Story telling is universal and an ancient custom that began when our first ancestors learned to communicate sitting around a fire. Our brains are hard wired to communicate through stories. Even today if we are standing around a barbeque or sitting at a dinner table, we communicate with each other by telling stories about our experiences. We don’t list facts like a power point presentation. We engage using a story telling format which is much more powerful than a recital of facts and figures.
We are drawn to stories because we
can see something of ourselves in them and we gain insight into other
experiences. We find commonality and connection.
There is a theory that people who
read stories develop more empathy because they are exposed to other people’s
perspective which allows them to grow their own world view.
Our brain experiences imagined
stories the same way we experience reality. One can extrapolate this
finding to the way we experience films, listen to the radio or audible books.
The television programme in the United States known as “60 Minutes” tackles a variety of social and political issues.
But it has one golden rule. Find
people whose personal stories make the issue more real to the viewer. They connect to the story better because it is no longer
an abstract issue. It has real life consequences for real people.
Stories are far easier to remember. Facts are twenty times more likely to be remembered if they are embroidered in a story.
Stories are the most effective way of exerting influence. If you are a business, you want to influence your consumers. So consider finding ways to communicate your brand to your market in a variety of story-telling formats. It is the best way to connect with your market and to be remembered by them.
No comments:
Post a Comment