The Art of Storytelling: The Mechanics of a Great Story

Summary

The video script delves into the power and art of storytelling, emphasizing its significance in human connection and communication. It opens with a humorous anecdote to illustrate the impact of a well-crafted narrative, highlighting the importance of a punchline and the journey towards it. The speaker argues that stories are not just for entertainment but serve to affirm our existence and provide meaning. They can transcend time and connect us with others through shared experiences. Drawing from the wisdom of Mr. Rogers and the expertise of Hollywood storyteller Andrew Stanton, the script outlines a storytelling system called S.E.E.U., which stands for Stick to a central theme, Evoke wonder, Embrace change, and Use personal experience. The summary underscores the neurological basis of storytelling's effectiveness, explaining how it activates various brain areas to engage the listener deeply. It concludes by stressing the universality of storytelling in shaping our world, from personal identities to global narratives, and encourages individuals to craft their own stories to avoid having them written by others.

Takeaways

• 💡 Storytelling is essentially joke-telling with a strong focus on a punchline or ending, driving towards a singular goal that reveals a deeper truth about human nature.
• 📚 Great stories affirm our identities and suggest that our lives have meaning, primarily through the emotional and intellectual connections they foster.
• 🔥 Andrew Stanton, celebrated for films like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, is highlighted as a master storyteller who intentionally crafts narratives to make audiences care deeply.
• 🎬 The script touches on the biological impact of storytelling, explaining how it activates numerous brain areas, creating a vivid and immersive experience for the listener.
• 🧐 Harnessing personal experiences in storytelling is crucial; they make narratives relatable and impactful, encouraging a deeper connection with the audience.
• 🚨 The core of effective storytelling involves eliciting wonder and maintaining engagement through a central theme that resonates on a profound, almost 'cellular' level.
• 📖 Storytelling principles like creating anticipation and embracing change keep the audience engaged and craving more, which are tactics used effectively by Stanton in his films.
• 📈 Stories are tools for profound influence, capable of crossing temporal barriers and connecting people through shared experiences and emotions.
• ✏️ The script emphasizes the importance of mastering storytelling to ensure that one's own narrative is conveyed authentically, rather than being defined by others.
• 🌎 Storytelling is universal and foundational, used across cultures and epochs to build societies, religions, and personal identities.

Q & A

What is the significance of the opening story about McGregor in the Highlands of Scotland?

The opening story illustrates the power of storytelling through humor and irony. It demonstrates how a single event can overshadow a person's other accomplishments, highlighting the impact of narratives on our perception of individuals.

Why is storytelling considered a universal human trait?

Storytelling is a universal human trait because it affirms our identities, provides meaning to our lives, and allows us to connect with others by sharing experiences that transcend barriers of time and space.

What does the quote from Mr. Rogers' wallet imply about the power of stories?

The quote implies that once you understand someone's story, you can develop empathy and a connection with them, suggesting that stories have the power to foster love and understanding among people.

How does Andrew Stanton's approach to storytelling contribute to the success of his movies?

Andrew Stanton's approach to storytelling focuses on creating well-drawn characters with a clear 'spine' or driving goal, and constructing narratives that evoke care and wonder. This methodical focus on character development and emotional engagement contributes to the success of his movies.

What is the S.E.E.U. storytelling system, and what are its main components?

The S.E.E.U. storytelling system is a framework designed to help individuals craft effective narratives. Its main components are Sticking to a central theme, Evoking wonder, Embracing change, and Using personal experience.

How does the brain process a story differently from a standard presentation or lecture?

When processing a story, not only are the language-processing areas of the brain activated, but also other areas that would be used to experience the events of the story. This engagement makes the listener feel like a part of the story, fostering a deeper connection and understanding.

What role does the theme play in a story, and why is it important to maintain consistency with it?

The theme is the central idea or message of a story, providing a framework that guides the narrative. Maintaining consistency with the theme is important because it keeps the audience engaged and helps them resonate with the emotional world of the story.

Why is the ability to evoke wonder considered a powerful storytelling tool?

Evoking wonder is a powerful storytelling tool because it captures the audience's attention and creates a moment of stillness and awe. This ability can reach an audience on a profound level, making the story memorable and impactful.

How does change and anticipation contribute to the effectiveness of a story?

Change and anticipation are crucial for keeping a story dynamic and engaging. They create a sense of progression and uncertainty, compelling the audience to continue following the narrative to discover the outcome.

