My dear friend, colleague, author, writer, mediator, blogger and story-tracker, Stephanie West Allen, emailed me the link to The Inside Story, an article on the power of narrative by Peter Gruber published in Psychology Today.
Gruber's article is a tidy review of what we storytellers live and breathe. Excerpt.
"Telling stories is not just the oldest form of entertainment, it's the highest form of consciousness. The need for narrative is embedded deep in our brains. Increasingly, success in the information age demands that we harness the hidden power of stories. Here's what you need to know to tell a killer tale."
I was encouraged to revisit many of the themes I have been writing and speaking about since 1994 when a book of stories fell off a shelf into my hand and said, "Come follow us." Themes like "virtual journey" which Gruber calls "virtual transportation." Either way you look at it the notion is a well told story invites the listener inside the story to share the experience. Remember to release them at the end.
Stories are not fluff - they have become the "cornerstones of our conscience" as lawyers have learned. Pull accurately on the collective community conscience and you are likely to get them on your side of an argument.
This is another oft-told notion:
"The first rule of telling stories is to give the audience—whether it's one business person or a theater full of moviegoers—an emotional experience. The heart is always the first target in telling purposeful stories. Stories must give listeners an emotional experience if they are to ignite a call to action."
As I wrote on bookmark give-aways in 2003:
"Storytelling thrives on imagination. Images touch the heart and become sensations, sensations trigger memories, memories create meaning and meaning leads to listener action."
Any story must be emotionally meaningful for the listener to care about it. That does not mean the story has to be emotional and fraught with drama. No. It must evoke a value or values that the listener identifies with as personal to them and their life experience, their view of how the world turns. This is especially true of decision-makers, those people you want to give you some action in exchange for the story.
Not all of us are called to be storytellers. There are three distinct and interwoven parts to any story: the story itself, the teller and the listener. Listening attends to the images and helps translate the metaphors into "this is like that." Without the listener there is no story.
If it's true that we read to know we are not alone, I believe we listen to stories for the same reason.