Why Facts Tell and Stories Sell
If you are in sales or marketing, you have probably come across this concept: “Facts tell and stories sell”. Why is this true? Before the written word, prehistoric peoples used stories, or what anthropologists call oral traditions, to pass down vital knowledge and information. The knowledge and information in these stories was detrimental to the survival of these peoples. Along with moral lessons, these stories contain facts: How and where to hunt game, when and where to plant crops, when to harvest crops, etc…
Why are these facts placed into the context of stories? Unlike facts, which, on their own, need to be memorized in order to be retained, stories (knowledge, meaning, and facts contextualized, and delivered with emotional impact) only need to be remembered. According to Roger C. Schank, a cognitive scientist, “Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic [or facts]; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” It’s hardwired into our brains. It’s part of our subconscious. It’s who we are as human beings.
Think about your experiences and the knowledge you posses. How is all this information organized in your mind? How do you explain it to others? How do you relate to others and their experiences? Through stories.
Tags: facts, Marketing, sales, stories
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Branding, Business Growth, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
