Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that we have nowadays. No matter the medium, we are still using it on a daily basis. Years ago we used cave paintings and now we are using videos, but the messages are more or less the same. We crave for communication, for sharing our experience, life hacks, our own stories, our daily lives, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the sorrow and the smiles, the joy of our every day lives.
Our journey is built on a good story. All our beliefs, traditions, teachings, knowledge, styles, trends, habits, superstitions are based on a fantastic story.
Storytelling as the most fundamental method of communication
Why? Because it is a power that we all have. It’s in our blood, we use it every day when we tell a funny story to our best friend or when we have a problem and want to find the solution, so we tell our problem to other people. It’s a skill that you use a couple of times every day without even being aware of it.
It was born from the need of explaining life, how the world works, our journey, our purpose, death, life beyond death to ease the idea of death. It was born to inspire warriors to go to battles and win them.
Fairytales were told to children to inspire values – good and bad, to explain pain, love, hate, happiness, the pure moments of joy, emotions. We needed storytelling to explain all our emotions and we are still not there, are we? We still have no idea of what we are truly feeling. Yet, we know a little bit more than our ancestors.
Every thing that you feel has the seed of a story inside and all you need to do is grab it, find it, explore it and find out what that seed has to offer.
Now, with this tremendous power that we have – the internet – storytelling receives a whole new layer. All the information at your fingertips! All the information for you to use to tell your story right!
Tell your story right
100.000 years ago we have started to develop our language. We transferred knowledge generation to generation, 27.000 years ago by cave paintings. 3.500 years ago – through text. Today we have video, sound, animation, 3D, effects, filters, editing and playing with the images just like a painter plays with his colors on a canvas or a writer plays with the letters and words on an empty page. We have the FREEDOM to tell stories however we want.
What is your purpose? What do you want to achieve with the story that you tell?
The power of a good story can change the world.
Your mind is so powerful, that you can imagine and build a whole universe, a whole mental picture from what I say to you.
How do you tell a good story? You build suspense, launch a cliff-hanger. Storytelling is by definition dopamine-creating, it’s all about waiting and expecting.
I can give you just a couple of words and you will start imagining, making connections, visualizing my words… it’s simple, let’s try it with a simple sentence… A cat walks on a rooftop.
Unleash your imagination
There are millions of possibilities here… the cat may jump on something else, it might fall… another cat may come, someone else will come, Batman may show up running after a villain, aliens may abduct the cat 🙂
Every story has a plot, a hero that shows up, a villain that knocks down the hero and then at that very low point, the hero does something magical and fights with the villain, saving then the world and regaining the initial balance, the serenity that prevailed when the story began.
Good marketing is just good Storytelling
Marketing is all based on Stories. Add a story to a product and you will sell it differently, its value increases. In 2009, a journalist named Rob Walker wanted to know if storytelling is really the most powerful tool of all? He bought 200 objects from Ebay at the average price of $1. He then called 200 authors and asked each of them to create a story for one of these objects. He went on Ebay again and added the 200 objects and 200 stories – every object had its own little magical story – and guess what? An item bought with less than $1 sold with $62 just because it had a story!
No matter if you are building a brand or you are working on your personal brand, the only thing that stands out from the crowd because of its uniqueness is YOUR STORY. There can’t be two stories that are exactly the same, unless you have a twin or something 🙂 and even then, the way you react to the world, the way you vibrate to the sounds of universe and to the entire energy that wraps up around your world, will be different.
You make them CARE! Now, this is great storytelling – when you make your audience care about your story.
Emotions turned into stories
All your emotions become stories. Every thing that you feel has the seed of a story inside and all you need to do is grab it, find it, explore it and find out what that seed has to offer.
There is more to that, there is also chemistry involved 🙂 Hormones like serotonin and dopamine are released when you hear stories. Dopamine is related to your focus, motivation and remembering things in a better way.
How do you tell a good story? You build suspense, launch a cliff-hanger. Storytelling is by definition dopamine-creating, it’s all about waiting and expecting. Then, we have oxytocin released, which creates generosity, trust and bond. After you caught their attention, you need to make yourself humble, humane, exactly like your audience so that they can relate to you. You create empathy. And somewhere in between, you release their endorphins. You make them laugh, you relax your audience, tell them a joke, even better if it’s something related to you. All these chemicals unleashed will make your audience more creative, relaxed and focused. You make them CARE! Now, this is great storytelling – when you make your audience care about your story.
