Systematize Success #15 - Storytelling, Storytelling, Storytelling

Storytelling, Storytelling, Storytelling

Hi Friends,

And happy Monday!

As you might have guessed, this week is a storytelling special.

It comes in 4 parts:

1. Why storytelling matters

2. How to rock at it

3. Some examples

4. Action points for you

1. Why storytelling matters

… and rules the world. From the Iliad to 1984, from investment pitches to electoral promises, from declarations of love to declarations of war… stories stories stories.

The modern human brain most likely evolved to handle more and more complex social interactions - a.k.a. gossiping - so we have an excuse.

Best Story Wins by Morgan Housel (5min)

• A truth that applies to many fields, which can frustrate some as much as it energizes others, is that the person who tells the most compelling story wins. Not who has the best idea, or the right answer. Just whoever tells a story that catches people’s attention and gets them to nod their heads.

• “The best arguments in the world won’t change a single person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” - Richard Powers

• A few things about good stories worth remembering:

  • When a topic is complex, stories are like leverage.

  • Stories get diverse people to focus attention on a single point.

  • Good stories create so much hidden opportunity among things you assume can’t be improved.

    • Rory Sutherland writes in his book Alchemy about the idea of psychological moonshots:

      • Making a train journey 20 per cent faster might cost hundreds of millions, but making it 20 per cent more enjoyable may cost almost nothing.

      • The Uber map is a psychological moonshot because it does not reduce the waiting time for a taxi but simply makes waiting 90 per cent less frustrating.

      • It seems likely that the biggest progress in the next 50 years may come not from improvements in technology but in psychology and design thinking. Put simply, it’s easy to achieve massive improvements in perception at a fraction of the cost of equivalent improvements in reality.

• How many great ideas have already been discovered but could grow 100x or more if someone just explained them better?

• How many products have only found a fraction of their potential market because the company is so bad at describing them to customers?

2. How to rock at it

For those of you who don’t know me personally, I must confess something: I am a South Park & Rick and Morty fan. The old Simpsons as well. The writers in those three shows each have mastered storytelling to an extreme that will keep them alive as timeless classics.

In this very short video, the writers of South Park share their “secret” recipe:

"But... Therefore..." Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park) Plotting Advice (2min)

• If the words "and then" belong between those [story] beats, you're fucked. Basically. You've got something pretty boring. What should happen between every beat that you've written down, is either the words "therefore", or "but".

3. Some Examples

This video is simply fascinating, following the rule above nearly to the perfection. If you are not that much into math, feel free to stop after the pizza analogy.

The Ridiculous Way We Used To Calculate Pi (18min)

I am also a huge fan of those three articles below. They are all biology stories. What I love with those stories is that the authors always put in the extra writing effort to make the stories fascinating. They simply try much harder:

Write about Tesla, NFTs, or politics, and everyone will read if you even remotely bring some ideas to the table, even if your writing is awful.

Write about orca sociology, microscopic worms and/or mushrooms, and your stories has to be captivating if you want to hope that people will even read past the title.

Don’t read them in full if you don’t want to - that is not the point: simply have a look at one or two and see the writing quality for yourself.

A Group of Orca Outcasts Is Now Dominating an Entire Sea (15min)

Nematode Roundworms Own This Place (7min)

How a Carnivorous Mushroom Poisons Its Prey (6min)

4. Action points for you

The magical science of storytelling (17min)

• Good Storytelling induces the production of 3 key hormones in the listener, the "angel's cocktail":

  • Suspense -> Dopamin ->

    • Focus

    • Motivation

    • Memory

  • Empathy -> Oxytocin ->

    • Generosity

    • Trust

    • Bonding

  • Humour -> Endorphin ->

    • Creativity

    • Relaxation

    • Focus

• By opposition, baseline stress is accompanied by the "devil's cocktail -> Cortisol & Adrenaline ->

  • Intolerance

  • Irritability

  • Uncreativity

  • Negativity

  • Memory impairment

  • Poor decision-making

• Action points

  • Always use Storytelling to build Rapport with others, both in personal and professional situations.

  • Reference your Stories and categorise them by category (Suspense, Empathy, and Humour) to reuse them when they are most required by your audience.

Please don’t forget to share if you think this type of insights can help others:

Thanks for reading, and have a memorable week,

V