History of Modern Storytelling

 

Storytelling is as old as humankind.  But in the past few decades, it has had a resurgence as both an art form and business medium.  In the mid-1970s, stories, fables and myths began to be performed at "live lit" events and storytelling festivals. In the late 1990s, “story” became a buzzword for marketing, PR, advertising and brand management.  These sectors emphasized the use of stories in all communication and media channels. 

 

However, in the late 2000s storytelling began to move beyond marketing and become an important term in all business contexts.  From cognitive psychology, we know that information is twenty times more likely to be remembered if it is anchored in narrative [1]. The average American spends four hours a day consuming stories (i.e. TV, movies, books, video games, broadcast news), but very few of us translate what we learn from these activities to business communication [2]. Even fewer of us ever have any formal training in business storytelling. 

 

This is where Leadership Story Lab comes in. We bridge the gap between story for performance and story for promotion and teach Classical Storytelling for Modern Leaders.  We combine the science of persuasion and the art of storytelling to create a business tool that will foster a deep, authentic relationship with an audience and can lead them to action. 

 

 

[1] Based on the work of cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner

[2] From the article, “The Pleasure of Imagination” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 2010