The Facebook algorithms have got me again. I paused too long over an advert for Storyteller Tactics, which is a card deck of advice for communications and presentations. Algorithms aside, I’d probably be in the target audience anyway. I’m fascinated by the act of storytelling and always have been.
Daniel Willingham tells us that our brains are hardwired for stories. In Why Students Don’t Like School, he tells us to harness the brain’s love of narrative when trying to make learning memorable for students. Stories help us to bring order to our world, which is why we like them.
I’ve also come across the importance of storytelling a lot in my political roles. The best politicians create a narrative for people: explaining where the people are and how the politician will take them to a better place. One memory that stands out to be was a talk by former British diplomat Jeremy Greenstock, who used to do events when I was at BP. He said that politicians could often be divided as those who had the talent to win elections and those who had the talent to govern. Greenstock noted how very few straddled both camps. Speaking in 2009 or 2010, he identified Angela Merkel as the only one of the day.
Storytelling goes far beyond education and politics though. We tell and consume them every single day, even when we’re not consciously doing it. Even those Facebook adverts are selling through stories, creating a fiction where we’ll be better for buying whatever the product may be.
Commonplace 