Storytelling and Business: 10 Facts On How Your Story Can Set You Apart From the Masses

Have you ever considered the relationship between storytelling and business?

In today’s world, our brains are so busy! We have a screen in front of our face for countless hours a day. We have so many things to remember – names, numbers, dates, passwords, facts, figures, and so on. How can we possibly remember everything that we hear, or for that matter, even a fraction of it?

Cognitive Load Theory explains that our minds can easily become overloaded if required to process too much complex information. Once our brains reach capacity, information passes through our minds, but does not stick.

Furthermore, our minds prefer stories to facts. People are being inundated with data – text, numbers, facts, etc.  Unlike data, which can easily be forgotten or mis-remembered, stories are seemingly effortless to understand, and easy to recall.

Stories are easier to remember because descriptive narratives can activate up to 7 areas of the human brain. With so many areas of the mind engaged, listeners experience the story, rather than just process data. In addition, a carefully crafted story will likely inspire emotional reactions from audience members. People are much more engaged through emotions than they are through information.

Below are some stats which cement the fact that our brains are over-stuffed with data:

1. Every 60 seconds, 700,000 Google searches are performed.
2. 5.3 trillion ads are shown online each year.
3. Blog posts with videos added are linked to three times more than text-only posts.
4. 90% of professionals have thrown away important information without reading it.
5. Every 60 seconds – 60 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube and 168 million emails are sent.
6. The average person sees about 5,000 marketing messages per day.
7. 63% of people remember stories following a presentation, whereas only 5% of people remember statistics.
8. 79% of people scan articles rather than read every word.
9. The average US citizen consumes 100,500 digital words each day.
10. Functional MRI neuro-imagery shows that, when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences) rather than information (brand attributes, features and facts).

Susan Sly is a best selling author, work life balance expert, speaker and entrepreneur. She has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox, Lifetime Television and the CBN. Susan is the mother of four children and resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.