How to Tell Stories That Make People Take Action
Why would a cancer story cause one audience to weep while another feels indifferent?
When I was 11, my family moved away from my hometown of Manchester to a completely alien corner of the UK called Devon.
I went from the familiar to the unknown in a matter of months. My parents wanted my brother and I to experience growing up in a more nature-filled part of the world. Of course, I didn’t understand this at the time.
To 11-year old me, we were leaving behind all I knew.
In Manchester, I used to walk to school in 5 minutes. At this new school in Devon, I had to ride the bus for an hour.
My first day, I made my way down to the bus stop at the local town hall. My Mum came with me, encouraging me it would be fine. The bus pulled around the corner. My feet felt glued to the concrete. A rickety 40-year-old double decker pulled up. Doors opened. I hopped on and looked up… where do I sit?
There were a few kids sitting together chatting. I shuffled myself down the aisle and picked out an empty seat. The bus left, and I proceeded to sit in silence for a full hour as the fields of maize and green rolled by effortlessly.
As I stepped into my new form classroom, 20 different pairs stared me down like wolves. I looked around like an innocent deer in the headlights.
Introduction time. Everyone shared a cool fact about themselves and which of the local primary schools they’d attended. Then it came to me.
I stood up slowly.
I could have said nothing. Never mind butterflies in the stomach — it felt like a cat loose with a ball of string in there. But I mustered what I had…
“My name is Will… and I don’t know anybody, I guess… I’m not from here. I didn’t go to a local school. About me… I like football and reading. I’m a bit shy but I hope we can get to know each other a bit better!”
I sat down. I thought I’d given it my best… but the other kids just didn’t seem interested. I was the black sheep among their pristine white flock.
I spent the first two breaks between lessons sitting on a brick wall outside the science block of my school. The third lesson before lunch went by as slowly as anything I could remember.
I was preparing myself to find an empty table in the canteen, then I got a tap on my shoulder…
“Hey, wanna come with me to grab some lunch?”
“Oh… um… yeah, I guess!”
“You’re Will, right?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Jake. Must be weird knowing no-one!”
“I guess.”
“What’s it like up in Manchester?”
“Oh… it’s alright. Different.”
“I bet… come on then!”
And just like that, I wasn’t so lonesome anymore.
On a day where I thought I’d never feel more excluded, all it took was one tap on the shoulder and one person’s curiosity to lift me out of that dark spell.
I sadly don’t speak to Jake anymore, but he left a resounding lesson in my mind.
One that happens to also be one of the most fundamental storytelling lessons you can learn.
Have you ever watched a film or read a book and felt like a different person afterwards?
You could read a horror book or watch an action-packed thriller movie… but it might not inspire you to take action.
Yet… we all know that some stories just have that special sauce.
You finish them and your motivation IGNITES.
Perhaps you watched ‘Yellowstone’ and, suddenly, you had the urge to buy a ranch in the middle of nowhere.
Perhaps you read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and felt inspired to take an adventure through the mountains and conquer your local town.
It’s kind of fascinating when you observe this.
Why do we feel motivated to move towards something after taking in a great story?
Well, it’s the magic glue that binds us together as people.
Empathy.
When I work with clients on how to utilise storytelling, I hear this a lot:
“I know I have to relate to my audience but I have no idea how to do it regularly.”
To understand how, we have to talk a little bit about brain chemistry.
You hear a lot about tension and release in storytelling. That’s because it causes our brains to secrete cortisol when tense and release dopamine when relaxed. It’s a continual see-saw of feeling uneasy and at peace.
As you go further down the narrative rabbit hole and the see-saw bounces back harder, something suddenly changes:
You are able to see yourself in a character’s shoes.
Even if you haven’t experienced exactly what they’re going through, you’re able to picture yourself in the story watching through their eyes.
This is due to a release of a third important chemical — oxytocin.
When oxytocin is released, we feel closer to our fellow humans. It’s there when you give someone a warm welcome with a huge hug. It’s there when you hit it off with that special someone on a first date or when you get married or have your first child.
A fantastic researcher by the name of Paul Zak wanted to test the effect of oxytocin in storytelling.
His research has led to some fascinating conclusions…
Zak’s work states that for a story to incentivise action, we have to undergo 2 stages:
Attention
Transformation
Creating tension and release in your writing gets you Step 1. It’s putting your foot in the proverbial door.
But it’s only once you’re inside the house that Step 2 can begin.
When we are fully immersed in a story, we enter a stage called Transformation.
This is when our brain begins to release oxytocin.
When you’re watching a James Bond film and he’s fighting on a crane with the bad guy, we’re stimulated and stressed by the moment. Then, we’re transformed. Our brains release oxytocin.
We begin to feel the emotions of Bond as if we were him.
That same rush of nervousness and adrenaline transports from the screen or page into our mind.
Zak wanted to show this effect in action, so he devised a study.
They took a story based around a 2 and a half-year old boy named Ben, and the rather sad twist is that Ben has brain cancer.
The story focuses on the perspective of Ben’s father. Ben is described as a loving, innocent child. The father struggles to witness this and plays with Ben, knowing his son’s inevitable fate on the horizon.
As Ben’s father tells the story of the cancer, he makes this statement:
“It’s an amazing thing to know how little time one has left.”
It’s as if he has merged with his child emotionally.
Zak wanted to see if we could predict this Transformation effect being induced through the lens of Ben’s father.
Zak’s team recorded one video of the father describing his experience with Ben while showing clips of the two of them playing and talking.
They recorded a second video, this time of Ben and his father at the zoo on a day out. This time, there is no narration of the story or context, but there are obvious allusions to Ben’s condition.
Each member of the trial was shown one of the two videos.
The members who saw the day out at the zoo footage? They began to tune out and find distraction half way through.
The ones who watched Ben’s father narrate the story? Completely engaged throughout.
Another incredible facet of this research is, at the end, participants were offered the chance to donate money to a cancer research charity.
The ones who watched Ben’s father donated significantly more than those who watched the zoo video.
The participants who watched and heard Ben’s father felt transported.
It leads to this fascinating conclusion…
You have the power to transform people with your story.
Of course, a trip to the shop to buy milk might not do the trick…
But your rags to riches tale?
Your experience with personal loss?
Your adventure that conquered your biggest fear?
People are crying out for connection in this world. They want to see examples of heroic and strong-minded action, so they too can take inspiration and make the bold choices required in their lives. Don’t be scared to take the plunge and share your tales online. Even more so, don’t be scared to dive into the emotional ocean that you’ve experienced.
You might just transport someone to exactly where they need to be.
Final note here.
I expect Will and I (Todd) to be fully in sync on this publication by the end of next week. When that happens, the price of this publication’s paid tier will go up.
He and I plan to add these things to the paid tier:
Storytelling classes,
Regular feedback on your articles,
Regular Q&A
It’s possible the archive of this publication will also be reserved for paid members. Haven’t decided on that yet.
Bottom line:
If you want the perks of a paid subscription for the best price, join What Makes Great Writing now.
Use this link:
Belter Will. So well done.