What is the importance of using personal experience in storytelling?

Using personal experience in storytelling helps the teller to speak from the heart, making the narrative more relatable and authentic. It allows the audience to connect with the teller on a deeper level, enhancing the emotional impact of the story.

Why is it important to make the audience work for their 'meal' in a story?

Making the audience work for their 'meal' means providing just enough information to pique their interest without spoon-feeding them the entire narrative. This approach engages the audience's problem-solving instincts and keeps them invested in uncovering the story's progression.

How do stories function in society beyond entertainment, according to the script?

Stories function in society as a means of communication, learning, and influence. They are used by religions, political parties, companies, and social groups to convey ideas and values, and to make sense of the world, as humans naturally think and understand through narratives.

Outlines

00:00

😀 The Art of Storytelling and Human Connection

This paragraph introduces the concept of storytelling as a fundamental human experience. It uses a humorous anecdote about an old man, McGregor, who built various structures but is not recognized for his skills, leading to a punchline that underscores the power of a single action to define a person's reputation. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of a punchline in storytelling and how stories affirm our identities, provide meaning, and allow us to connect with others across time. It highlights the influence of stories on our emotions and the brain, referencing the work of Andrew Stanton, a renowned storyteller in Hollywood, and his approach to crafting narratives that resonate with audiences.

05:05

🧠 The Neuroscience of Storytelling

The second paragraph delves into the neurological aspects of storytelling, explaining how our brains engage with stories differently than with simple language. It discusses the activation of Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s area during language processing and how these areas, along with others, are utilized when we are immersed in a story. The summary includes Uri Hasson's research, which demonstrates how storytelling can synchronize brain activity between the teller and the listener, effectively transferring emotions and experiences. The paragraph outlines a storytelling system called S.E.E.U., inspired by Andrew Stanton, which focuses on sticking to a central theme, evoking wonder, embracing change, and using personal experience.

10:06

🌟 The Power of Wonder and Personal Experience in Storytelling

The final paragraph emphasizes the role of wonder and personal experience in storytelling. It discusses how stories can inspire a sense of awe and how this feeling can be a powerful tool for storytellers. The paragraph provides examples, such as Dr. Jordan Peterson's ability to evoke wonder through his speeches, and explains the importance of creating anticipation and uncertainty in a story, as defined by William Archer. It also stresses the significance of change and personal stories in making a narrative relatable and engaging. The paragraph concludes with a reminder of the pervasive role of storytelling in various aspects of human society and the importance of being able to tell one's own story.

Keywords

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is presented as the art of conveying stories effectively to engage and connect with an audience. In the video, it is depicted as a fundamental human activity that confirms our identities and values through narrative structures. The speaker relates storytelling to profound human experiences, showing how it can cross temporal barriers and resonate deeply, as seen in the emphasis on making the audience care and forget their realities temporarily.

💡Engagement

Engagement in the context of the video refers to the ability of a story to capture and maintain the audience's attention. The script discusses how storytelling, unlike mere presentation of facts, activates multiple areas of the brain, creating a holistic experience. Examples include the use of personal and emotional elements in a story to make the content more relatable and gripping.

💡Emotion

Emotion is a central theme in the video, highlighted as a critical element of effective storytelling. The speaker notes how sharing personal stories that are emotionally charged can transfer those feelings to the audience, enhancing connection and empathy. The synchronicity of brain activity between storyteller and listener when emotions are involved exemplifies this concept.

💡Wonder

Wonder refers to a profound admiration or amazement sparked by something beautifully inexplicable. The video emphasizes the power of stories to evoke wonder, which can deeply affect the audience at almost a cellular level. The storyteller's ability to present ideas that invoke wonder is linked to the audience's deeper affirmation of life and their own experiences.

💡Theme

Theme in storytelling refers to the underlying central topic or message that guides the narrative structure. The video emphasizes the importance of consistency in theme to maintain the audience's engagement and ensure the story resonates on a personal level. Themes like existential angst and human struggles are examples used to illustrate complex human emotions and motivations in narratives.

💡Change

Change is discussed as an essential element in storytelling, reflecting the dynamic nature of life. The video suggests that stories must incorporate change to remain compelling and mimic the unpredictability of real-life experiences. This concept is illustrated through the story developments in films like 'Finding Nemo,' where characters experience significant transformations.

