Tell Me a Story

I’m a sucker for those moments when people ask me, “Why?” I like it even better when they say, “Tell me all about it.” However: They pretty much always want the 411, the takeaway, the bulleted executive summary – while I think I’ve just been invited to lead story time at the library. Not sure which is worse, their disruptive cut-to-the-chase questions after my first few sentences or their eyes glazing over when they realize I’m just getting started.

Photo by Daniel Forsman on Unsplash

The Strange Allure of Narrative

When I first entered the digital world as a professional writer, I pinned my hopes on the gaming industry. I loved how at least half the new media startups had the word “interactive” in their names. I assumed the world was ready for a dewy-eyed interactive fiction writer, but I soon learned how sadly mistaken I was. (See my post Rubber Meets Road: The Gaming to Dotcom Shift.) Yet even now, older and wiser, I still get that little heartstring tug whenever I read about someone looking for a storyteller because… narrative arc! plot details! character development! dialog! That’s where I live. Yet I know they’re not coming to my humble fiction writer’s door. They’re heading for the business district.

The word storytelling invokes vivid childhood associations: early-grades teachers or library volunteers reading from a wonderful book, performers at festivals or school assemblies spinning a tale from memory, the personal power of telling a lengthy shaggy-dog joke with perfect timing. And trading on our deep childhood hunger to be entertained and transported, storytelling has become fanciful shorthand for use case, brand narrative, user profile, or any other action that creates a hoped-for moment of engagement and understanding when describing the connection between points A and B. Storytelling carries the same nostalgic cachet as wordsmith, a cute, charming façade for a bread-and-butter service that’s (mostly) neither cute nor charming.

Humans: The Storytelling Animal

Every species has some kind of language, but ours is especially complex and nuanced. Thanks to our fixation on linear time, human understanding is based on narrative, those sequences of events laid out in beautiful cause and effect. Each word carries a load of meaning and implication, and taken collectively, words become the primal building blocks of civilization. We gather around the campfire, the town square, the TV, and the computer to experience other people's stories. And those of us willing to participate in the exchange are always looking for some platform, whether actual or virtual, personal or professional, to tell our own stories. We want to be heard, read, or seen.

As social animals, our range of behavior goes beyond fight/flight and dominance/submission. We crave the neural coupling of communication as we listen to and tell stories of suspense or validation, as we describe a threat or share a joke. The term neural coupling addresses the brain activity that happens through the activation of mirror neurons, synchronizing listener with storyteller and allowing both to share the same feeling. Chemically speaking, mirror neurons release oxytocin, a neuropeptide commonly called the love hormone or bonding hormone. In psychological terms, we’d call it empathy or trust. When a good story gives you a powerful feeling or transports you to another realm, it’s creating a measurable difference in your mind and body.

Personality and Authenticity

Are you one of those copywriters who’d rather be creating short fiction, novels, or screenplays instead of just, y’know, writing copy? I certainly am. Yet many of us bring our wordsmithing skills when we elevate factual, explanatory prose into narratives that people will actually enjoy reading. To do that, we have to switch on our brightness, enthusiasm, and joy of writing. Finding the right affect and tone are major ingredients in that secret sauce. According to Martin Sayers, copywriter, coach, and fountain of insight, “This is why there is so much talk about the need for ‘storytellers’ in the business world. What this means is copywriters with the ability to write personality-led copy.”

Simply put, whatever you’re writing, make it interesting and meaningful.

If your story establishes trust and signals empathy, that’s a solid foundation for marketing a product, service, or brand. You’ve created a platform to answer the questions “Why do I need this thing?” and “Why should I buy it from you?” David Aaker, Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, coined the term signature stories to express a way of defining organizational culture or brand image. It begins with identifying a strategic message and then finding an authentic character, actual or fictional, whose story embodies that message. (An authentic fictional character? Consider Rosie the Riveter, a generation-spanning archetype of female empowerment.) Authenticity provides fertile ground for the empathy you’ll convey in your customer centric brand story. And now we see how storytelling moves beyond the writer and narrator, also requiring the skills of videographers, visual designers, data scientists, social media marketers… Yes, we’ve created the storytelling industry.

By this point you’re a long way from story time at the library, but if you still have the trust and authenticity to engage those mirror neurons, you’re still telling good stories.

Engage

Back when we could post our services on craigslist for free, every day I would craft a fanciful value proposition with a sticky headline like:

     • “There's a story for everything.”

     • “It's all about the story – and the story's about you.”

     • “Your brand has a biography.”

I believed it then, and I believe it now. We communicate through narrative; good narratives invite engagement; and engagement leads to understanding – the best outcome of communication.

That’s my story, anyway. What’s yours?