Tell Me A Story

In North America the first three multi-syllable words an infant typically learns are Mommy, Daddy, and story. I know, I was surprised too; I would have thought #3 would be McDonalds or Visa.

The reason “story” is a word we learn so early is fairly obvious. We begin singing to our children (a musical form of a story) and reading them actual stories almost as soon as they are born. We have ALL grown up with stories as a central medium through which we learned about our world and shared our experiences in that world with others.

There were stories on the walls of caves long before there was even verbal language. Stories aren’t just for movies and campfires either. A study performed by the London School of Economics found that the retention of information presented within a story is 60-65% versus only 5-10% for information delivered in a factual recitation.

In The Literary Mind by Mark Turner it is revealed that stories not only impact the neocortex area of the brain but also the limbic area where emotions such as trust, love, etc. are formed. In fact Mr. Turner asserts that stories function as an “emotional accelerator” in addition to serving as a primary delivery mechanism for how the brain accepts and stores information.

Most people willingly accept the principle that we buy emotionally and rationalize the decision intellectually. Why wouldn’t a savvy salesperson want to leverage an “emotional accelerator” as a key part of the sales process?

Every effective story consists of the three basic elements of Setting, Situation, and Solution. Becoming an effective storyteller means making sure that each of those elements has been effectively covered in a compelling manner that is relevant to the person hearing the story. 

In a world of increasingly perceived commoditization, becoming skilled in the art of storytelling can become a game changer for a salesperson. Storytelling should be a skill that is taught AND leveraged within every company.