The Importance of Storytelling

“If someone tells you what a story is about, they are probably right. If they tell you that that is all a story is about, they are very definitely wrong.” ― Neil Gaiman

Last week, we briefly touched upon the importance of storytelling, especially when developing better understanding of and stronger relationships with your colleagues. Specifically, the principle of storytelling states that we are social beings and we are humans: facts are important as are theories, but how we remember and understand best comes from stories.

Stories give us visuals and help us not only imagine something without struggling to understand concepts, but to empathize and relate, taking us outside of our frame of reference without creating obstacles that make it harder to comprehend or understand. Whether it is having a deeper appreciation for someone whom you don’t know very well or a way of communicating the appropriate messaging to the intended audience, whether it is a report to investors or an awareness-raising campaign, or a grant proposal.

Let me share with you a story about how I aced a physics assignment in high school during my second attempt at trying to learn something that I struggled with before. The first time they taught us Bernoulli’s Principle, I must have read the page defining it about 20x, never able to understand what was being said. I spent more time reading and re-reading that short definition and even the example that I spent less time finishing a Stephen King novel than I did banging my head against the wall, unable to comprehend what was there in plain English as I was questioning both my intelligence and sanity.

I went to another teacher, Mr. Belkin, who also taught physics and happened to be my friend as I confided in him, and he gave a mischievous grin when I talked about what my problem was. He took a ping pong ball and a hair dryer, aimed upwards, turned on the hair dryer, and the ball floated in the air. Later on, I took a balloon during a game where people were trying to blow theirs up across the room to cross the finish line, and instead of just letting the balloon fly around freely, being the class clown, I pointed the balloon at my face and walked backwards slowly, and it didn’t fly all over the place, but straight ahead. I’m not going to define Bernoulli’s Principle here, but after seeing one example and applying it to something else, the fun part of learning and cool stories came first, and then the information and theory became easier to understand, visualize, comprehend, apply, and subsequently pass my assignment.

What we can glean from that is how the mind is not built for data alone: data is a supplement and a kind of information that helps tell a story, but it shouldn’t be the story itself. Graphs and charts, numbers and citations are useful information and help establish facts, but without using the magic of storytelling, it can confuse at best and mislead at worst.

When you are trying to propose a project, even if expected outcomes in the form of return on investment and the benefits for both shareholders and stakeholders are clearly stated, even if some people just want numbers and figures, you can still be misled by facts.

Let’s also look at what looking at numbers alone does and can be used to mislead: the 1989 Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill was one of the biggest environmental disasters. Yet, if we were to look solely at numbers, GDP went up and it seemed like a good time for economic growth.It is a common argument by environmental activists that you need to look at numbers and data, then go beyond them to tell a more complete story that is both relatable, captivating, and even compelling.

One of my favorite experiences was when I was making short videos for work, telling stories about people and putting faces front and center. It’s one thing to talk about abject poverty and children with inadequate education and nutrition, and it’s another thing to have a 30-second video showing children living behind a garbage dump that burns every day while they have to recycle garbage to scrape together enough money just to buy powdered milk. Likewise, it’s one thing to talk about a program that helps with early childhood development, it’s another thing to show a box of books, pencils, paper, notebooks, erasers, and toys with the organization’s name and logo on them, certificates on the wall showing that teachers received additional training, and food to help kids not go hungry and thus better be able to focus and study in class.

This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes in the book The Life of Pi by Yann Martel: after telling a story of a fantastic journey lost at sea with a tiger for company and then telling another story to the skeptics about human cruelty, the titular character asked everyone questioning him to decide for themselves which story they wanted to believe, because he couldn’t convince him of the one he lived with the animals or the one that they insisted on hearing, the supposed “real” story with bad people.

Now here’s a little game for you to play, which can be done with friends or your colleagues: In no more than one paragraph each, what is the story of the following:

1) You

2) Your dreams and what you’ve done to make them come true

3) One of the people around you that you care about who contribute to making those dreams come true

4) One of the people around you whom you don’t know very well and what you think their story is whether it relates to your dreams and story or not, and finally

5) How you fit into their story and their dreams or not.

You don’t need to be realistic for 4 and 5 especially–you can be as fantastical as possible. See what you get and swap with others.

Now if you’re playing with others, you can divide your answers into two halves and give each one to different people, with the first half being questions 1-3 and the second half being 4 and 5.

Whichever half you get, read it aloud and do it as though you were telling it like it is your own story in the first person. You can do it in a different accent, pretend you’re a cute animal or a celebrity, or even perform it. The key is to remember that you’re not just reading a story, you’re telling and interpreting the story, the same way a song can be covered by different artists and be recognizable, yet distinct in its own way, such as the endless number of versions for “Over the rainbow”.

When you’re done, see how someone else’s interpretation of your story changes how you see yours. See how your interpretation of another’s story was received by others, especially the person whose story you told. This is how to recognize each other’s communication styles, interests, and can help you learn how to collectively support each other’s individual hopes and dreams, and create a combined way of telling a story of your organization and its projects.