The Psychology of Storytelling

The psychology of storytelling is fascinating.

Pam Allyn, the Executive Director of LitLife, a national organization specializing in innovative literacy education for schools and families, wrote an article entitled Storytelling Connects us All.

Psychology of storytelling

In her article, Allyn focuses on the importance of storytelling for the development of our children. Research at the Yale Child Study Center shows that storytelling is a key component of a person’s neurological development. And it is a skill that ultimately helps create a well-adjusted and resilient youth.

Stories are for everyone

Stories aren’t just for the young. As Allyn notes:

Story connects us all. Children, adults, all of us everywhere can use the magic of story to find aspects of ourselves in others, and of others in ourselves. Story reminds us that connectedness to the world does not always mean some have more and some have less, but that we all have stories and that is what brings us together.

And so we return to one of my favourite themes—the importance of telling stories. Being able to tell a compelling story is a critical public speaking skill. Audiences crave them.

In 2008, Jeremy Hsu wrote an article for Scientific American entitled The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn. In it, he examined the work of psychologists and neuroscientists who are studying the human penchant for storytelling.

What they discovered is fascinating: The human brain likes stories.

Secrets of storytelling

Here are some key quotes that I took away from Hsu’s article:

  • Storytelling is one of the few human traits that are truly universal across culture and through all of known history. People in societies of all types weave narratives. When a characteristic behaviour appears in many different societies, researchers pay attention. Its roots may tell us something about our evolutionary past.
  • However narrative is defined, people know it when they feel it. Whether fiction or nonfiction, a narrative engages its audience through psychological realism—recognizable emotions and believable interactions among characters.
  • The best stories captivate their audience, whose emotions can be inextricably tied to those of the story’s characters. Such immersion is a state psychologists call “narrative transport”.
  • Most scientists agree that stories have a powerful and universal appeal. Indeed, the neurological roots of both telling tales and enjoying them are probably tied to crucial parts of our social cognition.
  • A 2007 study found that a test audience responded more positively to advertisements in narrative form as compared with straightforward ads that encouraged viewers to think about the arguments for a product. Similarly labeling information as “fact” increased critical analysis, whereas labeling information as “fiction” had the opposite effect. Studies such as these suggest people accept ideas more readily when their minds are in story mode as opposed to when they are in an analytical mind-set.

Conclusion

The takeaway from the psychology of storytelling is, not surprisingly, to tell stories. They help us connect with audiences in a way that statistics and bullet points will never be able to do. And, as I wrote in a previous post, stories help us make our messages stick. They help us to be memorable.

And that is a happy ending for any public speaker!

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. I agree with Pam and her sayings … storytelling has a good effect on children. I always tell them good stories, before they go to sleep. Always tell children stories on what good habits are and how to lead a good life!

  2. I love this post John, with all the connections to the emotions of the receiver and story teller. All of us are wired to tell stories. After all, if you say to a small child: “Once upon a time …” What’s their reaction? When you walk into a room and see PowerPoint set up, do you immediately shout “Oh great … PowerPoint!!” If not, why not?

    1. Thanks very much for the comment, Cordelia. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I look forward to the day when people get excited about a PowerPoint presentation. Because that will mean that people will have started to use PowerPoint properly. Until that happy day – which is probably still a long way off – it is the stories that will engage us. “Once upon a time” are still among my most favourite words. Right up there next to “cold beer”.
      Cheers!
      John

  3. Hi,
    This is nice. Hope you are aware that storytelling has reached corporate world.
    The last couple of years I have been reading about all aspects of storytelling. How it influences the economy, the society, leadership, authenticity, social media and so on. Interesting stuff. But then it happened to me: peer-to-peer storytelling. I connected my story to that of peers. And my peers and their matching stories helped me to come to a simple set of rules for creating your own new trade.

    The last 3 years I have been guiding a lot of international companies in using storytelling as a business tool. I have given a dozen workshops and lectures about this theme to blue chip companies. I have been working with all sort of businesses, with all sort of people, at all levels. They’re all convinced about the new trade. The new trade is the new business as usual!

    To make it simple and concrete I summarized my view in one sentence: It’s all about people connecting with other people by sharing their stories for everyone to repeat hoping to inspire the world and ultimately make it a better place.

    What do you think about peer-to-peer storytelling?

    1. Hi Raf and thanks for the comment. Great to see that you are spreading the word about the importance of telling stories. It is vital in today’s business world. Cheers!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

three × 2 =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International