Why do we need stories? Big (growth from), "mature" (16+), held (already done something in life) people? Stories are an integral part of the life of almost any successful person, no matter in which areas he acts. Starting with family upbringing and ending with business, we explain, show and share our experience, share our feelings and worldview, and with them the associated emotions. They have been running after us since childhood, and we are willing to be friends with them like a fluffy puppy, becoming adult uncles and aunts. Only when we become adult uncles and aunts do we need them even more, especially those that we tell ourselves.
“Even in mathematics, it is needed, even the discovery of differential and integral calculi would not have been possible without imagination. Fantasy is the quality of the greatest value. ”
V.I. Lenin
Stories can be used as an important toolkit, which carries the basis for the development of any broadcast material. By telling stories, people convey wisdom, knowledge and culture. So it was accepted for the entire existence of mankind. Recover the earliest vivid memories of the school. Most likely, the lessons that you still remember are based on the stories told to you. Think about the major religions, and you will realize that most of their teachings were transmitted through parables and stories.
Fairy tale and myth-making appeal to our deepest layers of the soul, bypassing logic. Stories, parables for many millennia have fixed broadcast material from the time of the New Testament and earlier. From ancient times, they played the role of emotional enrichment of listeners and turned to the basic, originally from childhood, layers, being a tool for imprinting experience.
The parable of the old man and Google
I will tell you a parable about the old man and Google. In one village there lived an old man who was born so long ago that no one knew yet what a computer or telecom was. And everyone knew him and went to him for advice, but what's there - just talk.
Once a traveler came to the village and was very surprised that nowadays everyone is going to the old man with questions.
- Why do not you hammer your question just in the search? - he was surprised, - now there is everything on the Internet!
“Here, look,” he went to the old man with the tablet, “how convenient.” I want to know, for example, what the wind is. I type about the wind and I get: pictures about the wind, news about the wind, scientific articles about the wind, a video about the raging elements.
“Once,” said the old man, calling for a robot with a cup of tea, “I also sat here and saw a girl coming down from that hill.” The wind ruffled her hair, covering her face. They fell into her eyes, she cleaned them and smiled. That was my wife. This is what the wind is.
Stories make a kind of bridge out of faceless material in the process of transmitting information and understanding. In order for your message to be perceived and remembered, you can pour a certain story into it as a soul. You do not need to become a writer for this - just a drop of humanity is enough. Correctly and at the right time, the stories told do not encounter any resistance.
We create stories as we need, when we feel that we need help to move to a new paradigm, with changes in activity or perception. If the format allows the story, or a sequence of stories, you can tell by breaking them into stages of such power to get an increasing effect. And then combine the various pieces into a single fabric.
Where must stories live?
Where must stories live?
- Social communication: home, work, family, environment, social gatherings, groups.
- Personal promotion: professional and image.
- Negotiations, meetings, presentations (if we want not to give people time to sleep, but to get the result).
- Training, mentoring, upbringing, coaching (so that everything enters the brain, but does not exit the ear from the translator).
In personal and professional advancement, as well as in the communication process - whether it be negotiations, communication with partners, colleagues and subordinates - the power of stories reigns everywhere. Almost all sites are suitable for weaving stories into the canvas of personal advancement - posts on social networks and blogs, columns, conversations in the smoking room, personal sites, and articles that we write.
What can I write about here? About your thoughts and principles, show life style as illustrations. Stories can make the atmosphere warmer, change the emotional degree of perception. Since they are primarily aimed at intuition and fantasy, they allow you to go down to the deeper layers of the psyche and use them.
In negotiations, business, sales with them, we better bring the key components of the broadcast material to our target audience. By correctly telling the story, you can provide targeting, clearly direct the appeal and weed out those who need to pass by. Using parables and metaphors, the facilitator can control the group’s attention, neutralize unnecessary manifestations, and actualize the desired context. In this case, the person extracts the understanding for which he is ready at the moment. Repeated sales, new customers, strengthening the brand and eliminating its fuzziness is not the whole list where the power of stories plays a role.
When we are just starting to use the power of stories in our lives, we are faced with the question of storytelling skills. First you need to determine:
- What do you want to work with, what messages, associations, changes.
- What changes do you want to make, how people are ready for them.
- What can prepare for changes, what material (result) will be obtained in a meaningful way.
- What will you do with this result.
Storytelling Techniques
I began to write an article in fits and starts on an airplane. When I wrote the first draft version of this article, I showed it to a neighbor. There was nothing in it except scientific words and arguments - a skeleton that, on the whole, well reflected the essence of thought. We flew for a long time, and the censor ... fell asleep in the second half. “The article is excellent,” he said, waking up.
There are many tricks and tricks of compiling stories. One of the tales that is applicable to any task is a story about yourself. It is convenient to include the components and rules of fairy tale therapy. Fairytale therapy is a practical genre of stories that catches the audience in a completely fabulous way. In fairy tales, there is one important word - the archetype. This is what they say about companies: if you do not build a brand, then the brand builds you. When telling stories about yourself, stick to the same archetype in all channels. It will be easier for those with whom you are talking.
Another interesting trick is the story of material reinforcement. A vivid example is the story of a material object that can be demonstrated. Using live confirmation 2-3 times increases the effect of recording on the subcortex.
As an example of the classics of the genre, a story can be drawn illustrating how to find a solution to a problem. In the center is a question or a problem when one of the heroes is brought up to the necessity of its solution. And in the process of history, someone tells the story of a solution to this problem. After listening to the story and going a certain way, the hero solves the problem. Or does not use the information received and gets the opposite result. In essence, this is a double confirmation method that overcomes the standard barriers of the psyche, bypasses the usual patterns of thinking and circuits (value-based replicated patterns of information that replicate and disseminate themselves). Information is quite calmly absorbed and lays on top of current experience and condition.
If you need to immerse deep enough in the material or remove or change sufficiently strong settings, then you can use more complex techniques. Such as the reception of "history in history." In them, one of the heroes tells the story as confirmation or advice. It looks like a dream in a dream. We will take the target audience one more level lower and with great skill we can make another investment. This is akin to a hypnotic effect.
Let's remember what “wind” we need to talk about tomorrow? What thought should I bring? Boss, mother-in-law, business partner ... Anyone will suit us in order not to wait for Monday. And just in case, consider the risk, in case you get the desired result tomorrow!