📚I LOVE a good story – whether I’m listening to or telling one. (Maybe it’s the Irish in me).
So, I was happy recently to be working on a Storytelling keynote. This was about Storytelling in a sales context but stories are effective in all walks of life, any time we’re trying to influence, inspire or inform others.
While research is ongoing, studies tell us that well-crafted stories impact the audience at a chemical level.
🧪They release oxytocin (our social bonding and trust chemical) in the listener, which can help you connect with the audience and establish trust.
🤼All good stories include some sort of conflict to be resolved. Hearing about that conflict triggers the release of cortisol (our stress hormone), which helps focus the audience’s attention on something that matters to them (so, choose the subject of your story wisely), and helps them remember the story.
🌟 Anticipating the outcome of the story releases dopamine (our pleasure and reward chemical), helping to keep the audience engaged.
🧠 When we see or hear a story, the neurons in our brain fire in the same patterns as the storyteller’s, (a process known as neural coupling or mirroring), synchronizing the listener’s brain with the storyteller’s brain.
According to entrepreneur and storyteller, Leo Widrich, in his essay, “The Science of Storytelling: What Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains,” research suggests that when we hear a story, “not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our brain that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are, too,” increasing the likelihood that the listener’s understanding will be closer to what the storyteller intended.
✍️The words we use also matter. Using descriptive language brings the story to life and helps the audience imagine themselves in the situation we’re describing.
What key messages do you want to deliver and what stories can you tell to reinforce them? 👇
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