Influence

Why telling stories is so important

The information overload we experience now is so overwhelming – the big challenge now is not finding information but consuming it all in a relevant way. It wasn’t always this way. Up until the time of Gutenberg and his moveable type printing press of 1439 books were not readily available except to the elite. The only two ways to pass on information was hand writing or oral traditions – telling stories. In his book From Hand to Mouth, Michael Corballis estimates that we began speaking about 150,000 years ago – that’s about 149,000 years of storytelling before books became available. Over that period we became hard-wired to receive information by stories. Think about movies, great speakers and lessons you’ve learned – all by way of story.

In The Story Factor writer Annette Simmons suggested there are

six stories you need to tell

1. Who you are
2. Why you’re here
3. Your Vision
4. Teaching people with stories
5. Values in action stories
6. Stories of understanding and empathy.

Stories are simply the oldest and most effective way to influence and connect with people.

The power of relationship

Patients about to undergo heart operations at Massachusetts General Hospital didn’t notice the difference between the way their anesthetist interacted with them. One group of patients got short remarks and minimal time from him. The other group received a warm and friendly welcome, sympathetic attention, a full description of their impending operation and advice on post operative pain management. Other hospital staff caring for the patients had no idea the groups had been treated differently by the anesthetist. The simple relationship he established made a big difference to the recovery of the patients. When patients received a friendlier, more empathetic visit reported less pain, asked for 50% less pain relievers and were discharged on average three days earlier than the patients who received the cooler consultation.

Healers have a special place in our history because until recent times we relied on their rituals, potions and ceremonies to cure our ills. In recent times the success of these potions has been identified as primarily the belief of success engendered in the patient. According to Dr Herbert Benson, this placebo affect is caused by the expectations of the patient, of the caregiver and of the relationship between them. You can literally believe yourself better if the relationship and belief is appropriate. The founder of western medicine, Hippocrates, suggested two thousand years ago that:
“Some patients, though conscious that their condition is perilous, recover their health simply through their contentment with the goodness of the physician.”