There are some stories that you just can’t unhear. You know the ones? For me, there’s the one about a near-death experience where a friend fell skiing, and was hanging upside down in a glacial crevasse with one foot attached to a ski binding before being rescued. Or the one where a friend found out her business partner and best friend was stealing money from their business. Or the one where a friend’s 4-year-old son caught his two teeth on a trampoline net and yanked them out, root and all, and was covered in blood (oh, wait, that was MY kid, you’re welcome for the visual). They are the stories you just can’t unhear, unsee, or stop thinking about.

There’s a reason.

Stories carry weight because they persuade you to learn something new. They describe a human experience, and they do it by cataloguing events with a specific turning point, with a lesson at the end. The lessons, in turn, allow us to grow, avoid failure, or succeed in some way. If the story is powerful enough, the details are etched into our memory, and are stamped with the teaching, making it unforgettable.

So, how does this transfer to brand messaging? Using the structure and persuasive power of stories in your messaging allows you to connect with and influence your audience. They allow you to impart crucial information that will help your audience to become better at what they do…because of you. STORY, then, becomes your connective technology.

Here are the 5 reasons why, and how to use them in your brand messaging, wrapped up in an acronym bow that is: S.T.O.R.Y.

The top 5 reasons to use S.T.O.R.Y. in your brand messaging:

1. Social: Stories ignite chemicals in our brains—oxytocin (I’m loved!), dopamine (I won!) and cortisol (this is new, I better pay attention!)—that allow us to feel connectedness, empathy, reward and focus. So, then, stories become innately social as they are told to other people as a way to find a common bond, impart useful information, or allow us to survive and thrive. And we all crave human connection—stories provide that.

2. Tension: The cornerstone of stories is that they highlight tension. When tension is presented, it captures our attention, and keeps us engaged. We want to know how the character straddles the gap between what is and what will be.

3. Order: Stories provide context and sequential order to events which, in turn, allows our brains to easily remember the details. Tell a good story, it will be unforgettable.

4. Relatable: Thanks to neurochemicals, stories fire up a part of the brain that allows us to see ourselves in the story. They are our primary way of engaging, persuading and influencing each other. 

5. You: Stories engage YOU because they provide you with key turning points that relate to your own personal experiences. If you’re engaged, you’ll act. As Neuroeconomics Professor Paul Zak says, ‘Narratives that cause us to pay attention and involve us emotionally are the stories that move us to action.’

Need help finding the stories worthy of sharing? Get in touch. We can help you discover, unpack, and map the key turning points in your story to drive connection and revenue. Promise!