Sure, you might already be aware that telling a story makes good sense, but it is more than that. It is actually based on good science. In this chapter I take you through this science, explaining how stories build trust and heighten emotions.
The brain behind the story
Our brain has different parts, and each part has a different job. The left side of our brain, for example, helps us think logically and organise our thoughts, while the right side helps us experience emotions and recall personal memories. We also have a âreptile brainâ that makes us act instinctively and a âmammal brainâ that helps us connect in relationships. And our brains have a neocortex, which is connected to a complex series of nerves and networks called the âlimbic systemâ. This is responsible for the development of the bond we feel between ourselves and another (like the motherâchild bond).
In his international best-selling book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman explains that our evolved neocortex is the reason our emotions are so powerful. He says,
When we tell stories all the different parts and areas of our brain are stimulated and start to work together, combining words and logic and emotions and sensory images, so we see the whole picture and communicate our experience. Essentially, with all this activity going on, our emotions go into overdrive.
This means that stories provoke our emotions. Good stories make us feel something as we listen to them â excitement, anger, sadness, empathy or enthusiasm. Consequently, feeling these emotions means we feel something towards the person telling the story, which helps create connection â the bond like the ones our neocortex helps develop.
We love a good story
In the 2014 Harvard Business Review article âWhy your brain loves good storytellingâ, neuroeconomist Paul Zak revealed the powerful impact the love hormone oxytocin has on the brain when we tell stories.
Oxytocin is also often referred to as the âtrust hormoneâ. Our bodies release it when we are with people we love and trust, when we hug, or even when we shake hands in a business meeting. And itâs released when we listen to stories. Oxytocin being released signals to the brain that everything is okay and it is safe to approach others â essentially, that we wonât be attacked or eaten, as would have been the risk back in the day.
So not only does a good story make us feel different emotions and a connection to the storyteller but, at the same time, the love hormone oxytocin is also signalling that we can be trusted, which in turn helps build our credibility.
Stories build trust and credibility
Neuroscientist Uri Hasson opened his 2016 TED talk with the following:
Hassonâs research shows that even across different languages, our brains show similar activity when we hear a story, becoming what he calls âalignedâ or âsynchronisedâ.
In one study, listeners lay in the dark waiting to hear a story spoken out loud. The moment the story started, the auditory cortex of the listenersâ brains, the area that processes sound, became active and aligned. Hassan calls this âneural entrainmentâ.
It was only when the listeners heard the story in a coherent way that alignment started to happen. This did not happen if the story was played backwards, or the words or sentences were scrambled. But the story was still understood in a similar way when it was told in Russian to a group of Russian listeners as it was when told in English to a group of English listeners.
The participants were also shown a clip from the BBC TV series Sherlock. Months later, one participant was asked to tell another about the scene they watched. The results showed that the brain of the person telling the story aligned with the same activity their brain showed when they watched the show some months earlier. Furthermore, the brain of the participant who was listening to the story also aligned in a similar way.
So what does all this prove? Listening to a story being told is effectively like reliving that story as if it were yours. What better way to create common ground and a shared understanding with someone? And this is especially the case if youâre making a presentation to an audience of 1000 strangers or even facilitating a one-on-one coaching session.
Emotions drive our decisions
Just some of the questions running through the minds of our audience when we are talking to them include the following:
- Do I buy from you?
- Do I get behind this change?
- Do I accept the role with you?
- Do I believe you?
- Do I take your advice?
- Do I follow you?
- Do I respect you?
Our audience will be forming these types of questions whether weâre trying to get them to buy-in to an organisational change or motivating them towards next yearâs goals.
Usually, we try to influence them with a PowerPoint presentation of facts and figures or an outline of the pros and cons of whatever it is we want them to feel excited about. These strategies are all based on logic. Yet, science says that we make up our minds to the types of questions I listed based on our emotions and how we feel about something.
Research by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio shows emotion plays a significant role in our ability to make decisions. While many of us believe logic drives our choices, the reality is that we have already made an emotional decision and we then use logic to justify the choice â to ourselves and to others.
Damasioâs research involved examining people with damage to their frontal lobe, which is the area of the brain where emotions are generated and that helps to regulate personality. Except for their inability to feel or express emotions, the participants had normal intellectual capacity in terms of working memory, attention, language comprehension and expression. However, they were unable to make decisions.
The vast majority of participants could describe in logical terms what they thought they should be doing, but they found it difficult to actually make a decision, including making a simple choice like deciding what to eat. This indecision came from them going ...
