Why are stories so powerful?

Why are stories so powerful? I have just watched this absolutely amazing TED talk by Karen Eber about the value of storytelling. Karen tells a couple of stories that explain the importance of helping people feel seen, especially if you are a leader.

Stories are a great way to connect with people, but leaders often struggle to tell them, and rely on data instead. Stories can be a way to connect us to information differently. When listening to data we tend to forget 50% of it immediately. When we hear a story, different parts of our brain are involved and our senses and emotions become engaged. We can visualise what is being described, and our brain as a listener mirrors what is happening in the storyteller’s brain, in a process called neural coupling. We create an artificial reality as if we are actually experiencing what we are hearing.

When we listen to stories, we also gain empathy for the storyteller. This causes oxytocin, the feel-good hormone, to be released in our brain. The more oxytocin we have, the more trustworthy we feel the speaker is. The very act of telling a story makes people trust us more.

Data, on the other hand, does not change our behaviour or emotions. Decision making starts in our amygdala, in the emotion centre of the brain. At a subconscious level we make decisions to pursue pleasure or avoid risk long before our conscious brain gets involved. We think these are logical, rational decisions, but this is not the case at all. People with damage to their amygdala cannot make decisions, because they cannot experience emotions.

Our brains also love to anticipate and fill in the gaps, so data never really speaks for itself. We put our own experience and bias onto it, so we all interpret it differently.

A great story answers three questions:

1 – What is the context?

2 – What is the conflict?

3 – What is the outcome?

A great story also has three attributes:

1 – It builds and releases tension

2 – It builds an idea to help you see something you can no longer unsee

3 – It communicates value

A common mistake is to start with the data, without having a big picture. A better approach is to start by looking at the problem we are trying to solve, and what we want people to think, feel, and do differently at the end. Storytelling gives us a framework to guide us through the data, and make it so much more memorable!

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 196 days to go!