Why Storytelling Works and The Psychology Behind It
This Note explores why stories are hardwired into our brains, why they stick better than facts, and how marketers can use them to connect with people in a way numbers never could.
What This Note Covers:
Why humans are wired for stories
How mirror neurones make us feel what others feel
Why emotions drive decisions more than logic
Why stories stick in memory while facts fade
How these principles can be applied in marketing
You probably don’t need me to tell you that a customer case study will beat a product spec sheet every time. We’ve all experienced it first hand. You remember a story from an advert years later, but the bullet points from that last presentation? Gone. That’s not just coincidence, it’s how our brains work.
The Brain on Stories
For thousands of years, stories have been how we passed on important information. If our ancestors needed to remember which berries were poisonous or where to find water, they didn’t pull out a spreadsheet. They told stories. And our brains still run on that same wiring.
When you hear a story, your brain doesn’t just process the words, it lights up as if you were experiencing it yourself. Facts don’t do that. They’re processed like data. Stories are lived, even if only in your head.
Mirror Neurones: Your Brain's Copy Function
Here’s where it gets interesting. Our brains have mirror neurones - cells that fire not just when we do something, but when we see someone else do it. That’s why you wince when you watch someone stub their toe.
Researchers first noticed this in monkeys. When a monkey grabbed a banana, certain cells fired. But those exact same cells also fired when the monkey just watched another monkey grab the banana.
It works the same way in us. When you see someone smile, your mirror neurones fire as if you were smiling. When you see someone in pain, your brain simulates that pain. That’s the biological foundation of empathy.
This is huge in marketing. When someone hears a story about a customer overcoming a challenge, their brain copies that experience. They’re not just processing the story intellectually. They're feeling it emotionally.
That’s why customer testimonials land better as stories than as bullet points. “This software increased our efficiency by 40%” is a fact. “I used to stay late every night grinding through my task list. Now I’m home for dinner with my family” is an experience your brain can mirror.
Why We Decide With Feelings First
We like to think we make decisions logically. But the truth is, we decide emotionally first, then justify with logic after.
Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people with damage to the emotional centres of their brains. Despite having normal intelligence and reasoning abilities, they couldn't make simple decisions. They could analyse pros and cons forever, but they couldn't actually choose. Emotion, it turns out, is essential for decision-making.
That’s why stories matter. They tap into the emotional system in ways facts just can’t. A good story isn’t just fluff, it’s essential. When Nike shares stories of athletes pushing through setbacks, it’s not about trainers. It’s about resilience, drive, and achievement. And whether we admit it or not, that’s what we’re actually buying into.
When you're choosing between two functionally similar products, your brain isn't running a cost-benefit analysis. It's asking, "Which one makes me feel better about myself?"
Why Stories Stick
Our memory isn't like a filing cabinet where you store individual facts. It's more like a web of connections. And, the more connections a piece of information has, the easier it is to remember.
Stories create multiple types of connections:
Narrative connections (what happened next)
Emotional connections (how it made you feel)
Sensory connections (what you could see, hear, feel)
Personal connections (how it relates to your own experience)
This is why you can recall the plot of a book you read years ago, but not the seven key features of a product you researched last month.
There’s even a name for it: the story superiority effect. Research shows information delivered in story form is up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone. Our brains evolved to hold onto stories because, for most of human history, survival depended on it.
The Pull of Transportation
Have you ever been so lost in a book or film you forgot what time it was? Psychologists call this “transportation.” In this state, when you’re ‘transported’, you temporarily lose awareness of your surroundings. You're not thinking about your to-do list or checking your phone. You're completely focused on the experience.
During this mental state, we become less critical and more open to influence. We’re not analysing the story; we’re experiencing it. This is why a well-told brand story can be more persuasive than a logical argument.
And that’s the power we can use as marketers. If we tell stories with vivid detail, genuine emotion, and characters people relate to, they’ll stop evaluating and start feeling. That’s when the message sticks.
Stories vs Stats: Why Numbers Don't Move People
Numbers have their place. They build credibility. But they don’t move people to act. They require mental effort to process and interpret. "Our software reduces processing time by 35%" makes you think. It doesn't make you feel.
“Our software reduces processing time by 35%” makes you think. “Sarah used to spend three hours every Friday on reports. Now she finishes in under two and uses that time to coach her team” makes you feel.
The most effective approach combines both: stories to create emotion, stats to reinforce it. Stories motivate, stats reassure. In that order.
Practical Applications in Marketing
Start with the struggle, not the solution.
