The Power of Storytelling for Behavior Change and Business

What Is It About Storytelling That You Feel Makes It a Critical Skill for the Health Promotion Field?

Stories have immense power on our emotions and our brains. Recognizing and leveraging the power of story has the potential to transform our health promotion efforts. Research has shown that a story can enhance positive human behaviors like altruism or kindness ¹ and improve grades in students. ² In fact, one study revealed that storytelling can be effective in changing health behaviors, like blood pressure. ³ Stories provide the teller a chance to share insights and observations with a listener in such a way that the listener not only gets involved in the story but can objectively think about and discuss a real-life issue without feeling affronted or defensive. A crafty storyteller uses their gift of wordsmithery to pull people into a story, then discusses the meaning or moral of the story, and then waits as the listener realizes that they are actually one of the characters in the story…thus giving the listener an “AHA!” moment.

Jennifer Aaker, a professor of marketing at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, says that stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone. ⁴ When we listen to and process a story, our brain fires up more than just the language centers of the brain, and it’s almost as if we are experiencing the story for “real.” ⁵ Thus, we are more likely to remember and retain the information shared in story form. So if you are 22 times more likely to remember a story than facts, then maybe the charts and graphs we all share with our executives or during industry conference sessions should become more like graphic novels than PowerPoint jargon.

How Else Could Storytelling Play a Role in Our Work?

Organizations have a plot just like a story has a plot. A business’ strategic plan is a lot like a plot. It sets the goals, determines how to achieve them, and establishes a time frame for completion. Organizations often spend countless hours with senior executives and consultants to set their plot but then spend little to no time crafting a story to connect to the people they are trying to serve. The story is the heart, it’s the who and the why things happen, and ultimately connect people to the plot. If we want to tell a great story, we have to understand that “plot” and “story” are inextricably linked and yet distinctly different. The story answers the questions “what is this about?” and “why should I care?” Story gives an organization a chance to connect the people to the purpose/vision/mission/values of the business. If we get too absorbed in strategy/plot, we lose our human connection. If we get too involved in the heart of the story, we can lose our vision and purpose.

Consider how you would answer this question: Why do people work for your organization? Would your answer be a list of health-care benefits, retirement packages, profit sharing, or the company’s 5-year S&P 500 performance? If so, you missed the chance to tell a story and connect in a human way first. Watch a few television commercials and notice how they are less focused on the products they are selling and more focused on highlighting the story about their company, their product, the social good you get to be a part of, or the new amazing story your life will become once you buy/use the product. Modern businesses use story to connect people to their organizations, both from an internal (employee) and external (customer) perspective. Storytelling is the start of a hook, a way to connect people to an organization and transform the relationship beyond just being transactional and into a relationship of mutual care and trust.

There Is an Emerging Interest in Incorporating the Discipline of Customer Experience Into Health Promotion Initiatives. How Is Customer Experience Related to Storytelling?

If our goal is positive behavior change, then we should be creating amazing experiences that have the power to be “sticky” for people. Wellness experiences need to be impactful enough that they stick with the individuals long after the experience ends. There’s a very informative book called The Experience Economy ⁶ by Pine and Gilmore that explains how we now live in an “experience economy.” In an experience economy, people are seeking out and more willing to pay for experiences rather than things. There are 4 types of experiences that people pay for: educational experiences, aesthetic experiences, entertainment experiences, and escapist experiences. If this is true, then the more types of experiences we create for a desired behavior, the greater chance we have to influence behavior change. The more senses we engage within those experiences, the more “sticky” it becomes and the more neural pathways we may have the chance to impact, thus increasing the chance for a behavior to be remembered, repeated, and assimilated into their lifestyle. We need to think less about “getting people to change behaviors” and more about inviting people into our story and then curating amazing health experiences that allow people the chance to live out their own personal health story. When plot, story, and experiences merge together, we find that there is a mutual benefit for the individual, the organization, and the community. Providing and creating an experience is offering the chance for people to live out their own story in real time. Curating an experience is real-time and real-life story creation.

Can Storytelling Be Learned? If So, How Can You Hone Your Skills?

One of my favorite recent books was Creativity Inc. ⁷ by Ed Catmull, and it is one I might recommend to health promotion practitioners. Throughout the book, Ed tells about the creation and evolution of some of the amazing stories that Pixar has produced all while sharing how Pixar fights to hold onto their workplace culture.

Anecdotal stories are a great place to start, but we have to move beyond the typical wellness stories like “Here’s Tom. He recently lost 50 lbs in our wellness program. See his before and after picture.” There is an opportunity to tell a better story:

This is Tom! He feels light on his feet and plays with his kids as if he were 35 even though he’s 55 years old. Tom now has so much energy that, not only has he not missed a day of work in the last 15 months, but he helped build a house with Habitat for Humanity last weekend with several other of our employees. Check out his video to hear firsthand about his new life!

Get creative. Ask yourself, “How do I want people to feel?” Add some detail, heart, and humanity to the data. We have to transform the data, numbers, and statistics that we have collected into a story or better yet, create experiences that let others live out a story.

If you feel like you need some storytelling inspiration, here are some additional tips.

Watch a couple of Pixar short films. They are usually just a couple minutes and are amazing examples of storytelling, often without words.

Any Last Closing Thoughts?

If we tell a great story, or even better, let people live a great story, they will go out and tell the story to other people. That’s the power and influence of a great story, it lives beyond the one person who lived it because it gets repeatedly shared…person to person…until it becomes a part of the culture.