Stories are an essential part of how we connect with each other and understand the world.

It could be a story you tell your friends. Or your customers. Or your team. Or yourself. Stories are a powerful tool for us as social creatures, in a professional context or otherwise.

Here I share my learnings from the many workshops I went through, our scientific understanding of storytelling, and lessons from the great storytellers I look up to.



Your Brain on Stories

 On the Freakonomics Radio , Brain researcher Jack Gallant from UC Berkeley explained an unexpected finding in his research. The production of language happens in a relatively small part of the brain. It is localized (and " left-lateralized ").

But in contrast, the comprehension of language happens all across the brain. It is very broadly distributed. When you listen to someone tell an interesting story, a big part of your brain is activated.

Our brain and body also release oxytocin and cortisol when exposed to a certain story structure. This brings us to the next section.



The Dramatic Arc

Many storytellers have suggested that there is a structure that makes stories engaging.

One particularly popular model is the 5-act structure proposed by German novelist Gustav Freytag . It is often known the dramatic arc or the Freytag Pyramid .

And there is evidence in neuroscience that supports this. In his research , Dr. Paul Zak discovered that stories with the dramatic arc caused an increase in cortisol and oxytocin. These chemicals are correlated with distress and empathy.

With the dramatic arc, we pay more attention. And we feel more connected to the story. The brains of the storyteller and audience go in sync.

There are also similar structures in East Asian narratives. Namely, 起承轉合 (qǐ chéng zhuǎn hé) and 序破急 (jo-ha-kyū).



Building Blocks of a Good Story

In an interview , the host of This American Life Ira Glass discussed the two basics building blocks in a story — anecdotes, and moments of reflection.

Anecdotes are a sequence of actions. One thing led to another. The sequence has momentum in and of itself, no matter how boring the facts are. As a listener, you can feel inherently that you're on a train that has a destination.

You can keep the sequence going by constantly raising questions and answering them. From the very beginning of your story. The question can even be implied. For instance, say "The house was very quiet". The implied question here is "why?"

And a moment of reflection tells the listener "Here's why you're listening to this story. Here's why I'm wasting your time with this."

In a good story, you would have both building blocks interwoven.



Two Personas, with Critical Distance

Once you have a draft, review your work with fresh eyes. It is useful to develop two personas — one for the creating, the other for the critiquing.

Here's an execept from an interview with the Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison in 1993:

People say, I write for myself, and it sounds so awful and so narcissistic, but in a sense if you know how to read your own work—that is, with the necessary critical distance—it makes you a better writer and editor.

When I teach creative writing, I always speak about how you have to learn how to read your work; I don’t mean enjoy it because you wrote it. I mean, go away from it, and read it as though it is the first time you’ve ever seen it. Critique it that way. Don’t get all involved in your thrilling sentences and all that...  



Cutting

If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. — George Orwell



"Word economy" is a guardrail metric that many writers, comedians, and producers use. It seems to be the norm that for every unit of creative output, there are many more that don't make it to the final version. Case in point: I discarded at least 3-4X the amount of materials in this article throughout the writing process.

For every detail that you introduce, ask yourself, is it advancing the story? Is it telling the listener something they don't know? Is it not redundant?

If you find your attention drifting as you read through a draft, it is a strong signal that it needs to be shorter. Better to have an intense reduction sauce, than a watery pot.



Appealing to the Senses

Facts and figures are not emotional. They don't suck people in. The more senses you can engage, the more connection and understanding you can establish with your listener. In the earlier post on persuasion , we also discussed this topic.

Your story is more powerful if you can paint a visual picture, either directly showing images or constructing imagery via words. This topic itself can fill books, and I will discuss visual storytelling in more depth in a subsequent article.

Another way to appeal to the senses is through body language and space. In a storytelling workshop, I spent my whole speech talking about the 3-piece Singaporean kaya breakfast set . Afterwards, the instructor pointed out something I was doing that was really effective — moving my hands to give a spatial structure to my words, as if the imaginary objects were there. Others came up to me at the end and remarked, "I have never been to Singapore, but you got me hooked."



Other Tools

There are a few storytelling tactics that are useful and worth mentioning.

When you are speaking, don't be afraid to slow down for emphasis. And if you lose your train of thought, simply go quiet.

Beware of jargons. Jargons break immersion. And if the listener can't follow along, your story loses steam. Making ideas accessible isn't the same as dumbing it down.

Be at ease when telling a story. Unless you are trying to communicate nervousness, it adds noise to what the listener picks up on.

Expose yourself to a variety of stories. Take notes on what works, what falls flat. Keep collecting these data points.



And...Practice

At last, let me address the elephant in the room. To get good, you absolutely need to practice. Practice out loud. Even better, practice in front of an audience.

There are plenty of meetups, in person or virtual, where you can practice with other storytellers. Toastmasters, PechaKucha , the Moth ,  are a few that I have enjoyed. Or even your local open mics.  I did standup comedy for about half a year. It turned out to be a brutal but valuable learning experience.

Another thing you can try is to host an event yourself. Get together with a few friends, and just teach each other something you didn't know.

Or in the case of Andrew Ng, Stanford Professor and co-founder of Coursera, he approached it without an audience. In his post , he discussed his 30-minute deliberate practice exercise to improve his presentation. In this exercise, he would record a 60-second presentation. And immediately watch it and adjust based on his observations. Then repeat. It was this approach that helped him create one of the most popular MOOCs of all time.

And here's another option — if you record a video of you telling a story (1-2 minutes, about any topic), send it over and I can provide feedback in private.