Authentic Marketing

CHAPTER 7Move Beyond Storytelling to Storydoing

Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.

Indian Proverb

Your Brain on a Story

We all love a good story . . . and neuroscience has proven why. Storytelling has a powerful effect on our brains, triggering an array of biological responses and emotions that help us connect to, be moved by, and remember the story.

When great stories are told, two primary neurochemicals go to work. Cortisol is released when something captures our attention, like distress or conflict, keeping us involved and engaged in the narrative. Oxytocin, dubbed the wonder drug of storytelling, kicks in as the audience identifies with the main character/s, evoking empathy and a narrative transportation that creates engagement and can move people to a desired action. Experts confirm that engaging stories result in a better understanding—and better recall—of key points.

In addition, a good story fires mirror neurons, which light up specific parts of our brain that “mirror” what’s happening in the story. So if the story is describing a specific smell, our olfactory system reacts, movement in the story triggers our motor cortex, even emotions conveyed in a story evoke those same feelings. This enables the listener to truly experience what’s happening in the story.

For all of these reasons, storytelling can be the pathway to making connections and igniting engagement—key elements of ...