the science of story - nonprofit storytelling conference 2016

The Science of Story

Leah Eustace, ACFREChief Idea Goddess

Good Works@LeahEustace

www.goodworksco.ca

Our brains are helpless against the gravitational

pull of a good story.

Why?

The average daydream is 14 seconds long and we have 2000 of them every day

We remember all the feels, not the words

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

~Maya Angelou

Your NSN is the part of your brain that holds the task of initially making sense out of this stream of incoming visual and auditory information.

~ K. Haven, Story Proof

Neural Story Net (NSN)

• The NSN lies between your sensory organs (eyes and ears) and your conscious mind.

• Nothing reaches your conscious mind before being massaged into story shape by your NSN

• What reaches your conscious mind is always your own story-based interpretation of what your sensory organs actually recorded.

• When you talk, the story donors see and hear in their conscious minds is not the story you said! Their conscious minds hear the story their NSN created based on the story you actually provided.

(adapted from K. Haven)

Neural Story Net (NSN)

The best stories are the ones in which we can insert ourselves

“The initial job of an effective story is to anesthetize the part of your brain that knows it is a story.”

~ Lisa Cron, Wired for Story

Betty’s story becomes the donor’s story

“A story does what facts and statistics never can: it inspires and motivates. The audience tunes in because they see themselves woven into the story.”

~ D. Taylor, The Healing Power of Stories

The Story of One

Instinct rules.

Emotions come second.

Thinking comes third.

Person #1: Hi John.

Person #2: Shhhhh! I’m not here! You never saw me. I’m not here!

Person #1: It’s okay. Carol’s gone home.

J FKFB INAT OUP SNA SAI RS

How did you do?

JFK FBI NATO UPS NASA IRS

A thirsty ant went to the river. He was carried away by the rush of the stream and was about to drown. A dove, sitting in a tree overhanging the water, plucked a leaf. The leaf fell into the stream close to the ant, and the ant climbed onto it. The ant floated safely to the bank. Shortly afterward, a bird catcher came and laid a trap in the tree. The ant bit and stung him on the foot. In pain, the bird catcher threw down his trap. The noise made the dove fly away.

Pete argued that data gathered from a NASA voyage to Venus called into question current theories about the formation of our solar system. Part of his talk emphasized the importance of mass spectrometers. He then discussed the isotopes of argon 36 and argon 38 and noted that they were of higher density than expected. He also cited the high values of neon found in the atmosphere. He has a paper that is already written, but he is aware of the need for further investigation as well.

Characters Traits Goal Motives

Conflicts Risk/Danger Struggles Details

The BARE BONES Version of the 8 Essential Elements

_____________________________ (an interesting character)

Needed ______________________ (a goal)

Because ______________________ (motives)

But __________________________ (problems/conflicts)

So, __________________________ (struggles)

Finally _______________________ (climax/resolution)

Source: K. Haven

There’s a direct correlation between the strength of the ending emotional state of the audience and the magnitude of the influence that story can carry.

“I woke up. I ate breakfast. I left for work.”

Leah Eustace, ACFREChief Idea Goddess

Good Works@LeahEustace

www.goodworksco.ca