The Importance of Storytelling

“Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness,
they are altering your world.” — Ben Okri

Stories can make you happy, they can make you sad, they can change your life.

Some of us are born storytellers. Others have to learn the craft.

And a worthwhile craft it is.

Stories are the glue that have held mankind together since its beginnings. If you’re picturing Vikings sitting around a fire talking while skinning a rabbit or thinking of Greek myths and ancient fairytales you‘re not wrong.

Today we rely on technology and the internet to be informed, capture and evaluate data and share stories with the world. And yet, we continue to be fascinated by old legends like King Arthur’s, history’s greats like Alexander the Great and characters from the Bible and other ancient books.

Technology can disappear and the access to the internet denied and all our stories captured digitally and online will vanish. That may never happen. But for all the technological progress we have made, we have almost forgotten, or unlearned, how to come together as humans and talk about things that matter.

Not what you had for lunch and what your workmate said and that you thing you bought but how you feel, how that other person feels, what ideas are they are thinking about and how their past affects their future.

Try sitting around a campfire and take turns relating an experience that has somehow touched you at your core or changed your life while everyone else listens and one person strums quietly on a guitar. It’s the best.

“Storytelling can be defined as the use of visuals, words, audio or other media to educate, entertain or inspire an audience to take action.”

In terms of marketing, the art of storytelling is worth its weight in gold.

Do you have an important message to convey? Do you need to motivate a certain audience to action?

These days, people don’t want to have random commercials forced on them, they go looking for what they want to know. Everyone has developed a huge BS detector. No one cares about your products, people care mostly about themselves.

How can you help them? Can you solve a problem for them?

Learn to put yourself into your audiences shoes.

Next, we care about other people and how they relate to us. We connect with humans, not with a product or a service. We want to find a part of ourselves in a story. That is why diversity in directing films and producing content is so important.

Our view of the world has been shaped by a small group of people so far. There are so many other experiences, emotions and ways to approach life. Tell your story honestly, and someone will feel seen and react.

This is not just an idealistic notion (although that would be typical of me).

Research has shown that a well crafted narrative creates a response in our brain is a powerful motivator to take action. So if you want to sell a product or service, get to know your audience and learn how to tell a good, honest story to reach people’s hearts.

In a world full of noise and competition, this may be the only way to stand out.

Let’s take —as a simplified example— luxury automotive brands: what’s the perceived difference between an Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz? They are all state of the art top notch quality. They are in a comparable price bracket.

In the end it comes down to lifestyle and what image a person connects with the most. Where does he or she see herself in the world or where do they want to be? What are their values? Who do they want to be? That is the story and image that they will connect with.

If you’re a small entrepreneur or freelancer this is equally important. You have control over your narrative so use it! Your audience needs to be able to trust you or be inspired by you - so tell your story and connect with people.

We long for connection but it requires a certain willingness to be vulnerable. The more honest and vulnerable you are in your your storytelling, the more likely your audience will find value in it and become fans.

And fans become customers.

If you would like to read more about this, I write about storytelling, filmmaking and writing and on Substack, where you can subscribe for updates directly into your inbox.