If you’ve ever had any doubts that international aid or global health is a business, then one visit to an International AIDS Conference will clear them away. Between the free frozen yogurt from big pharma and bookend speeches from the Clintons, it was hard to ignore what a “sexy” disease HIV was last week in Washington D.C.
At a pre-conference meeting, I made a presentation on the nexus of storytelling and M&E, which begged the question–if program people could understand the key elements of a good story (i.e. protagonist with which we identify, obstacle, overcoming of obstacle and resolution), how would we represent the value of our programs? And I don’t mean the sad, formulaic, public relations pieces that many organizations use in which those on the receiving end are passive characters in the story, i.e. so-and-so was poor or sick, they received our help, and now they’re not.
I had arrived to the venue about an hour before I was to give the presentation to about 80 people from 30 some countries. The prior session was full of “shoulds” and summaries and the inability of some to relinquish the mic once they got it. As a result, people were staring off, visibly bored, as in many aid meetings. Even when the discussion got heated, it was merely an abstraction for many people in the room who were not part of the “in the know” group.
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WHY STORIES?
1. Stories “stick.”
- Stories are what people remember and what people share naturally.
- Stories have more resonance with people than more traditional presentation formats.
- Where we might very easily forget a headline or a list or a number, we remember in stories.
- We seek out stories as a way of making sense of our experiences and the world around us.
2. Our brains like stories.
- Stories touch deep psychological processes of perception, learning and memory.
- Cognitive psychology tells us that the human mind has evolved a narrative sensemaking faculty that allows us to perceive and experience the chaos of reality in such a way that the brain then reassembles the various bits of experience into a story in the effort to understand and remember.
- Stories balance the logical (sequence) and the emotional (empathy) aspects of our brains.
- In many ways, our written behaviors and collaboration on the internet already mimic the qualities of oral societies.
3. Stories cut through barriers.
- Predating the written word, oral storytelling developed alongside the development of speech within every known culture. Stories are a universal art form and are held within the fiber of every culture.
- Anyone can tell a story, regardless of age, race, gender, level of “expertise” or position, or “high or low-tech” – an equalizer.
- When you hear a well-told story about a fight between two brothers, your brain says, “Oh yea, my brother is just like that!”
- Storytelling “tempts” people to listen to each other. This can open channels of communication between people from different backgrounds.
- Stories give voice to otherwise silent perspectives and allow multiple perspectives to emerge.
- The act of listening, suspending judgment, knowing each other – are all powerful in building empathetic relationships (and in the case of aid, strong partnerships).
4. Stories inspire.
- Humans like to imagine – stories are fun! They captivate us in relevant, compelling & credible ways.
- Stories are not “simple” – they can sophisticatedly and elegantly convey complex, ambiguous and abstract concepts in concrete and practical ways.
- Stories allow play to have meaning in the context of work (where we are not supposed to act “childlike”).
- Stories inspire people towards action/change by capturing the imagination and leading by example, rather than persuading with rhetoric—‘what if’ rather than ‘that’s why’.
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I really enjoyed this post and your perspective (my first of your work), but I would love to hear how you understand narratives in relation to stories (a component of? independent from?). The pursuit of a narrative in aid, especially to justify “need,” can be quite dangerous (from my (evolving) perspective).
Thanks!
Great read. My work as of late is centered around one thing that must happen before stories can really do all of these others things – groups of stories must coalesce to tell a new story embodying the highlights and diversity of the underlying group.
This is no trivial task, but I believe it can be done, and that computers will be able to help us do this.
At this level of abstraction, we can finally achieve a good mix of (a) rigor, (b) readability, and (c) emotional potency.
beautiful blog. I would like to be in touch with you. I am a storyteller working in emergency situations, presently in Haiti, training in narrative therapies, imaginative regeneration stories, cultural and inner well being, presence, joy as capacity builders. And all that you say resonates deeply with me. I want to learn more about what you are doing. I believe that if more stories were shared and heard we would learn more.. unlock our ability to envision our lives and do business better.. more related. as you note we have to learn to recognize the elements of a story which are far more than the content. this is what I am working on.
Wow! Just loved your post on storytelling and the importance of it in the work we do. I’ve been using storytelling for a long time in different communities in South America and Asia and to this day I am always impress of how words connect and resonate for all of us, in all cultures. I particularly cheerish this little phrase from André Gide that says: “Be faithful to that which exists within yourself”