💡Anticipation

Anticipation involves building curiosity and expectation within a story, crucial for keeping the audience engaged. The video describes how constructing anticipation involves posing questions or conflicts that make the audience eager to discover the resolution, thereby maintaining interest throughout the narrative.

💡Personal Experience

Personal experience is highlighted as a powerful tool in storytelling, used to enhance relatability and authenticity. The video argues that stories drawn from personal experiences allow the storyteller to express genuine emotions and insights, making the narrative more impactful and relatable for the audience.

💡Narrative

Narrative refers to the structured sequence of events that make up a story. In the video, effective narratives are described as those that skillfully combine elements like character development, theme, and emotional engagement to craft compelling stories that hold the audience's interest and convey deeper truths about life.

💡Connection

Connection in the video is portrayed as the outcome of effective storytelling, where the audience feels a deep resonance with the story being told. This concept is exemplified through the idea that hearing someone's story can lead to a greater understanding and empathy towards them, fostering a sense of shared humanity.

Highlights

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can affirm our identities and provide meaning to our lives.

Stories can transcend time and connect us with others through shared experiences.

The importance of making the audience care emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically about the story.

Andrew Stanton's approach to storytelling, focusing on the narrative to achieve success.

The essence of a great story lies in its ability to make the audience care and forget their worries.

Storytelling activates not just language processing areas of the brain, but also the areas used to experience the story's events.

Uri Hasson's research showing that storytelling can synchronize brain activity between the storyteller and the audience.

Storytelling is an essential part of communication, aiding in learning, digestion of information, and influence.

The S.E.E.U. storytelling system, inspired by Andrew Stanton and designed to help cultivate the skill of storytelling.

The importance of sticking to a central theme in a story to maintain engagement and resonance.

Evoking wonder as a key element of storytelling, which can reach an almost cellular level of affirmation of being alive.

The use of personal experience in storytelling makes the narrative more relatable and helps the audience to become lost in the story.

The necessity of change and anticipation in storytelling to keep the audience craving for more.

Andrew Stanton's advice on making the audience work for their meal by giving them just enough information to want to find out more.

Using what you know and drawing from personal truth and experiences to make a story more authentic and impactful.

The role of storytelling in shaping our understanding of the world, as highlighted by Yuval Noah Harari in Sapiens.

The responsibility to write our own stories, or else others will write them for us.

Transcripts

A Tourist is backpacking through the Highlands of Scotland and he stops at a pub to get a drink.

The only people in there are the bartender and an old man, nursing a beer.

He orders a pint, and they sit in silence for a while.

Suddenly, the old man turns to him and goes:

‘You see this bar? I built this bar with my bare hands; I found the finest wood in

the county and gave it more love and care than my own child, but do they call me McGregor

the Bar Builder? No.

He points out of the window.

‘You see that stone wall out there? I built that stone wall with my bare hands, found

every stone and placed them just so, through the rain and the cold, but do they call me

McGregor the Stonewall Builder? No.

He points out of the other window.

‘You see that pier on the lake out there?

I built that pier with my bare hands, drove the pilings against the tide in the sand,

plank by plank, but do they call me McGregor the Pier-Builder? No.

But you f*ck one goat…

Storytelling is joke-telling.

It’s knowing your punchline, your ending; knowing that everything you are saying from

the first sentence to the last is leading to a singular goal, and ideally confirming

some truth that deepens our understanding of who we are as human beings.

We all love stories; we are born for them.

Stories affirm who we are.

We all want affirmations that our lives have meaning, and nothing gives greater affirmation

than when we connect through stories.

Stories can cross the barriers of time. Past, present, and future and allow us to experience

the similarities between ourselves and others, real or imagined.

The children’s TV host Mr. Rogers always carried in his wallet a quote from a social

worker that says, frankly, that there isn’t anyone that you couldn’t learn to love once

you have heard their story.

The way I like to interpret that is through probably the greatest story commandment:

‘Make me care.’ Please, emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically. Just make me care.

We all know what it is like to not care.

You have gone through hundreds of TV channels switching through channel after channel before

you actually stop on one; it might be halfway over, but something catches you.

You are drawn in and you care.

That is not by chance.

That is by design.

Andrew Stanton is one of the most famous storytellers in Hollywood.

His movies, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E, to name but a few, have become blockbusters

and have probably revolutionized the way we view and perceive animated character films.

Their incredible narrative is not based on luck, nor was it a momentary inspiration.

Andrew Stanton, while writing these stories, knew exactly where to focus on and how to

make them successful. In his own words, he actually knew how to care.

