Story-based communication elicits effective responses

How do we get people to act on our ideas?

We tell stories. Firefighters naturally swap stories after every fire, and by doing so they multiply their experience; after years of hearing stories, they have a richer, more complete mental catalog of critical situations they might confront during a fire and the appropriate responses to those situations. Research shows that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when we encounter that situation in the physical environment. Similarly, hearing stories acts as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively.

Good communication gets people to act, uses stories as simulation (by visualizing, simulating problems, using stories as flight simulators), and uses stories as inspiration (by means of challenge to overcome obstacles, connection to get along or reconnect, creativity to inspire a new way of thinking)


#communication

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