Seven Big Questions About Story
A playful Q&A guide to the biggest questions you probably have about storytelling
with Dr. Troy Hiduke Campbell
“What is this guide, who wrote it, and why should I read it?”
Thanks for asking! In this Q&A, you’ll get playful and concise answers to many of your biggest questions about storytelling, plus links to science, theories, and templates.
The Q&A is done with Dr. Troy Hiduke Campbell, a Duke University behavioral science PhD, former Disney Imagineer, University of Oregon marketing professor, founder of Hiduke House, and our chief scientist here at On Your Feet, who offers classic and new insights on story.
Storytelling is powerful but also kind of mysterious, and this will help you better understand its power and will demystify its many forms.
Some Story Science (also part of the answer to #6!)
1. “Okay, first explain to me: why should I use storytelling?”
Story is the way the brain most easily processes and remembers information.
Some scholars have gone as far as to say that humans’ ability to think in cause-and-effect logic and process events narratively is the most distinct component of human cognition. So, when you tell a story, you are communicating in the way that tends to be most powerful for human cognition and memory.
2. “Alright, I get it, story is powerful, but what does story do?”
Story creates meaning.
Words and ideas alone do not have much meaning. The stories behind them create the meaning.
The reason something happens (“the backstory”) imbues the event, idea, person, product, or character with meaning.
Learn more in this article on giving meaning to ideas with story.
3. “So what actually is a story? Can story be defined?”
Story is best defined as “cause and character.”
At its most fundamental, story is a series of moments that “cause” “characters” to change.
Great storytellers and story teachers, from Pixar, to the author of Narrative, Dr. Porter Abbott, to the world’s leading comics professor, Dr. Katherine Kelp-Stebbins, to the creators of “South Park,” Trey Stone and Matt Parker, all roughly say that “causation” turns information into story.
Learn more through this famous video with the South Park creators.
4. “Telling a story can be hard. What is the easiest way to tell a good story?”
Use the Story Spine.
Formalized by the improviser Ken Adams and later popularized by the studio Pixar, this story form presents a fill-in-the blank “cause and character” structure that is widely useful for most stories.
“Once upon a time there was a __________. Every day, they __________. One day, things changed when __________. Because of that, __________. And because of that, __________. Until, finally, __________. And since that day, everything has been __________.”
It is amazing how helpful this can be, at least to get you started, in almost all storytelling situations.
5. “Okay now for a hard question. How I do explain a big thing — like a big brand, a big idea, or even my own personal brand — with story?“
Use Multi-Narrative Storytelling.
Do not try to tell one single narrative about a big thing. Instead have a core story (like a concept or cause) and tell it through multiple narratives.
Be Nike or Apple who use the form “Multi-Narrative Storytelling” in their advertisements. In their ads the brands’ core story (“Just Do It” or “Think Different”) is stated and then expressed through multiple narratives, such as in montages of different types of people (all about how “just doing it” or “thinking different” cause positive outcomes).
Great teachers do the same thing when they give multiple anecdotes to explain a single concept and demonstrate how that concept can explain the why (causation) between many different outcomes.
Also, people with great personal brands tend to use storytelling like this, as they have a personal statement about what at their core they deliver, and then they make it clear how their core has caused them to be able to consistently deliver positive outcomes.
Remember, don’t try to find one perfect, long, epic story to explain everything; instead, have a core story and tell many narratives that give more meaning to the core story than any one single narrative ever could.
Learn more about Multi-Narrative Storytelling in this podcast.
6. “Alright, I just want to tell a really, really powerful story! How do I do that?”
Give it a sense of destiny.
People love stories where characters change into who they were “always meant to be.”
Psychologically, the Destiny Narrative resolves the major conflict people usually have between their desire for themselves (and others) to positively change but also their desire to authentically stay the same (“stay true”).
This duality has made the Destiny Narrative so immensely popular among:
fiction writers - who write about a hero who is “destined to let out their inner magic”
business leaders - who say, “this company is meant to return to its roots”
activists - who argue, “this country was always meant to move forward”
teachers - who say, “all students have a critical thinker inside of them”
job seekers - who say things like, “I always was a creative kid”
marketers - who say, “release your inner goddess with our products” or “discover your Disney side at the Disney Parks”
7. “One last thing. Sometimes I need to tell a story about data, strategy, or business solutions. How do I turn this ‘boring stuff’ into a good story?”
Use Goal -> Insight -> Action.
This three part structure really is perfect for data, sales, strategy, design, and most everything in business, in a way that is practical but not boring.
In this form, the goals are the calls to action, motivations, and reasons for being; the goals establish what needs to be done.
The insights are ideas and discoveries (and often data) that guide and enable the action; the insights serve as the authority and the clarity.
And, finally, the action is how one should or could use the insight to accomplish the goal; the actions make the insights real and useful in a goal-directed way.
Use these three steps to pitch ideas, sell products, explain data, propose plans, and recount case studies.
Learn more with guides applied to data storytelling
And, here are two different videos on Goal -> Insight -> Action:
Goal -> Insight -> Action for Data
Goal -> Insight -> Action for Sales
“Where can I learn even more?”
Check out these links.
Each link dives into a science, theories, and/or specific storytelling topics and contexts.
More from Dr. Troy Campbell
More from all of us here at OYF
Dr. Troy Hiduke Campbell is the chief scientist at On Your Feet, an influential behavioral science researcher, former Walt Disney Imagineer, and Oregon business professor.
At Hiduke House, he writes about many different ideas in science, business, and art.
