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This Is Your Brain on Good Storytelling
Whether you’re trying to maintain an audience’s attention, sell your product, interest an interviewer, or pitch a journalist, great storytelling is key. The ability to spin a yarn that captivates others can have magical effects for your company and career. No wonder there’s no shortage of advice out there on how to do just that. But even if you completely master story structure and delivery, one essential question remains: why?
It’s clear that human beings are wired to love a great story, but what exactly makes a well-told tale so irresistible? Why are tense stories of human struggle and triumph the most appealing to people of diverse backgrounds? Why do we find sensory details like the smell of a location or a character’s exact carriage and demeanor so compelling?
Neuroscience is starting to unravel the answer to these intriguing questions, peering into the human brain to figure out just what’s going on in our heads when we sit riveted in a darkened movie theater or hang onto every word of an expert speaker. The key, apparently, seems to be our capacity for empathy.
Engagement…
As behavioral psychologist Susan Weinschenk explained on her blog (via a great personal story, of course), by putting us in their protagonists’ shoes, stories manage to engage more of the brain than straight…
