotion.
4. After writing, revisit the wheel. Are you really hitting that emotional note? If not, revise.

The FEELS are EVERYWHERE

Ted Lasso (Season 2 arc around mental health)

Core Emotion: Scared
​Specific Feelings: Anxious, overwhelmed, exposed

While the show is known for its optimism, Season 2 took a sharp emotional turn, diving into anxiety, panic attacks, and therapy. Ted’s resistance to opening up is met with humor and vulnerability—making his emotional transformation feel authentic.

Why it works: It shifted the show from feel-good comedy to something deeper, inviting viewers to connect with the discomfort of confronting internal struggles.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Core Emotion: Joyful
​Specific Feelings: Grateful, loving, free

Despite its chaotic multiverse plot, the movie lands emotionally by ending on a clear emotional truth: love, forgiveness, and presence matter most. The film's emotional arc takes audiences from confusion to clarity, chaos to connection.

Why it works: Amid overwhelming visual and narrative complexity, the emotional core is simple and universal—and that’s what people carry with them.

Courtesy @Humansofny​

Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York photo series

Core Emotion: Peaceful or Sad (depending on the post)
​Specific Feelings: Seen, understood, reflective

Stanton’s portraits and micro-narratives often focus on life’s hardest or most joyful moments. He uses first-person storytelling to distill complicated emotions into single human experiences that are deeply relatable.

Why it works: Every post centers a distinct emotion—and that clarity makes strangers care.

Try This Now

Ask yourself:

1. What is my audience feeling right now?
2. What do I want them to feel when the story ends?
3. Which word on the Feeling Wheel best matches that desired emotion?

Then, craft your story to guide them there.

Real Life:

Take a story you’ve already told—an email, video, pitch, post—and identify the emotion behind it. Now rewrite that same message with that specific feeling as the anchor.

Final Thought

When you know what your story is really about—emotionally—you don’t just inform people. You connect with them.

Use the Feeling Wheel to clarify the emotion behind your message. Then build your story around it. The clearer the feeling, the deeper the impact.