The importance of storytelling has become universally accepted in today’s marketing world, but why does it work so well? Contributor Peter Minnium delves into the biological underpinnings of how stories affect us and explains the scientific explanations for how stories work.
Stories are all about movement
Stories are instruction manuals that explain how we get from Point A to Point B; the key here is movement from one state of being to another.
- In expressing this movement, stories help us visualize how we can improve our own lives or avoid an unpleasant fate.
- In addition to the “how,” stories also provide us with a “why.”
Metaphors are the most basic stories
Like mini-stories, metaphors encode complex ideas in an often visceral package
- We intuitively use metaphors to describe how we feel, but until recently, we did not understand why the use of figurative imagery was such an engaging way to express ideas.
- Recent neuroimaging (fMRI) experiments have begun to reveal what makes metaphors so gripping
Stories make ideas real for their audience
Oxytocin makes stories come to life by building empathic connections
- These neurological insights emphasize the significance of dramatic tension and a complete plot, and they hint at the value of using visceral imagery
- In confirming our intuitions about its essential qualities, they have plotted a course toward greater understanding of effective communication
A good story moves us
Transportation allows us to vicariously experience a story’s movement through its characters
- When we read a gripping novel or watch an exciting movie, we are drawn into the action, effectively transported into the fictional world of the story
- The characters’ struggles, and their rewards, become our own
Attention, Connection, and Action
Good stories catch your attention, draw you in, and move you to action
- The role of attention in storytelling is already well understood.
- We will only focus our attention on those things that seem significant, and stories that don’t capture our attention will fail to deliver their message.