Your customer's challenge is more interesting than your product's features. Let people connect with the problem before you present the solution.
Use sensory details.
Instead of "it was stressful," say "she was staring at her computer screen at 9 PM, her third cup of coffee gone cold." Details make stories real.
Make your customer the hero.
Your brand should be the helpful guide, not the main character. People want to see themselves succeeding, not watch you succeed.
Create emotional stakes.
What happens if your customer doesn't solve their problem? What do they gain when they do? Make the outcome matter.
Use the power of "what if."
Hypothetical scenarios engage the same brain regions as real stories. "Imagine if you could reduce your admin time by half" starts the simulation process.
Wrapping It Up
Our brains don’t really distinguish between stories and reality. A good narrative fires the same patterns as real experiences, building empathy, emotion, and memory. And understanding this means speaking the language our brains are designed to understand.
Instead of overwhelming people with lists of features, we’re helping them imagine a better version of their reality. That’s not just good marketing. That’s good communication.
What stories are you giving people to carry with them?
Key Takeaways
Our brains are wired for stories - multiple brain regions activate simultaneously when we hear narratives, creating rich, memorable experiences
Mirror neurones create empathy - when people hear customer stories, their brains simulate those experiences, creating emotional connection
Emotion drives decisions - we decide emotionally first, then justify logically, making emotional stories more persuasive than facts alone
Stories are 22x more memorable - narrative structure creates multiple types of mental connections that facts can't match
Transportation reduces resistance - absorbed audiences are less critical and more open to influence
Use stories to motivate, stats to justify - combine emotional narratives with logical proof for maximum impact
Make customers the hero - people connect with stories where they can see themselves succeeding
What This Note Covers:
Why humans are wired for stories
How mirror neurones make us feel what others feel
Why emotions drive decisions more than logic
Why stories stick in memory while facts fade
How these principles can be applied in marketing
You probably don’t need me to tell you that a customer case study will beat a product spec sheet every time. We’ve all experienced it first hand. You remember a story from an advert years later, but the bullet points from that last presentation? Gone. That’s not just coincidence, it’s how our brains work.
The Brain on Stories
For thousands of years, stories have been how we passed on important information. If our ancestors needed to remember which berries were poisonous or where to find water, they didn’t pull out a spreadsheet. They told stories. And our brains still run on that same wiring.
When you hear a story, your brain doesn’t just process the words, it lights up as if you were experiencing it yourself. Facts don’t do that. They’re processed like data. Stories are lived, even if only in your head.
Mirror Neurones: Your Brain's Copy Function
Here’s where it gets interesting. Our brains have mirror neurones - cells that fire not just when we do something, but when we see someone else do it. That’s why you wince when you watch someone stub their toe.
Researchers first noticed this in monkeys. When a monkey grabbed a banana, certain cells fired. But those exact same cells also fired when the monkey just watched another monkey grab the banana.
It works the same way in us. When you see someone smile, your mirror neurones fire as if you were smiling. When you see someone in pain, your brain simulates that pain. That’s the biological foundation of empathy.
This is huge in marketing. When someone hears a story about a customer overcoming a challenge, their brain copies that experience. They’re not just processing the story intellectually. They're feeling it emotionally.
That’s why customer testimonials land better as stories than as bullet points. “This software increased our efficiency by 40%” is a fact. “I used to stay late every night grinding through my task list. Now I’m home for dinner with my family” is an experience your brain can mirror.
Why We Decide With Feelings First
We like to think we make decisions logically. But the truth is, we decide emotionally first, then justify with logic after.
Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people with damage to the emotional centres of their brains. Despite having normal intelligence and reasoning abilities, they couldn't make simple decisions. They could analyse pros and cons forever, but they couldn't actually choose. Emotion, it turns out, is essential for decision-making.
That’s why stories matter. They tap into the emotional system in ways facts just can’t. A good story isn’t just fluff, it’s essential. When Nike shares stories of athletes pushing through setbacks, it’s not about trainers. It’s about resilience, drive, and achievement. And whether we admit it or not, that’s what we’re actually buying into.
When you're choosing between two functionally similar products, your brain isn't running a cost-benefit analysis. It's asking, "Which one makes me feel better about myself?"
Why Stories Stick
Our memory isn't like a filing cabinet where you store individual facts. It's more like a web of connections. And, the more connections a piece of information has, the easier it is to remember.
Stories create multiple types of connections:
Narrative connections (what happened next)
Emotional connections (how it made you feel)
Sensory connections (what you could see, hear, feel)
Personal connections (how it relates to your own experience)
This is why you can recall the plot of a book you read years ago, but not the seven key features of a product you researched last month.
