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Why Stories Work

People are hardwired to prefer stories over facts and figures. Narratives (stories) are associated with increased recall, ease of comprehension, and shorter reading times. Compared to expository text, narratives were read twice as fast and recalled twice as well, regardless of topic or interest. One reason stories work is because people interact with the structure of a narrative through their pre-existing mental models. In other words, the structure is familiar, but the story is new. And there are a few things that strengthen this effect. Deceptive cadence (surprise twists), emotion, and empty space (leaving room for people to insert themselves). Let’s take a look at three essential ingredients to narrative story telling.

How to Build Your Story: Step 1 – The Audience is your Hero

The most important character in any story is the audience. So how do we bring them into the story? Your company solves a problem, fulfills a need– that’s the common element between all of your customers. Use the power of your customer/client demographic information and knowledge to create your hero. Telling a personal, authentic story about that problem key.

One is enough: a study by Scott Slovic from the University of Idaho found that potential donors are less like to give to a cause when confronted with a story of two people rather than one person. The phenomenon has been described as The Arithmatic of Compassion. Focus on one person, (or one species, one place).

How to Build Your Story: Step 2 – Make room for self reflection

Give it space. The best stories have space for us to insert what’s familiar and make our own connections. Pixar director Andrew Stanton explains that what draws people into a story is the “the well-organized absence of information.” That might seem counter-intuitive to a business, and you’re right—we need to be specific about our product or cause. But space can occur around the character and problem. Research shows that piecing information together provides readers with deeper insights and stronger memories for what they’ve learned. How can we do this? In video, B-roll is one way to create space; it allows the viewer the opportunity to draw similarities between the specific situation of the “hero” and their own. Humor and emotion are great space creators, too. Our feelings are personal to us.

How to Build Your Story: Step 3 – Structure for emotional connection

Remember your story structure. Stories always start with character, then introduce the problem, then raise the stakes, and finally resolve themselves. Examine just about any movie, and you’ll see that the first five minutes (give or take) show the protagonists “normal life.” Then the conflict upends his or her world and they begin their journey. Commercials, testimonials, donation requests can all follow this structure for maximum emotional impact. Check out our post on Creating Addictive Content to dive deeper.

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