Your Brain On Stories
Our ability to understand the thoughts, feelings and intentions of another - what scientists call "theory of mind",
was an essential element of human evolution. We are communal beings and unlike today, where we live
somewhat solitary lives in a crowded world, 10,000 years ago, humans lived very communal lives in an
otherwise quiet world. Stories and storytelling provide an excellent opportunity to understand and communicate
the thoughts, feelings and intentions of others and ourselves.
Today, neuroscience has documented the direct relationship stories have with our brain chemistry and our
subsequent actions.
Story goes far beyond the mere words, traveling into heart and mind - always heart first. We all know the
common saying - ‘winning hearts and minds’. We never say, ‘winning minds and hearts’ because we
completely, if intuitively, understand that our hearts lead the way and our minds help us to make sense of how
we are feeling.
Optimize Your Storytelling
Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why says, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
I am confident that you passionately tell the story of What You Do and you earnestly demonstrate How You Do
It. You are telling your organization’s story over and over, so why isn’t it creating the effect you are looking for
on a consistent basis?
Let’s explore how telling the story of Why You Do What You Do creates physiological and neurological
changes that create connection. How optimal storytelling makes it possible for your potential donors to see your
work as a part of their story, and, to see themselves playing a significant role in your story.
I imagine that you want to be the leading music organization in your community. As a leader you will not only
tell a powerful story, you will inhabit one as well.
Simply by being a leader, you will attract engagement. Engagement comes in many different forms: volunteer
hours, ambassadorship - meaning they take your story out into the community for you, attendance at your
events, and of course, financial contributions.
In her video, Persuasion & the Power of Story, social psychologist and Stanford professor, Jennifer Aaker says,
“Those who tell the best stories will become the best leaders.”
Just The Facts
Often, there is perceived value in sharing statistics. It’s cliché, but we’ve all heard it - “just the facts.”
And I do have ONE statistic that I would like you to take with you today.
“5 out of 5 people remember a story better
than a list of statistics”
Because facts and figures engage only a small area of the brain. Stories are a whole brain approach and they
engage multiple brain regions that work together to build colorful, rich three-dimensional images and emotional
responses.
A story causes us to feel as if what’s happening out there is actually happening in here. Each sensory image,
sound, texture, color, sensation and emotion provides a hook for our brain as the story draws us in and
maintains our attention effortlessly.
Truth & Beauty
Let’s start with a story
There was once a man who had everything....... (4 minutes)
What Just Happened?
Let’s take a look at some of the physiological changes that just took place in you while listening to that story.
We’ll use a framework created by Dr. Dan Siegel, author of The Whole Brain Child.
S - what are the sensations you experienced?
I - what images can you describe?
F - what feelings, emotions did you experience?
T - did you notice any particular thoughts?
Story has the power to make the imaginal as real to us as this three dimensional reality we are all sharing right
now. Research has demonstrated that as we listen to a story, parts of our brains that process smell, tactile
feelings, emotional feelings, tastes, movement and more activate in response to relevant passages.
This leads us directly into the brain processes that make it so.
3 Neurological Phenomenons
Brain Syncing
Mirror Neurons
Oxtyocin
Brain Syncing
Brain syncing, or brain coupling, was discovered by researchers at Princeton University. During the telling of a
story, the brain activity of the storyteller was recorded by a Functional MRI machine. The researchers could
track where and when the teller’s different areas of the brain became active, or “lit up” based on what was
happening in the story. When a participant listened to the story, the researchers recorded their brain activity in
the fMRI, too. They observed a phenomenon they called ‘coupling’. The listener’s brain lit up in the same way
the teller’s had, with only about a 1 second lag.
This syncing up of brains has proven to be an essential ingredient to successful communication. It illustrates the
importance of the speaker knowing the listener’s state of mind and receptivity - “where they are coming from.”
The level of engagement of the listener was directly correlated to the presence of a phenomenon during which a
portion of the listener’s brain activity preceded the teller’s. The listener’s brain was able to predict what came
next before the words were actually spoken.