There’s even a name for it: the story superiority effect. Research shows information delivered in story form is up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone. Our brains evolved to hold onto stories because, for most of human history, survival depended on it.
The Pull of Transportation
Have you ever been so lost in a book or film you forgot what time it was? Psychologists call this “transportation.” In this state, when you’re ‘transported’, you temporarily lose awareness of your surroundings. You're not thinking about your to-do list or checking your phone. You're completely focused on the experience.
During this mental state, we become less critical and more open to influence. We’re not analysing the story; we’re experiencing it. This is why a well-told brand story can be more persuasive than a logical argument.
And that’s the power we can use as marketers. If we tell stories with vivid detail, genuine emotion, and characters people relate to, they’ll stop evaluating and start feeling. That’s when the message sticks.
Stories vs Stats: Why Numbers Don't Move People
Numbers have their place. They build credibility. But they don’t move people to act. They require mental effort to process and interpret. "Our software reduces processing time by 35%" makes you think. It doesn't make you feel.
“Our software reduces processing time by 35%” makes you think. “Sarah used to spend three hours every Friday on reports. Now she finishes in under two and uses that time to coach her team” makes you feel.
The most effective approach combines both: stories to create emotion, stats to reinforce it. Stories motivate, stats reassure. In that order.
Practical Applications in Marketing
Start with the struggle, not the solution.
Your customer's challenge is more interesting than your product's features. Let people connect with the problem before you present the solution.
Use sensory details.
Instead of "it was stressful," say "she was staring at her computer screen at 9 PM, her third cup of coffee gone cold." Details make stories real.
Make your customer the hero.
Your brand should be the helpful guide, not the main character. People want to see themselves succeeding, not watch you succeed.
Create emotional stakes.
What happens if your customer doesn't solve their problem? What do they gain when they do? Make the outcome matter.
Use the power of "what if."
Hypothetical scenarios engage the same brain regions as real stories. "Imagine if you could reduce your admin time by half" starts the simulation process.
Wrapping It Up
Our brains don’t really distinguish between stories and reality. A good narrative fires the same patterns as real experiences, building empathy, emotion, and memory. And understanding this means speaking the language our brains are designed to understand.
Instead of overwhelming people with lists of features, we’re helping them imagine a better version of their reality. That’s not just good marketing. That’s good communication.
What stories are you giving people to carry with them?
Key Takeaways
Our brains are wired for stories - multiple brain regions activate simultaneously when we hear narratives, creating rich, memorable experiences
Mirror neurones create empathy - when people hear customer stories, their brains simulate those experiences, creating emotional connection
Emotion drives decisions - we decide emotionally first, then justify logically, making emotional stories more persuasive than facts alone
Stories are 22x more memorable - narrative structure creates multiple types of mental connections that facts can't match
Transportation reduces resistance - absorbed audiences are less critical and more open to influence
Use stories to motivate, stats to justify - combine emotional narratives with logical proof for maximum impact
Make customers the hero - people connect with stories where they can see themselves succeeding
What This Note Covers:
Why humans are wired for stories
How mirror neurones make us feel what others feel
Why emotions drive decisions more than logic
Why stories stick in memory while facts fade
How these principles can be applied in marketing
You probably don’t need me to tell you that a customer case study will beat a product spec sheet every time. We’ve all experienced it first hand. You remember a story from an advert years later, but the bullet points from that last presentation? Gone. That’s not just coincidence, it’s how our brains work.
The Brain on Stories
For thousands of years, stories have been how we passed on important information. If our ancestors needed to remember which berries were poisonous or where to find water, they didn’t pull out a spreadsheet. They told stories. And our brains still run on that same wiring.
When you hear a story, your brain doesn’t just process the words, it lights up as if you were experiencing it yourself. Facts don’t do that. They’re processed like data. Stories are lived, even if only in your head.
Mirror Neurones: Your Brain's Copy Function
Here’s where it gets interesting. Our brains have mirror neurones - cells that fire not just when we do something, but when we see someone else do it. That’s why you wince when you watch someone stub their toe.
Researchers first noticed this in monkeys. When a monkey grabbed a banana, certain cells fired. But those exact same cells also fired when the monkey just watched another monkey grab the banana.
It works the same way in us. When you see someone smile, your mirror neurones fire as if you were smiling. When you see someone in pain, your brain simulates that pain. That’s the biological foundation of empathy.
