I was teaching at the European Centre for Disease Control conference in Lisbon yesterday and our topic was “How to Give Effective Scientific Presentations”. During the Q&A, someone in the audience asked, “Apart from the fluffy storytelling stuff, where do you recommend we share the data in our presentations?” My jaw dropped. Did I hear that correctly? If you’re still on the fence about whether storytelling has merit, I want to share some of the science behind why mastering this art as a professional is not optional.
Stories create emotions
I remember attending a conference in Texas back in 2017. Scott Harrison got on stage and told his personal story about what led him to start his nonprofit Charity Water. After 10 minutes of storytelling and one ask to an audience of 1500 people, he raised $250k. I still give $10 to Charity Water every month because his story made me feel something.
Research by Paul J. Zak, PhD has shown that character-driven stories cause the brain to make oxytocin, the neurochemical known to trigger cooperation in others. Oxytocin is also widely known as the “love drug”, and Zak’s work has proven that it stimulates trust, generosity, charitable behavior, and compassion. This is why storytelling is so successful in fundraising and sales.
Stories stir emotion. But in science and business, emotion alone isn’t enough. This raises the question: where does data fit in?
Data is not enough
It feels logical to use data as the cornerstone of persuasion. These are hard facts. They should sway any disbelievers in the room—or so you think. Your audience wants proof. Statistics. This was the basis for the scientist’s comment in the conference Q&A: he saw the data as the key for persuasion.
But, thanks to the groundbreaking work of Dr. Antonio Damasio, we now know emotions control a larger part of decision-making than before believed. In fact, in the absence of emotion, it’s impossible to make any decisions at all.
So it’s not the data that convinces; people decide based on emotions, then use logic to justify their decision. It works the other way too. If your audience is emotionally attached to a belief, using only logic as a means of dissuasion is not going to work. You need to get them to emotionally identify with your belief first. Stories can help you do this.
Stories create buy-in
Zak’s research shows that stories with tension make listeners feel the emotions of the characters. That’s empathy—the recognition of another’s feelings—and it’s what gets people to listen. Think of a scary story around a campfire: you weren’t actually in danger, but you felt scared because you identified with the characters. That emotional transportation lingers, shaping how people feel and act long after the story ends.
Think of the last time you heard a scary story around a campfire. You weren’t actually in danger, but you felt scared because you were identifying with the characters in the story who were scared.
A result of this emotional transportation is that listeners are more likely to continue mimicking the feelings and behaviors of those characters after the story is told. Hence the post scary story fear of the darkness beyond the camp lights. Now imagine creating infectious enthusiasm for an idea that continues well after the meeting ends. This is the power of story.
Stories create memories
You may think your PowerPoint is going to win over the room and stick in people’s minds, but research has shown that while only 5% of audiences could remember statistics, 63% could repeat story elements. The story becomes the Trojan horse, allowing the mind to open, receive a different point of view, and empathize before you drop off the data that aids the rational mind in justifying the decision.
Consider now that you’re pitching a bold, new direction for your team, and you need buy-in to move it forward. How can you get them on board emotionally? How will you get them to adopt your point of view? What story will you tell?
Stories are the cornerstone of great communication skills
The data on the power of storytelling is clear, but we’ve known this for thousands of years: stories are what make people lean in. They are the bonds of culture. They create trust, respect, and credibility for the speaker. They make you memorable.
If you want your ideas to stick, stories aren’t fluff. They’re your foundation.
Do you think storytelling is fluffy—or foundational? Drop me an email and let me know where you stand.
THE BIG PRINT:
Storytelling is your secret weapon for persuasive communication.
Three Questions to Help You Tell Any Story
1 – What’s your message?
Every story carries a message—a lesson for the listener to take away. When you know the message you want to communicate, it’s easier to find a story to illustrate it. For example, if my message is “Collaboration is more powerful than competition,” I’ll share a story about a time when working with a rival led to better results. Getting clear on your message is the first step in the storytelling process.
2 – What’s the problem?
Every story is born from a problem. Think of any film you’ve ever seen: it always starts with the hero meeting some kind of problem. How will they solve the problem? That’s what makes you keep watching. If there is no problem, there is no story. Sometimes you state the problem directly, other times you reveal it through the situation or tension.
3 – What’s the transformation?
In the quest to solve the problem, the hero goes through a transformation. We have to be clear on what this transformation is in order to frame our story appropriately.
Examples of transformation:
- From scattered ideas to a clear plan.
- From resisting change to leading it.
- From being unheard in meetings to influencing decisions.
Knowing the transformation helps us connect the dots for our listener at the end of our story. What did the hero learn? How did they change? Why does it matter?
If you can answer these three questions, you can tell any story.
TAKE IT FROM… the late Sir Ken Robinson, creativity expert and renowned TED speaker.
Sir Ken Robinson challenged the way we educate our children, championing a radical rethink of how our school systems cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. His viral TED Talk garnered over 66 million views by the time of his passing in 2020. Why does his talk remain so popular today?
Robinson was a master storyteller. In his talk, he told the story of a woman he had met. Gillian Lynne was Broadway royalty. She choreographed “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera.”
Robinson asked Lynne how she became a dancer. She said that when she was going to school in the 1930s, her school administrators believed she had a learning disorder because she couldn’t concentrate and was always fidgeting.
Lynne’s mother took her to a specialist. After listening to Lynne and her mother for about twenty minutes, the doctor told Lynne that he would like to speak to her mother privately.
But as they went out of the room, he turned on the radio that was sitting on his desk. And when they got out of the room, he said to her mother, ‘Just stand and watch her.’ And the minute they left the room, she was on her feet, moving to the music. And they watched for a few minutes, and he turned to her mother and said, “Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick; she’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.”
Robinson told the story to reinforce his theme that the educational system must nurture the unique creative capacity of each child. “Our task is to educate their whole being, so they can face this future,” Robinson concluded.
You can watch Sir Ken’s TED Talk here.
Want to become a great storyteller? I have courses and programs that can help. Get on my calendar here to see what’s possible.
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