Why stories enthral & connect us
Are you listening? Then let me begin.
Storytelling, the universal human experience, is as old as time. Dating back at least 17,000 years, the Lascaux Cave paintings might be the earliest evidence of visual storytelling. With suggested tales of hunting victories and rituals to improve future hunting success, they are stories captured and shared.
“Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution — more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to.” Lisa Cron
Stories were fundamentally key to survival – a way of passing on information, teaching moral principles and sharing tribal law. According to Lisa Cron in Wired for Story, storytelling is ‘a superpower that has been hiding in plain sight since time immemorial’, ‘providing a context for facts so that we can make sense of them, learn from them, grow and evolve’.
Storytelling across time
From visual storytelling came oral storytelling in the form of chants, myths and legends. Aboriginal Australians, the world’s oldest continuous culture have storytelling embedded in their ancestry. Aboriginal Dreamtime, is the stories and beliefs behind creation. It offers security and explanation of how life is and why things happen. Storytelling creates bonds that strengthen the communities within which those stories are shared.
The Greeks also used stories to explain natural occurrences, in the form of epics such as The Iliad and Odyssey. Epics such as Beowulf assign superhuman qualities to ordinary people, originating the hero tale a genre which continues to captivate us centuries on.
Folklore, fables and tales that were shared to impart teachings, wisdom and values. Most famously Aesop’s Fables, the collection of over 700 short stories from 6th century BCE by former Greek slave Aesop, that capture morsels of morality in such a relatable and memorable way that they are still shared today.
There are learnings from Icelandic sagas such as 13th century Brennu-Njáls, which speaks of human behaviour, conflict resolution and the consequence of one bad decision. And stories, scandals and news intended to amuse and entertain were gathered by medieval minstrels and French troubadours and shared across royal courts in the form of verse.
In the 1800s, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm dedicated themselves to collecting and publishing traditional German tales of cultural heritage, while Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales contained lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity. Both becoming part of contemporary social commentary.
image credit Klim Sergeev via Unsplash
Stories are part of the fabric of society, crossing cultures and continents and have the power to strengthen communities.
The emotional impact of stories
Storytelling fulfils the human need to share experiences in narrative form. Stories help us to find order in chaos, make sense of things that have happened to us and help us to find comfort.
Nurturing for the listener, stories help us feel connected to the storyteller through intimacy, empathy and shared experience. Connections can be deepened when stories are moulded to meet the needs of the listener, the story is delivered in a way the listener is open to receiving and by shaping the environment within which the story is told. We all remember the strength of a tale told around the glow of a campfire, or the thrill of a story shared under darkness of night.
The science of stories
Scientific studies show that the more compelling a story the more empathetic is the listener. In his paper, The Neuroscience of Narrative, Paul J. Zak, Ph.D (the researcher behind the discovery of the behavioural effect of oxytocin) undertook a study to understand if oxytocin might motivate people to engage in cooperative behaviours. It revealed that:
oxytocin is the biological instrument that puts people in thrall to a story
narratives that cause us to pay attention and involve us emotionally are the stories that move us to action
So, when we tell a story that evokes strong emotions and the listener empathises with the characters, they become emotionally invested and remember it for a longer period of time. That emotional connection is a powerful tool when it comes to decision making. The study is evidence that people are more likely to act on emotion than logic.
Storytelling today
Long long ago, we started telling stories. They are ingrained into our society in the form of art, literature, buildings and religion. Stories are part of our every day – the novels we read, the media we consume, the movies we watch, the podcasts we listen to. We are receptive to stories.
Stories make things relatable and memorable
Stories help the storyteller build identity
Stories help us understand each other and build emotional connection
Stories help us define our values and bind us in community
I look forward, over the next few months, to sharing founder stories that impart knowledge and help the spark connection with potential investors, clients and customers and help their businesses grow.
Until next time …