Stories come and go but some hang around, influencing, teaching, inspiring and enlightening. But stories can also even destroy and damage individuals and organisations. A story may be considered powerful if it fulfills the following criteria; the more criteria met, the more powerful the story:
- The story can be told simply and quickly
- The story stimulates behavioural change and change in attitudes
- The story has a huge budget
- The story has emotional impact with certain emotions becoming associated with it.
- People talk, think and argue about the story.
- People might even kill or be killed to protect or unravel the story
- The story is repeated. Stories become powerful simply because they are often repeated. A case in point was the story about (WMDs) in Iraq. Despite the fact that no WMDs were ever found, polls have consistently identified that many people still believe that Saddam Hussein possessed these weapons. One of the reasons for this is that the story was frequently and energetically presented as ‘fact’ in the lead up to and in the early days of the war.
- The story is used as a reason for violence or even peace
- The story stimulates questioning and examination of “what one knows to be true”
- The story is said to influence what people do, do not do and allow to happen
- When told and re-told, the story maintains its essential integrity remaining essentially the the same as it is shared.
- The story might be a cliff-hanger or dilemma tale where the ending is left open
- The story appears in multimedia with a logos, imagery, videos, posters, t-shirts and a palette of colours and even theme music associated with it.
- A computer game is created inspired by the story.
- The story appears in “mainstream media”
- The story goes “viral”
- The story has a shelf life of more than 3 days
- The story spawns memes that are replicated in various media.
- The story evokes emotion – All good stories evoke emotion in the audience. Can your story use emotion to draw people in? In Greek theatre there was a word that described the moment at which an audience identified emotionally with the characters. This was called mimesis. The emotions the story evokes could be the result of tragedy, drama, comedy, romance and include Fear, Lust, Greed, Envy, Frustration
- The story is relevant to the target audience.
- The story connects with what people already know. If it is unfamiliar there will be no entry point for the reader/listener/viewer/audience.
- The story deals with a character or characters in crisis (dealing with change). The creation, experience and resolution (or not) of that crisis are what holds attention. Seeing a story character in crisis often gives people the opportunity to reinterpret their own crisis.
- The story takes people one step further from where they are Most stories that change people’s lives do not present an alternative universe to them, but something just a little different from what they are familiar with – just one step away from where they are in their current thinking and behaviour.
- The story entertains through the unexpected While a story connects with what people already know, it could provide extraordinary emotional intensity if there is a surprising twist. That sense of “I thought I knew what was going on and then …” is a very powerful emotion. This may not necessarily change anyone’s behaviour, but it will provide memories of an interesting and stimulating story.
- The story introduces new metaphors and figures of speech characters and words into the culture. A new way of talking is a cornerstone of change in that a new vocabulary will allow a situation to be experienced in dramatically different ways.
People are surrounded by bits of information. All competing for their attention. Why would they choose to look at your information?
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