This is huge in marketing. When someone hears a story about a customer overcoming a challenge, their brain copies that experience. They’re not just processing the story intellectually. They're feeling it emotionally.
That’s why customer testimonials land better as stories than as bullet points. “This software increased our efficiency by 40%” is a fact. “I used to stay late every night grinding through my task list. Now I’m home for dinner with my family” is an experience your brain can mirror.
Why We Decide With Feelings First
We like to think we make decisions logically. But the truth is, we decide emotionally first, then justify with logic after.
Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people with damage to the emotional centres of their brains. Despite having normal intelligence and reasoning abilities, they couldn't make simple decisions. They could analyse pros and cons forever, but they couldn't actually choose. Emotion, it turns out, is essential for decision-making.
That’s why stories matter. They tap into the emotional system in ways facts just can’t. A good story isn’t just fluff, it’s essential. When Nike shares stories of athletes pushing through setbacks, it’s not about trainers. It’s about resilience, drive, and achievement. And whether we admit it or not, that’s what we’re actually buying into.
When you're choosing between two functionally similar products, your brain isn't running a cost-benefit analysis. It's asking, "Which one makes me feel better about myself?"
Why Stories Stick
Our memory isn't like a filing cabinet where you store individual facts. It's more like a web of connections. And, the more connections a piece of information has, the easier it is to remember.
Stories create multiple types of connections:
Narrative connections (what happened next)
Emotional connections (how it made you feel)
Sensory connections (what you could see, hear, feel)
Personal connections (how it relates to your own experience)
This is why you can recall the plot of a book you read years ago, but not the seven key features of a product you researched last month.
There’s even a name for it: the story superiority effect. Research shows information delivered in story form is up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone. Our brains evolved to hold onto stories because, for most of human history, survival depended on it.
The Pull of Transportation
Have you ever been so lost in a book or film you forgot what time it was? Psychologists call this “transportation.” In this state, when you’re ‘transported’, you temporarily lose awareness of your surroundings. You're not thinking about your to-do list or checking your phone. You're completely focused on the experience.
During this mental state, we become less critical and more open to influence. We’re not analysing the story; we’re experiencing it. This is why a well-told brand story can be more persuasive than a logical argument.
And that’s the power we can use as marketers. If we tell stories with vivid detail, genuine emotion, and characters people relate to, they’ll stop evaluating and start feeling. That’s when the message sticks.
Stories vs Stats: Why Numbers Don't Move People
Numbers have their place. They build credibility. But they don’t move people to act. They require mental effort to process and interpret. "Our software reduces processing time by 35%" makes you think. It doesn't make you feel.
“Our software reduces processing time by 35%” makes you think. “Sarah used to spend three hours every Friday on reports. Now she finishes in under two and uses that time to coach her team” makes you feel.
The most effective approach combines both: stories to create emotion, stats to reinforce it. Stories motivate, stats reassure. In that order.
Practical Applications in Marketing
Start with the struggle, not the solution.
Your customer's challenge is more interesting than your product's features. Let people connect with the problem before you present the solution.
Use sensory details.
Instead of "it was stressful," say "she was staring at her computer screen at 9 PM, her third cup of coffee gone cold." Details make stories real.
Make your customer the hero.
Your brand should be the helpful guide, not the main character. People want to see themselves succeeding, not watch you succeed.
Create emotional stakes.
What happens if your customer doesn't solve their problem? What do they gain when they do? Make the outcome matter.
Use the power of "what if."
Hypothetical scenarios engage the same brain regions as real stories. "Imagine if you could reduce your admin time by half" starts the simulation process.
Wrapping It Up
Our brains don’t really distinguish between stories and reality. A good narrative fires the same patterns as real experiences, building empathy, emotion, and memory. And understanding this means speaking the language our brains are designed to understand.
Instead of overwhelming people with lists of features, we’re helping them imagine a better version of their reality. That’s not just good marketing. That’s good communication.
What stories are you giving people to carry with them?
Key Takeaways
Our brains are wired for stories - multiple brain regions activate simultaneously when we hear narratives, creating rich, memorable experiences
Mirror neurones create empathy - when people hear customer stories, their brains simulate those experiences, creating emotional connection
Emotion drives decisions - we decide emotionally first, then justify logically, making emotional stories more persuasive than facts alone
Stories are 22x more memorable - narrative structure creates multiple types of mental connections that facts can't match
Transportation reduces resistance - absorbed audiences are less critical and more open to influence
Use stories to motivate, stats to justify - combine emotional narratives with logical proof for maximum impact
Make customers the hero - people connect with stories where they can see themselves succeeding