January 22, 2026
Most people think that a great story is all about structure.
But the stories we remember for years are the ones that make us feel something specific—an emotion so powerful most people don’t even know its name.
Let me show you what it is.
October 2024. I’m standing at the finish line of the Amsterdam Marathon.
Most people are already packing up. But then I see her—the last runner. Face red, shoulders slumped, the car behind her waiting to pick her up if she slows down.
And I think, she’s not going to make it, right? But I start clapping. Come on, you’ve got this. You’ve got this.
The person next to me starts clapping as well. Then immediately, some more people join. And when she sees the crowd clapping for her, her face changes.
That pain—it softens. Her head lifts, and she crosses the finish line. Not first, obviously, but proud.
I don’t know who she is, but something about that moment touched me so deeply. It was just so freaking beautiful to experience this gigantic moment for this woman.
That moment, that feeling, has a name. It’s called kama muta.
Now, what is kama muta?
The word comes from Sanskrit. Kama means love or longing, and muta means moved or touched.
Together, kama muta means being deeply moved to the point of tears—but not because something is sad. Because it’s so beautiful, so profound, so overwhelming, it cracks you open.
I first heard that word when I interviewed filmmaker Jasper Claus. He told me, “If you can make people feel kama muta, they will never forget your story.” And he’s right.
Kama muta is the emotion that makes stories live on in people’s hearts. It’s what makes people connect to your story and remember it for the rest of their lives.
So how can you create it? Here are three techniques.
The best stories make it clear what the character wants. But what really moves people is why it matters.
For example, if I said, “Well, I wanted a promotion,” you might think, cool, good for you. I want that too.
But if I said, “I wanted that promotion so I could move my kids into a safer school,” suddenly you would feel it, right? You see the stakes increase. The why gives meaning to the what.
So when you tell your story, don’t just stop at your goal.
Ask yourself: why does it matter so much to me?
Now let’s keep that same example.
Let’s say I wanted that promotion to move my kids to a safer school. By the way, I don’t have any kids—just to be clear.
But imagine I tell the story like this: “Well, I had this goal. I sent one email, and then I got the promotion.”
You’d be like, “What the f**k?” Right? This is a terrible story. There’s no struggle, no buildup.
The best stories do it differently. In every great story, the hero struggles. They sweat. They fail. They try again and again.
So a kama muta version of that same story might sound like this:
For three days, I called 341 potential customers. Almost every single one of them hung up within seconds. On day three, I was so exhausted, I thought, “Fuck, I’m not going to get that promotion.”
Do you see the difference?
So show what it cost. Show the effort, the rejections, the fight.
When people hear the struggle, the audience feels the weight of the journey. That’s what makes the payoff so much more meaningful later on.
This is the heart of every kama muta story—the moment when something shifts. Before that moment, you were one person. After it, you’re someone completely different.
In that previous example, this is how that moment could have looked:
Right then, my manager walked up to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said quietly, “Hey, you’re closer than you think. Make one more call.”
After that, I take a breath, pick up the phone one more time. That one call turns out to be the largest deal that has ever been closed in my freaking company.
Do you see? That’s the moment of transformation. It’s the instance where exhaustion turns into courage and doubt turns into belief.
It’s not about telling people you changed. It’s about showing the exact moment when the switch happened.
When you do that, your audience doesn’t just understand your change—they feel it with you.
That’s it. If your story has those three components, you will flood your listeners with kama muta, and they will remember your story for the rest of their lives.
Now, today we explored one core concept of every great story. But if you want to go further, check out this next article. I’ll give you some practical tips on how to become a magnetic storyteller. See you there.
Enjoy.
P.S. Want to become a stronger communicator?
Here are two ways I can support you:
👉 Want to tell more engaging stories? Join our next Storytelling Workshop.
👉 Want to speak with confidence and clarity? Check out our Communication Skills Training.
Both are fun, practical, and designed to help you grow fast.
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