What’s the value of a story? How can sharing a story help us hear and be heard? Can storytelling be valuable professionally as well as personally?
The easiest way to give answers about the power of storytelling is to provide a demonstration. In the following paragraphs, the same information is shared using two different methods. The first method involves presenting the information using statistics and bullet points. The second method of presenting the information involves sharing it using a story.
An Example
To set the scene, let’s pretend we’re attending a lunchtime presentation on “How to Avoid Becoming Stuck in Your Career.”
In version “A” of this presentation, we’re shown PowerPoint slides saying 60-70% of people are disengaged at work and that some of the ways happiness and satisfaction can be maintained are as follows:
1. Stay aligned with personal values
2. Stay connected to the heart
3. Have a vision
4. Ask questions about how the vision can happen
5. Be receptive to new ideas
6. Let inspiration lead
7. Be willing to explore new paths
As each point is shared, the facilitator explains and invites questions before moving on to the next point.
In version “B” of the lunchtime presentation, the facilitator opens by offering to tell a story about a person named Jay. She invites us to pay attention to any details from Jay’s story that spark our interest.
The story proceeds as follows…
“There was once a kind-hearted person named Jay. They loved learning and sharing their knowledge with anyone who needed it. They felt great about having so much to offer. One day, a big company hired them to share their talents as an employee. At first, Jay was excited. They were being paid to do what they loved, which was satisfying. After a while, though, Jay realized their heart wanted to explore new things, yet their company wanted them to keep exploring the same things. Jay felt torn. They really liked being part of a company and being paid for their contribution, but they were so unhappy. Jay felt anxious and agonized over what to do…all the while asking themself, “How can I feel supported financially while also exploring where my heart wants to go?” Each day, while pondering their question, Jay received new ideas about how they could have what they wanted. Some ideas felt better than others. Finally, one idea was so compelling that Jay found themself following it. Their worries and reservations became small compared to their feelings of rightness when thinking about the idea. Over the course of days, weeks, and months, Jay kept being guided by the idea… doing what needed to be done to see it come to life. Even though the path wasn’t easy, their heart expanded, their happiness grew, and the financial support they craved continued to work out in surprising ways. Looking back, Jay realized they never could have predicted how their question would be answered, but how it got answered seemed just right.”
Upon completing her narration, the facilitator pauses and asks, “What stood out to you about Jay’s experience?” and then goes on to facilitate a conversation centered around what the listeners heard, thought, and felt during the telling of the story.
Let’s Take a Step Back
Taking a step back, reread the numbered points from version “A” of the presentation. Now, look at how each point is shared in the story. Notice that instead of telling people what to do to stay happy in their career, the story offers the listener/reader a vicarious experience of someone discovering their way out of feeling stuck in their career.
Both presentations convey information, but how they do it is noticeably different. Take a moment to check in with yourself about the presentations. What do you remember from Version A? What do you remember from Version B?
The Science of Storytelling
Stories, regardless of whether they are fiction or non-fiction, are teachers. Humans are hard-wired to listen to stories and learn from them very often. We can’t help it. The messages held in stories slip through the cracks in our defenses and support us in seeing life from other perspectives in ways that no analytical bullet-pointed list ever will.
What Storytelling Does to Our Brain
MRI scans of people’s brains while listening to stories show that the brain doesn’t distinguish between whether the listener is reading about the main character’s life OR the listener is experiencing the main character’s life. When reading (or hearing) a really engaging story, the listener is vicariously experiencing a character’s thoughts, feelings, and adventures without ever having to leave the armchair. How valuable is that?
Immersing ourselves in someone else’s knowledge, actions, choices, and mistakes without going through the trial and error of actually living it can be game-changing. A well-crafted story can unlock exploration into perspectives we would previously have filtered out.
As humans, we like to think that we can be objective and open, but the truth is that we’re often at the mercy of our deeply embedded biases. We all have views and beliefs that govern how we navigate life. Many of these viewpoints and beliefs are so ingrained that we don’t even know they exist. When contradictory views are expressed, it is part of our biology to dismiss and/or defend what we believe to be right and true. A story can be the perfect solution if we want to support ourselves and others in being truly receptive to new viewpoints. Why? Stories contain emotion and feeling. In her book, “Story or Die,” Lisa Cron says that “the only way to change how someone thinks about something is first to change how they feel about it.” Feelings are not typically swayed by logic. Feelings are swayed by more feelings…usually similar feelings.
The ability to feel is hardwired into our physiology. Feelings are a decision-supporting survival mechanism. Our best and worst memories have feelings embedded in them, and our brain always evaluates new data to decide the safest path forward based on the memories it has stored away.
When the brain hears a story with kernels of feeling that spark its own remembered experiences, it perks up and pays attention. The story and the potentially survival-related message it contains then enter the brain.
In summary, a well-crafted story connects with feeling, and feeling helps new information move past our analytical filters. The vicarious experiences stories provide offer new perspectives that help us learn and navigate life with less effort and more ease.
