How to make storytelling work, every time

When I ask companies what they do to convey their messages to their audience, they often say "I use storytelling, I heard that's the technique"! Storytelling is indeed useful, but how do you make sure your stories really move your audience? How do you go from single arguments to converting people to action?

This is what I delved into and came up with three key questions:

1. Why are stories important?

2. How do you use storytelling in professional settings?

3. How can you easily apply storytelling yourself?

We are overwhelmed with information every day. Everywhere you look you see advertising, messages, and attention grabbers. And that information only sticks if you tell stories. Because stories allow information to be processed in our brains. If I learned anything during my master's degree in communication science it's that, information gets processed when it's told in the right way and at the right time.

Sounds very logical. But is there any evidence for this?

Absolutely.

Gupta and Jha (2022) nicely articulated this in their literature review based on several scientific studies, "Storytelling is a two-way process between a storyteller and the listener, releasing chemicals such as cortisol, oxytocin, and dopamine. These chemicals increase attention, pleasure, and empathy. Thus, the reader feels engaged and the brain waves synchronize with those of the narrator, making them feel the same emotions."

As you can see in one of the models they created below, the release of these "positive substances" causes there to be more empathy, mentally create visual images and therefore emotions, and change negative emotions into positive emotions. This, they believe, is what is needed to store information.

Storytelling and the effect on cognition by Gupta, R. & Jha, M. (2022)

Is this all?

No, it is also incredibly important that there is structure in a story, according to Cron (2012). Without story structure, everyone will give meaning to the images in their own way. This way, it goes in all directions and probably not the direction you want it to go.

Story structure ensures that the meaning is clear. Result? Everyone processes and remembers the story in the same, desired, way.

So... what is the point of stories?

- Stories align with the way our brain processes information.

- Stories can turn our negative emotions into positive emotions.

- Thanks to stories, we process and remember information in the same way.

Gupta, R. & Jha, M. (2022). The Psychological Power of Storytelling. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 10(3), 606-614. DIP:18.01.061.202 21003, DOI:10.25215/1003.061

Cron, Lisa (2012) Wired For Story - The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence

Are you supposed to write a modern fairy tale every time you use storytelling in a business context? No, structure is enough, according to Chapin (2020).

Because you should:

- start with an introduction

- introduce a conflict

- resolve the conflict

The most important thing is this: a good story has a suspense arc in the middle. Therefore, between the introduction and the resolution, there must be a conflict. Because without conflict, there is no suspense.

An example:

Electric car

- Many people want to save on gasoline and help the environment.

- But not everyone has money for an electric car.

- That's why you can lease an electric car cheaper than a gasoline car at CarBrand.

What is the conflict in this story? Lack of money.

Chapin, D. (2020)

The suspense arc makes the story.

So how do you create such a tension arc? You'll read about it in point 3.

Chapin, D. (2020, 15 June). The Purpose of Stories: And-But-Therefore | Forma Life Science Marketing. Forma Life Science Marketing. https://www.formalifesciencemarketing.com/white-papers/life-science-stories-and-but-therefore/​

This is the part that's really useful because I'll tell you how to do it yourself.

Is there a universal formula that you can apply yourself that will always make for a good story with a suspenseful arc? Yes, there is.

I read about this formula created by the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

"If you are moving between the events of your story with the phrase 'this and this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened' - your story will be crap.

Instead, a good story should be crafted as 'this happens, and therefore this happens' or 'this happens, but then this happens.' This way, your story gains structure." (Stone & Parker, 2017)

A brilliant description if you ask me. In short:

Each story consists of sentences or paragraphs that Stone and Parker call "beads." When you string those beads together, you get a story.

It's important in this that you don't use "and then". Because of this, the story continues in one direction and nothing new happens.

Stone and Parker have a rule that you replace every "and then" with but or therefore.

And why does this work so well?

- The word "but" signals a new perspective (thus also a new impulse which in turn triggers dopamine in your brain).

- The word "therefore" signals a consequence (so your story goes in a new direction and again generates dopamine).

Fabian Valdez. (2017, 25 January). Writing advice from Matt Stone & Trey Parker @ NYU | MTVU’s “Stand In” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUNqq3jVLg

But this is not yet the formula. The formula was coined by Olson (2015), which the aforementioned Chapin also mentioned.

Olson wrote in his book "Houston, we have a narrative," the sacred formula is: and, but, therefore.

In fact, these three becomings immediately create curiosity. This structure creates that arc of suspense from my previous point. This creates a flow that makes you want to continue reading.

Olson, R. (2015). Houston, we have a narrative: Why Science Needs Story. University of Chicago Press.

So storytelling is an incredibly fine tool for conveying information to your audience and getting them to take action, as long as you provide structure, a suspenseful arc, and use the "and, but, therefore" formula.

I hope this blog helps you write even better stories!