Why Is Brain Syncing Helpful?
1. Understanding that excellence in communication is a collaboration.
2. Practicing putting yourself in the other’s ‘shoes’ so that you are aware of where they are coming from - are
they in a place to co-create successful communication?
3.The most powerful way to teach someone is to lead them to their own discovery. As you relay your engaging
story, those for whom your story has meaning will follow along because they are able to experience a sense of
discovery and because it feels right to them.
Therefore, your story must have meaning for them. It must connect to them, where they are, and lead them on a
journey of discovery of a greater sense of value for something they already care about.
When we are awakened to a greater sense of value of something, we are primed to take action. We are in a state
of emotion that provides the fuel for shifting out of the status quo and into motion.
Mirror Neurons
What they cause to happen and how we respond
When I engage in a behavior or have an experience, my motor neurons fire. When I see another’s behavior or
experience, a subset of those motor neurons fires. My brain is echoing what I am witnessing and it feels very
much like it is happening to me. For example, when someone begins to laugh - I begin to laugh.
Based on current neuroscience, mirror neurons activate in response to physical information. What we see, our
brains are programmed to mimic.
For example, when study participants were shown images of faces expressing emotions flashed at a speed they
couldn’t consciously recognize, their facial muscles were activated in a way that mirrored what they had been
shown. So, if it was an image of a smiling face, the muscles involved in smiling experienced an increase in
electrical activity even though the participant wouldn’t have consciously been able to identify what expression
had been flashed on the screen. The same was true for the facial muscles involved in other emotions. Even
being shown an image of a hand in ice cold water caused the observer’s hand to experience an actual drop in
temperature.
Oxytocin
Oxtyocin is a hormone and a neurotransmitter and it is produced in your brain - by your hypothalamus which is
located in the center of your brain near the brainstem. It is responsible for maintaining our internal balance - it
regulates many of our body’s key processes, including heart rate, body temperature and the release of hormones
from your pituitary gland. It is essential for birth and breastfeeding.
It has been studied extensively and is understood to strengthen or weaken our social bonds. Scientists have
measured its ability to make us more relaxed, outgoing, cooperative in our groups, and, more generous.
“What we know is that oxytocin makes us more sensitive to social cues around us. In many situations, social
cues motivate us to engage to help others, particularly if the other person seems to need our help.” Paul Zak,
neuroeconomist, director of the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies and author of The Moral Molecule: The
Source of Love and Prosperity
Oxytocin
Empathy
Paul Zak has documented oxytocin’s powerful ability to cause us to feel empathy and to act in ways that
demonstrate our feelings. He created a study during which participants watched one of two stories. The first
story had a powerful dramatic arc and was deeply emotional. The second story was about the same characters,
but lacked any particular story arc or emotional resonance. Blood was drawn and oxytocin levels were
measured before and after. Those who had watched the powerfully emotional story had significantly increased
levels of oxytocin and were much more likely to make a donation to a cause that addressed the issue in the
story.
“The amount of oxytocin released predicted how much money people would share.” Paul J. Zak,
The Future of Storytelling video.
“Emotional simulation is the foundation for empathy”
Oxytocin
Not A Gullibility Pill
Oxytocin has a dual role. It is not a ‘gullibility pill’ or a ‘one-stop-shop solution’ - before you run out and buy it
because it is available over the counter. It is important to understand its function in order to develop connections
and engagement. Researchers have documented oxytocin’s ability to cause us to withdraw our trust when we
perceive that someone doesn’t have our best interests at heart. Oxytocin tells us who to connect to and who to
invest our time with.
Researchers found that oxytocin intensifies negative social memory and future anxiety by triggering an
important signaling molecule, called ERK (extracellular signal regulated kinases). This molecule becomes
activated for six hours after a negative social experience. The effects of an ERK! experience linger.
How Can Knowing This Help?
