“Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone”
People remember stories more than facts. Facts are important to authenticate the information, but you will emotionally connect more with a story than just facts. As Geoffrey Klein narrated the story about his grandfather and father and how they became judges regardless of their financial condition, you are more invested in the story because of the details than the fact that his grandfather became the youngest judge in 32 years of Pennsylvania.
He builds it upon the dream of a young guy who couldn’t get a college degree because of poverty but later ended up becoming the youngest judge. It’s relatable and familiar because we all have heard of people who couldn’t achieve their dreams because of financial difficulties.
The Science Behind Storytelling
“Story matters, but what I love about it is that science actually proves it”
As a neuroscience professor at Princeton University, an expert in communication and connection, he wanted to find out how the brain responds to the input it gets. He did an experiment to find out that communication is all about brain chemistry.
He experimented with two groups of people. One group was given a lot of data, facts, and figures, and the other was told a story. He monitored their brain. activity and found that in people with lots of data, two parts of their brain activated which were responsible for meaning decoding. They are important in order to understand what someone is saying.
But for the people given a story, not only did the two parts of their brain activate, but the rest lit up too. It was as if they were experiencing the story. It was as if they were vicariously experiencing the story.
When people tell stories, the brain of the listener and the brain of the narrator connect. Hormones like cortisol and oxytocin get activated too. The study found an increase of 20-40 percent in understanding and retention when people were told a story.
If you’re communicating with someone and you want them to remember it and take action, stories are your answer. This is why people in marketing emphasize storytelling so much.
Storytelling is Your Answer to Grow Your Business
Facts and stats are important, but storytelling in strategies is equally important, if not more. We, as humans, are hardwired to stories, and that’s when we listen to someone the most.
If you are to share information, you will hardly get attention if you are solely relying on facts and statistics. You are better at getting attention if you can use storytelling to share the same information. People will be much more receptive towards the latter.
How Nike, Apple, Coca Cola Use Storytelling to Sell
Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola are some of the big names which have proved that storytelling done right can benefit your business more than anything. Stories have become their identities. People connect on an emotional level with them because of the stories. Apple doesn’t sell phones but the dream to connect. Nike doesn’t just sell shoes but the dream that you can achieve it all, and Coca-Cola sells the spirit of “togetherness” and “sharing.” They have crafted these brand identities over a period of time.
These brands show that storytelling helps your brand connect on a deeper level with its target audience. People care about what brands promote, who they associate themselves with, and what ethos they believe in. This isn’t going anywhere in a world where people care about social issues and who incorporate those in their brand voice wisely.
Another example is Warby Parker Glasses. If you go to their website, you won’t see that they started in 1952 or how many glasses they have sold since, but the story about their founders going on a trip and how one of them lost their glasses. He had to live through an entire college semester without his glasses because they were expensive.
The origin story, which has become their brand identity, now says, "We believe getting glasses shouldn’t be expensive.” This helps them connect with their customers on an emotional level.
The Two Pandemics - Obesity and Short Attention Span
You must be wondering why I would call obesity a pandemic. It’s just another word for information overload.
“We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom”
This quote beautifully captures the problem we have at hand in this digital age. There’s more information now than has ever been. Facebook has 2 million active people every day. 170 million videos are watched on TikTok daily, which is high if we consider other social media platforms. Our attention span is ridiculously less now. We rarely focus on anything we watch on the internet.
How do you then cut through all this noise? The answer is very simple and one you might not have anticipated; it’s with STORYTELLING.
You tell stories if you want to stand out from the crowd. People connect and care about stories. Stories are relatable and familiar. What you experienced might resonate with someone you know nothing about.
It’s important to build your businesses and brands around stories. Every successful Influencer, YouTuber, and content creator has one thing in common; they have built communities over time using stories.
Figure Out Your Audience For Your Business Success
The host has a secret to success. The rule of A, B, and C.
A: Audience
B: Being authentic
C: Connecting with your audience
One thing you need to know about content creation is to understand your target audience. Research what they watch. Research their pain points. The type of content they follow. The more you know about your audience, the more success your business and content get.
Authenticity is another factor in the success of your business. It’s really easy to get swayed into being what you’re not, but you should always try to be authentic about your business story.
If you have successfully learned the first two, connection with your audience is a given. Focus on learning as much as you can about your audience, and your content will reflect it.
.jpeg)
Struggling with storytelling? BIGVU helps you write scripts, and shoot and edit videos. What’s your excuse for not sharing your business story? It was never this easy.
Sign up now to get a 7-day free trial of our AI Magic Writer and create awesome content effortlessly.
Plus, catch our podcast version of the webinar on-the-go if you can't watch the whole thing. Don't miss out on these amazing resources!