The day is hot in Manhattan, NYC. It’s a glorious spring morning. A few weeks earlier, I had joined Contently, a rising Martech . Brazil Email List My hotel is in Soho. I’m still a little late. Ten minutes on foot and I crossed Broadway, near Houston. If asked, I would move to NYC. Tomorrow.
The office is on the corner. It’s an old and charming building, right in the middle of that small area squeezed between the East and West districts; so different from the shimmering glass towers of the city centre.
I wait for the elevator, then go up to the fourth floor. I go in and introduce myself to a few young people. I’m looking for some familiar faces. They tell me to go to the end of the hall. The marketing team is there. And then I see that phrase taped to the wall.
“Those who tell the stories rule the world.” (Those who tell the stories rule the world).
A Native American proverb painted in Contently’s Broadway office. When Contently moved to Wall Street in 2018, the wall was not reproduced in the new office.
It’s a saying of American Indian origin. I have used this quote so many times as an introduction to my notes; for so many years.
I’m finally in front of that wall. I look around me. I hope the runner clears and then I do what I would never have done in any other situation.
what is not a story
Change is key
Change is the basis of all stories. Robert McKee, Hollywood screenwriter and author of the fascinating book Story , says:
“What attracts human attention is the change… if the temperature around you changes, if the phone rings — that gets your attention. How a story begins is an initial event that creates an instant of change.”
In a story, if the value at stake in a situation doesn’t change, what happens is a trivial, meaningless activity.
When a value changes from positive to negative or negative to positive (for example, from love to hate or hate to love, from winning to losing or losing to winning), the event becomes meaningful, and emotions flow.
Specifically, when the mind’s senses change from negative to positive, it releases chemicals that provide pleasure. If the mind registers a movement from positive to negative, it triggers a painful flow. Emotion is the side effect of change. Throughout the day, the body absorbs millions of fragments of raw, sensory stimuli.
Somewhere below the level of consciousness, the mind organizes this mass and imposes decision rules that separate the relevant from the irrelevant. It ignores of all data and focuses on the that stands out.
It's a biological reaction
As a well-told story involves its narration around emotionally charged values, its meaning becomes imprinted in our memory. List Provider When we receive information in the form of a story, instead of a series of simple facts, our brain activity increases 5 times .
The parts of the brain responsible for emotional reactions, imaginary sensations and images come into play. We started to worry about the main character in the story and wondered how we would react if we were in their position. When we are drawn to a story, our brains produce oxytocin, the chemical that creates empathy.
Oxytocin means we feel connected to the hero of the story. We feel involved with it and, if we can, we want to help.
That’s why the stories of people (or customers) whose lives have been transformed, strengthened, or simply improved by our company or organization are among the most powerful resources we have.
Stories help us connect with our audiences, are memorable and, on a biological level, make our brains light up, which means that information is transmitted more reliably.
Stories help create memory structures that, as we know, underlie all branding activities . That’s why we can’t start writing about strategic storytelling if we don’t clarify first why it plays such a crucial role in any company.
We’ll look at—here and in the next few episodes—how the stories unfold. We’ll learn more about some stories we’re all familiar with. We’ll review the typical elements of classic stories, and then we’ll get back to business.