Looking at evolutionary neurology helps us to understand how to help our listeners understand.
We can see that working WITH the brain function will support us in being more effective leaders and successful
communicators.
We all eat - we all just did. If you don’t have some knowledge of how the body has evolved to function, you
may not make great nutritional choices.
Understanding what nutrients work for our body and what substances work against us makes the difference
between mediocre physical well-being OR optimal, vibrant health.
In the same way, understanding what creates optimal communication from a physiological perspective makes
the difference between being a mediocre organization OR leading the pack as a team dedicated to excellence.
Your Transcendent Story
Why You Do What You Do
Neuroscience tells us that two ingredients are needed for your listener to become connected and engaged - that it
be personally relevant and emotionally compelling.
In order for this to work effectively, you, yourself, must be authentically personally and emotionally engaged you must inhabit your own story.
As you share your story of Why You Do What You Do your listener experiences emotional simulation and
narrative transportation - and, provided that they do not feel manipulated - they will join you on the journey you
are sharing.
“We know that people are substantially more motivated by their organization’s transcendent purpose (how it
improves lives) than by its transactional purpose (how it sells goods and services). Transcendent purpose is
effectively communicated through stories.....“When you want to motivate, persuade, or be remembered, start
with a story of human struggle and eventual triumph. It will capture people’s hearts – by first attracting their
brains.” Paul Zak
Using a story empowers your board and others to act as ambassadors. If you have given them a story that feels
relevant to them, they will share it. Even more importantly, if they see themselves in your story they will take
action.
Show, Don’t Tell
There’s an old adage in writing....show, don’t tell.
RELATE a list of data, ie, in 2014 we served 3,000 children through our music education program, including
500 at risk youth. The children were given 30 minute lessons twice a week. At the completion of our 9 month
program, each student reported an increase in musical enjoyment and noted additional academic success.
OR
I’d like to tell you a story about David. As a boy, David lived in a home that was filled with anger that
occasionally erupted into violence. In his heart, there burned a question, ‘Why am I insignificant and don’t
belong?’ The instability and emotional distress at home caused him to suffer in school and teachers saw him as
troubled and often, troubling.
In 6th grade, David found himself in a music class. Instruments were handed out and he gravitated toward the
cello. There was something in the sound of that cello that began to ease the burning in his heart. As he spent
time with the music, the instrument and the rest of the group, he began to see that he did belong, he was
becoming significant.
Music provided a safe haven for David for his remaining school years. He learned that emotions - even dark
ones - had a place in music. He began to value his early unhappy experiences as sources of inspiration.
As an adult, David leads a non-profit organization that brings that same, transformative musical experience to
other children. He is proudest of his work with incarcerated youth. When a young man or woman picks up an
instrument for the first time and begins to experience a way of becoming significant and of belonging, he sees
that the burning in their heart begins to ease. And he is inspired all over again to create these opportunities for
as many children as possible.
What Just Happened?
What did you observe?
How did you feel?
How connected did you feel when I gave you statistics?
How connected did you feel when you heard David’s story?
In what ways did you relate to him and his story?
Story = Emotion + Information
Storytelling creates connection by accessing Emotion.
Connection creates engagement with Information.
Emotion supported by Information creates Action.
What You Need
Your ability to design and effectively communicate your most compelling story requires these
ingredients:
Clarity of vision, values and mission
Narrative fluency - the ease with which you comprehend and express narrative
Empathy for your audience and team members
Courage
You Are A Cause
Just by the sheer fact that you are sitting here tells me that you have a compelling, powerful story to discover.
Unearth, design, and express your transcendent story - your Why story.
This story always, always already exists, it remains merely to be discovered. Like an archeologist, you must dig,
dust off, polish and present this rare treasure that lies at the heart of your cause.
Take a moment to talk to the team you came here with. What will you do to design your powerful, compelling
story?
What is your compelling story?
How are you personally connected to this cause, or what cause do you have in your own life that matters to
you?