What are some of the psychological and emotional effects of storytelling on your audience?

People forget facts & figures over time. But compelling stories are hard to forget. Posting stories are impactful than sharing a 100-page ebook or complex educational posts. For instance, a year back, I wrote about my nephew who is hard to please. Even now, my connections from different parts of the world remember my dear cranky boy. Just like that, my readers know very well about the kind of services I offer, though I didn't pitch any of them. I told all about it through stories. 80% of my inbound leads reach out to me because they found my stories interesting. Stories, if they are compelling, help anyone to get the right eyeball & convey the message in a memorable way. So, don't hesitate to confidently share your stories here.

Stories catch attention because they are automatically relatable. Even if you haven't been through the exact same thing, people relate to the story and storyteller because they can empathise. They appreciate what it might have felt like and when that happens, they emotionally experience the story as if they're going through the journey themselves. That's when emotion is triggered. And that's when it becomes memorable. Numbers and data can't do that. Facts and figures might be intriguing but with no context or story, it's just a fleeting moment. If you want people to remember, bake it into a story. Stories grab attention and hold attention. They creates feelings (and associations), that make people remember for a long time.

Very simply, storytelling as a technique gets us three crucial outcomes: 1. We hold attention. And that matters if we want to do anything with an audience. 2. We show we're relatable to those that are like us. The more "like them" an audience feels we are, the greater the feeling of trust is built. Perfect for positioning as "similar to them, yet experienced" with a problem they perhaps are facing. 3. We show we've been there. This is THE ideal way to demonstrate we know our stuff and through the detail of a story, you're invoking the "yes, I felt the same!" emotions that draws an audience member closer and creates the potential for you to be their guide. From here, potential deals start to appear.

A story can be told in just one line too. E.g., Born in the arctic and working to protect it. Whenever you present a story as part of a presentation, or speech, it’s more captivating. If you can share a compelling story (be it positive or negative), listeners will remember that story.

Especially if one is a teacher, storytelling is crucial in student recollection. Many people think that storytelling only lends itself to the language arts and humanities but doesn't realize that it is vital in STEM. Case studies are all stories. The application of data is all stories. The sooner that we realize this, the sooner we can get students to think like data analysts and data scientists in STEM classes.

The image of a perfect human takes away the relatability & trust your audience has in you. To be that reliable & authentic creator here, share your -imperfections -real & raw side -vulnerability -small & big wins. For doing this, the best way is to rely on storytelling. Tell the stories of: -you messing it up. -you felt like a loser. -you losing your cool. -you winning your insecurities. -you got over your vulnerability. If you do so, your audience will be empathetic. Your audience will trust you more. If empathy & trust of your audience is what you need, tell your stories by being real. Authentic stories are powerful!

The most critical part of strategic storytelling is not the story itself, but where the speaker says something like, ‘This story illustrates why.’ Without that line, the story may be riveting but people cannot always see the relevance. Recommend “Get to the point!” And “Language of Leadership” by Joel Schwarzberg for more useful insights on this topic.

Storytelling is a powerful tool that is under utilized on LinkedIn. It is a way that prospective hiring managers and colleagues can see who you are and how you can add to the company's values and mission. Overall, however, storytelling is an important skill that spans many industries including law, data analysis, customer service, marketing, education, and so much more. It is a "soft skill" that will make you stand out in the crowd.

There should always be a "moral of the story," if not a general takeaway, from your story, so the audience feels some resolve by the time they're done reading. Otherwise, they might feel like there was a cliffhanger without there being a follow up that will have the reader saying "that's it?" Forming a takeaway is a skill itself, and it won't form overnight, but try to do it regardless even if it feels a little forced. With practice, the individual skills that go into the umbrella skill of storytelling will get better over time. So start writing!

Depending on the audience, the outcome of the story can cause different reactions. Some stories will motivate individuals toward something, some can dissuade individuals from other things. The ability to bring the audience along with you is not easy nor should it be. Writing to encourage or dissuade is usually the main reason for the story. However sometimes telling good silly stories to connect with your audience is enough on its own. Standup comics do it all the time. There is never enough just "feel good stories" for me to read.

Depending on your genre, you may approach this in different ways. Most will not like a story that beats them over the head with like some old morality fable of the past. Complex stories may leave the reader to ponder what exactly is the higher truth of the story, with no clear answer. Horror in particular may not always offer up a neat and tidy resolution of moral clarity. Like the Captain in JAWS, his fate left us to ponder. Man seeks to kill monster and is eaten. Not really a lesson we want to teach, though it may serve as a warning to wage your battles carefully. But one may think he hunted the shark for revenge over all the sailors who were eaten by sharks in the war story he tells. Outcomes may not always support a clear moral truth.

Las historias son fuente de inspiración y las que cuentan relatos personales y de superación son focos de aprendizaje. Nada mejor que una historia para comprender, empatizar y entender que lo que me pasa a mi te pasa a ti.

For me storytelling is spell binding. It engages, transports, captivates, enchants and transforms. All these 5 things tranforms both the listener and the storyteller.

Here's the way I look at stories and how they should engage with the audience: Stories are there to elicit an emotional 'state' because if you want your audience to take some form of action - whether that be to change their thinking, consider a different way, change their behaviour or indeed buy from you - as Tony Robbins says, all decisions are state dependent So stories need to change state for them to have any form of impact And a way to change state during storytelling is a) Bring the audience into the story by making it present tense. Relive the story, not just retell it b) Use your tonality to elicit emotion and feeling c) Use character and some dialogue

Storytelling holds your INTERESTED audience directly. If they are interested they will read, and respond. Not just react And if they are not you will have uninterested people decluttered automatically