Why Storytelling is the best way to get a message across.

Why everyone loves a story 

I’m going to let you in on a secret that some advertisers, the media and SOME executive producers know. Certainly not the ones that think they can ride on the coat tails of Hollywood block busters with lame sequels.

Knowing this secret and understanding how to use it will help you increase your followers, your engagement, your brand awareness and even sales.

Are you ready?

Story is the greatest weapon we have to broadcast a message!

It can combat noise by organizing the information in such a way that people are compelled to listen.

But how?

We know people have limited attention spans, yet storytellers are still able to captivate an audience for a 2 hour long movie. If a story is told right with all the push and pull elements, we can hold their attention and present a worldview or message that they are desperate to hear. And you know what … they won’t even notice you’re doing it.

Think of Story like an undercover spy. He’s your friend. “I’m just here to hang out and make you laugh and just provide a bit of entertainment. No need to take me so seriously.”

The roots of shock and awe in story run deep in culture. It’s how messages and information was passed down. What’s easier to remember? A nursery rhyme your parents read you as a kid, or your times tables?

You need to get the attention of your audience before you can deliver your message of substance. People are time poor that’s the real currency, not money but attention.

So let’s unpack this.

When a presentation is visually appealing and tells a story, it naturally makes the information meaningful and entertaining, and thus raises its value in the currency of time and attention.

When crafting our story we refine it, edit it make sure only the important information is included. Then, audiences are not forced to burn too many mental calories organizing the data. You’ve already done that for them.

Nobody can look away from a good story. Neuroscientists claim that the average person spends more than 30% of their time daydreaming. But STORY does the day dreaming for us. Your audience is already primed to be entertained by your message.

So, back to that secret weapon.

I always go back to that question, does art reflect culture or influence it?

I think the answer is … a good story will move us to change. Life is not about standing still, you want to create a story that moves people. So maybe that story needs to speak into culture and then offer something a little different.

And this goes for any message.

Let’s take cinema or commercials as an example. Both may act as a mirror and as a window, but they are primarily a lens. We only see what the camera lets us see, hear what the writer has scripted. Stories do not merely portray a world; they propagate a worldview.

And there my friends, lies your weapon. You are able to convey your own worldview and create your own narrative through story. This is exceptionally important when it comes to the narrative of your brand or advertising.

It is through story that we can ask the deepest questions, challenge expectations and reflect our most basic dreams and desires.

So lets go back to the argument; a story doesn’t have to teach anything or say anything, it’s just a bit of entertainment so I can shut off my brain.

Wrong!

Firstly, your brain is never truly turned off. I don’t think anyone in history has ever purposely set out to tell a story where they want their audience to shut off their brain. Even the simplest aspect of a narrative informs us about the storyteller and their world view, it’s a by product of their intent.

But it does need to be entertaining. When constructing a pitch Oren Klaff, who wrote the book Pitch Anything, says your story needs to have these following elements. It must be brief (or clear), There should be risk, danger and uncertainty, there must be tension, your task is being blocked by some force, and what are the consequences or whats at stake?

If you want a more in depth look at story formation, I recommend reading the book Save the Cat, although it is technically for script writers, it will help you understand how to take people on a journey using story.

But for now, what does the word entertain mean? To entertain means to take something into our mind, into the living room of our head and take it into consideration; says James Harleman who wrote the book Cinemagogue. Which basically means if you’re being entertained you are thinking about an idea. You may as well be aware of the idea you are entertaining.

Now that I have shared this secret weapon with you, I hope you use these new powers to create stories that benefit the lives of people around you, or become aware of the worldview you are being fed, because believe me when I say its happening every day.

One of the greatest teachers of story of all time, Robert McGee who wrote the book on Story, says “Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.”

So go, write your story, rewrite it, refine it, know what it is you are really saying or selling and put it into the world with craft and excellence and you can control the world, well at least your portion of it.

But …I ask that you first be that window that creates a positive change and move people to move.

In my next Vlogs I’ll have some case studies of films and commercials. You too can see what they are saying underneath the story whilst you are being entertained.

dana@dananewell.com
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