Like Andrew Stanton, I did not decide to start

this video with a recount of his story by chance.

I wanted to actually find a concrete way to introduce you to the power of storytelling.

For I hold the conviction that storytelling is a skill every single one of us ought to

understand and eventually to cultivate.

I will try to illuminate the essence of a great story by narrating a modified excerpt

from the short story “Scheherazade” by the great novelist Haruki Murakami:

When I was young, I loved listening to my grandfather tell me stories.

I didn’t know whether his stories were true, invented, or partly true and partly invented.

I had no way of knowing.

Reality and supposition, observation and pure fancy seemed jumbled together in his narratives.

I, therefore, enjoyed them as a child might, without ever asking too many questionings.

What possible difference could it make to me, after all, if they were lies or truth,

or a complicated patchwork of the two?

Whatever the case, my grandfather had a gift for storytelling that touched me in my heart.

No matter what sort of story it was, he managed to make it special.

His voice, his timing and his pacing were all flawless.

Enthralled, I was able to forget the reality that surrounded me, if only for a moment.

Like a blackboard wiped with a damp cloth, my worries were erased, as were unpleasant memories.

At this point in my life, this kind of forgetting was what I desired more than anything else.

The essence of a great story is its ability not only to make you care, as Andrew Stanton

stated, but also to make you forget; forget your worries, your problems, even your pain.

The story helps you enter a new, magical world that is extremely appealing.

The person who helps you achieve such a thing automatically becomes extremely appealing too.

So, why is this actually happening?

What kind of process occurs in our brains that can help us experience all of the feelings

evoked by a great story? Let’s say you are in a meeting room and

you have to attend a PowerPoint presentation by one of your colleagues.

During this process, two parts of your brain, the Broca’s area, and the Wernicke’s area

are activated. These are the language-processing areas, which

help us decode words and determine meaning. Other than that, they don’t do anything.

Therefore, when this process takes place alone, it is almost impossible for our brains to

feel engaged with the speaker, and we consequently lose interest.

When we are being told a story, however, things change dramatically.

Not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but so is any other

area of our brain that we would use to experience the events of the story.

In essence, you are not just listening to a story, you are making yourself part of it.

Uri Hasson, Associate Professor of Psychology at Princeton University, in one of his papers, states:

“When we narrate stories that have had a

huge impact in our lives, we can pass the feeling we have experienced to other people too."

During a research study, when the narrator

spoke English, the volunteers understood her story, and their brains synchronized.

When she had activity in her insula, an emotional brain region, the listeners did too.

When her frontal cortex lit up, so did theirs. By simply telling a story, the woman could

plant ideas, thoughts, and emotions into the listeners’ brains.

So, anything you have experienced, you can help others experience the same thing, or

at least activate the same brain areas in them that were activated during your experience.

Storytelling is an essential part of communication. It is the most effective way to learn, digest

information, become energized, be influenced, and get carried away.

Although it seems quite challenging to master the art of storytelling, when you manage to

understand the main principles of a great story, you are in a position to deconstruct

them and build a system off of them. My storytelling system is called S.E.E.U.

and it is inspired by Andrew Stanton’s TED talk, as well as countless interesting stories

I have heard and read. The main pillars of the system are as follows:

Stick to a central theme. Evoke wonder.

Embrace change. Use personal experience.

As Andrew Stanton states: All well-drawn characters within a story have a spine.

This is their inner motor. A dominant, unconscious goal that they are

striving towards. An itch that they cannot scratch.

Michael Corleone, for instance, in The Godfather, was driven by a constant underlying theme,

which was to please his father. It consumed his entire life, and was visible

throughout the movie. When you are telling a story, whether you

want to draw on details from your personal experiences or from somewhere else, try to

be congruent with your theme. Is your story about existential angst?

Is your story about the struggle of being human?

Is it about the depth of your emotional or intellectual world?

Whatever your theme and its emotional underpinning make sure that it prevails throughout the story.

This is what keeps people engaged and helps

them resonate with your emotional world.

And that’s what I think the magic ingredient is.

The secret sauce. Is “can you evoke wonder?”

Wonder is honest, completely innocent and it cannot be artificially evoked.

For me there is no greater ability than the gift of another human giving you that feeling.

To hold them still for just a brief moment in their day and have them surrender to wonder.

When it’s tapped the affirmation of being alive reaches you almost to a cellular level.

