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STORY TIME

On a BBC program called The Life Scientific, anthropologist Alice Roberts was asked if narrative was important in science. Roberts responded, “Yes, good narrative is about assembling ideas in a way that makes sense.” She noted that Charles Darwin read his scholarly paper on evolution in 1858 to the Linnaean Society but made no impression.

 

However, when Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species appeared the next year, the general readership—as well as scientists—regarded it as a breakthrough in science. Parts of the book were written in a colorful narrative style with stories, unusual in scientific books of the time, which broadened his audience, his appeal, and his reputation.

 

To broaden your audience and make your ideas stick, use universal narrative tools, including visual symbols imbued with meaning; themes; challenges and overcoming them; a hero battling an antagonist; and a positive outcome. These elements will make your story unforgettable.

 

STRONGER THAN REALITY

In the book The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz related his 1941 escape with six other prisoners from a Russian gulag. Their harrowing journey to reach India across 4,000 miles of mountain  ranges and desert has inspired a generation of explorers and opened as a major motion picture called The Way Back. The subtitle of the book is A True Story of a Trek to Freedom.

 

The truth is Rawicz killed a Russian interrogator, went to prison, and was released to the Polish Army. There was no escape. No trek. No inspiring adventure. This is not the first time a fabricated story has been accepted as fact.

 

Attorneys describe courtroom contests as dueling narratives. Any litigator knows if their story is more compelling, they will prevail, even though both sides have the same facts. And when training forensic CPAs as expert witnesses, we are tasked to teach them to paint a picture in the minds of the judge and jury—using narrative. While we don’t advocate fabricating the story of your service or product, encase your content in a colorful narrative and you will carry the day.