Because storytelling is something I love, there are three stories that I tell often.

One is about the time I ate a whole chilli in Delhi, India – thinking it was a green bean and making myself unforgettable to the ballroom full of dignitaries present.

One is about my habit of ‘locking’ my suitcase with a plastic cable tie when I travel and then having to gnaw through it like a rabid raccoon when I eventually reach my accommodation, as I’m too usually lazy to ask Reception for a scissors.

One is about how I don’t cook, a) because I lack the skills, b) because I lack the imagination and c) because I just don’t want to.

(You’re welcome to explore one or all of these stories in more detail. Links above.)

I tell these stories on stage, in workshops and online because they land a critical point for me and they do so in a way that simple theory cannot: memorably.

Here’s the neuroscience of storytelling:

• Vivid detail activates your brain’s sensory cortex, making stories immersive and easier to lock into long-term storage. 
• Unexpected events trigger a surge of dopamine, which increases attention. 
• My embarrassment triggers your amygdala, which flags the incident as important and cements it more deeply than a routine or neutral event. 
• And, humans are compelled to remember mistakes (theirs and others’) as a form of vicarious learning.

And here’s the core over-arching lesson:

If we want things to stick in people’s minds, they must be detailed, surprising, specific and unexpected.

How do you use the lesson? Believing that storytelling belongs in everyday business writing doesn’t mean turning every email into a memoir. But it you can borrow the mechanics of story and apply them with restraint.

1. Storytelling: Start with moment, not message.

Most business writing opens with intent, which I call ‘throat-clearing’. “I’m writing to…” or “The purpose of this email…” But stories usually open with something happening. A decision made. A problem noticed. A mistake revealed. Instead of explaining what your document is about, try to anchor the reader in a moment that makes the point unavoidable. 

For example, compare: “The purpose of this email is to address recent delays in project delivery,” with: “Last Thursday Natalie called to ask why the report promised for Monday still hadn’t arrived.”

Instead of: “I’m writing to clarify our invoicing process,” try: “Clive has just queried an invoice for the third time in six weeks.”

Nothing else has changed yet. But the reader understands, early on, why the message matters and what’s at stake.

2. Storytelling: Use detail sparingly but deliberately.

You don’t need adjectives everywhere. You need one or two details that work really hard for you, linked to time, place, behaviour or even consequence. 

“Late” is vague, but “twenty minutes late because the Zoom link in the calendar invited us to a meeting that did not, in fact, exist” gives the brain something to hold onto.

Or you could try, “twenty minutes late because five competent adults were waiting patiently in the wrong Zoom room, assuming the problem was everyone else”.

Same point, one detail, clear behaviour and an implied lesson you don’t need to explain. (It’s okay to let the reader do some of the work. You need not painstakingly spell out the moral. If the implication is obvious, trust it.)

3. Storytelling: Keep the cast as small as possible.

As soon as you write “stakeholders” or “various parties”, the story evaporates. Specific humans (one person, one client, one team) make consequences feel real.  Plus, cause and effect make more sense.

Compare: “The stakeholders were unhappy with the outcome,” with: “On Wednesday Melissa and Lorraine forwarded the deck back with one line highlighted and the comment, ‘This isn’t what we discussed.’” Specific humans make consequences feel real and real is what sticks. If you can point to a real human decision, action or hesitation, the reader can follow the logic and learn from it.

So what’s the bottom line?

Thinking back to the green bean, the cable tie and the grey meat (if you know, you know), other people’s stuff-ups tend to arrive with texture. Storytelling bypasses abstract advice and gives the reader a handy shortcut to experience something without the cost. 

Liked this? Good. Now stop lurking and browse my training options. Consider booking me to speak. Or let’s chat about a consult or some killer copy. Go on now; don’t be shy.