And when an artist does that to another artist it’s like you are compelled to pass it on.

It’s like a dormant command that’s suddenly activated in you.

Like a call to the devil’s tower. Do onto others what’s been done to you.

The best stories infuse wonder.

Let me repeat his words so you can realize the profundity of what he just said.

Managing to hold your audience still for just

a brief moment in their day and have them surrender to wonder is a skill that, when

performed correctly, can reach you to an almost cellular level.

A great example of a person who manages to evoke wonder in his speeches is Dr. Jordan

Peterson. Here is a small clip that signifies that:

Beauty is so valuable and we're so afraid of it.

And I think we're afraid of it because it does. It's a pathway. It's not the only pathway

to the divine. I mean, there's lot there's pathways to the

divine love is one of them, I suppose, but beauty, especially for people who have an

affinity for beauty, it's, it's like music. It's one of those things that you can't argue

against. Right? You can't even understand it just hits you.

It shows you, well, it shows you the ideal. That's one way of thinking about it.

It also shows you, I think it's like a vision of the potential future.

It's something like that as well. That if we just got our act together and beautified

things, that that's the place that we can inhabit and that would ennoble us.

And that's why Jerusalem the heavenly city is paved with gemstones.

You know, they're crystalling, they emit light and yeah, it's the proper dwelling place for

an enlightened consciousness. Beauty is the proper dwelling place for an

enlightened consciousness. And we, we ignore it at our spiritual and

economic peril. It's like, it's obvious that beauty, there's almost nothing more valuable

than beauty. He has this incredible ability to talk about

big ideas and attempt to answer life-defining questions, just by choosing topics that can

speak to our unconscious mind and help us feel immediately engaged.

Wonder is strongly associated with themes that are not commonly experienced in our everyday

lives, or with situations that flirt with the idea of the extraordinary and are difficult

to achieve. Whenever you want to spice up your story with

wonder, try to think of events where the protagonist exceeded the expectations of his or her surroundings

and accomplished something beautiful and extraordinary.

So, we are all learning all the time.

and that’s why change is fundamental in story. If things go static, stories die, because

life is never static. In 1998 I had finished writing “Toy Story”

and “A bug’s life” and I was completely hooked on screenwriting. So, I wanted to become

much better at it and learn anything I could. So I researched everything I possibly could

and I finally came across this fantastic quote by a British playwright, William Archer:

Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty. It’s an incredibly insightful definition.

When you are telling a story, have you constructed anticipation?

In the short term, have you made me want to know what will happen next?

More importantly, have you made me want to know how it will all conclude in the long

term? Have you constructed honest conflicts with

truth that creates doubt in what the outcome might be?

An example would be in “Finding Nemo,” in the short tension you are always worried,

would Dory’s short-term memory make her forget whatever she was being told by Marlin?

But under that was this global tension of will we ever find Nemo in this huge vast ocean?

Change and anticipation is what makes us crave for more.

Andrew Stanton knows that pretty well and at some point he makes this excellent comment:

Make the audience work for their meal. Give them just enough, so that they want to find

out more. Humans are born problem solvers.

We are compelled to deduce and to deduct because this is what real life actually looks like.

It is this well-organized absence of information that will draw us in.

Give your audience a 2+2 in a story. Never give them a 4.

The elements you provide and the order you place them in is crucial to whether you will

succeed or fail in engaging with your audience.

Use what you know.

Draw from it. This doesn’t always mean in terms of plot

or facts, it means capturing the truth from your experiencing, expressing values you personally

feel, deep down your core. Personal stories help us to speak from our

hearts. Once we do so, the listener immediately identifies

value in our story and can easily relate to it.

As discussed earlier, people want you to make them care, or sometimes even forget.

That is why personal experiences are important. They are the most effective way to make yourself

relatable and help others become lost in your narrative.

The best storytellers look to their own memories and life experiences for ways to illustrate

the message. What events in your life make you believe

in the idea that you are sharing?

The whole world is built on stories.

Religions, political parties, companies, and various social groups are using storytelling

to promote their ideas.

As Yuval Noah Harari wrote in Sapiens:

“Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of the world by telling stories.”

I don’t know which stories are the best, but there is one thing I know for sure.

If you are not capable of writing your own story, other people will write it for you.

Hi guys, hope you enjoyed today’s video.

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cool please so that more people can discover it.

If you want to watch more videos from my channel, you can check out this one and this one.

Take care, see you soon, Adrian out.