Effective Public Speaking: Your Brain is Wired for Storytelling
Posted on December 29, 2010 by Baxter Dickson
I read a fascinating article in The New York Times by Robert Sapolsky, a Professor of Biology, Neurology and Neurosurgery at Stanford University. He’s written a number of books on how the human mind works and the relationship of the mind, body and behavior.
As it turns out, our brains our wired for metaphor and storytelling. According to Dr. Sapolosky, it’s the result of how evolution developed us. Let me share some of his examples.
When you feel pain, there’s action in two parts of your brain. The actual feeling of pain registers in more ancient sections. But in the frontal cortex, which came along much later, evolutionarily speaking, there’s a region that evaluates the level of pain. As Sapolsky explains, it helps us judge a piranha bite as a disaster, tight shoes as an annoyance.
Now here’s the amazing part. If you see someone you love in pain, that very same brain region activates, registering that pain as though it were your own. Someone else’s pain can actually be painful to you. The metaphorical becomes literal.
Ever heard someone say, “When I heard the news it felt like someone punched me in the gut”? He wasn’t kidding. There’s a part of the brain, called the insula, that triggers disgust if we try to eat – or even smell – rotten food. After eons of human development, that same region is also triggered by moral disgust – Sapolosky jokes that there was just no room in our heads for more brain. So, a news story about the rip-off of an elderly lady makes us gag, at least figuratively.
And here’s one more incidence of how our physical reality and our thoughts are intertwined. In a study, a researcher asked subjects to think about a shameful event in their past. At the end of the session, participants were offered a thank-you gift of either a pencil or antiseptic wipes. Can you guess which they chose? That’s right – most chose the wipes, presumably to clean away the physical “dirt” created by their thoughts. The story caused a visceral response.
Now it’s easier to see why ancient tribal history and wisdom comes down to us as stories, not dates and facts. We know why Aesop gave us fables instead of philosophical treatises. And, we understand the value of a story and metaphor in our own communication arsenal.
In our workshop, Speak! Present! Influence!, we offer some key concepts to harness the power of storytelling and enhance you public speaking effectiveness:
- Build your story strategically. Make sure there’s a point and align all the elements to take you there.
- Use humor. A funny story, when well-crafted, creates laughter and makes a strong point.
- Take your time; stay in the moment; experience what you are talking about. When you do, your stories will impress your audience with their power and originality.
For more on the power of storytelling, click here.
Image By Reigh LeBlanc
