A matter of fact, not fiction

The number and variety of responses to Anderson’s question were illuminating. To some in our industry it would seem that storytelling is the antithesis of scientific, objective, rational research practice and should be avoided at all costs or risk accusations of style over substance.

But inherent in that line of thinking is a misconception about what good insight storytelling is. Yes of course solid, robust research and analysis is critical, but it is not enough. Those are just hygiene factors which on their own do not create the excitement, interest and engagement required to turn good insights into solid action. Evidence only truly matters when it is processed, translated, acted upon and moved across businesses. And neuroscience demonstrates that information is most effectively assimilated through stories.

Antonio Damasio, author of Descartes’ Error, writes that: “The problem of how to make all this wisdom understandable, transmissible, persuasive, enforceable – of how to make it stick – was faced and a solution found. Storytelling was the solution – storytelling is something brains do, naturally and implicitly. It should be no surprise that it pervades the entire fabric of human societies and cultures.”

Brain imaging shows that humans are hard-wired for stories, to give meaning to information and to help foresee consequences so that we can plan to act accordingly. In the absence of a good story we either switch off and run the risk of failing to act, or we make up our own stories in the vacuum created and run the risk of moving in the wrong direction altogether.

The research industry has invested significant effort in trialling new technologies to aid storytelling, such as data visualisation, videos, apps and online platforms, but these are just tools for execution and do not create commercially compelling stories in themselves.

To create stories we need to look inside to our own human applications and develop broader commercial acumen and communication skills to generate evidence-based stories that are simple, bold and brave. We are storytelling animals. We just need to build our confidence that we can apply storytelling in a commercial context.

Stories matter to the future of our industry. If done well, there can never be too many of them. Good stories that stick in the mind offer a good return on insight investment – in turn driving the growth of our sector.

Caroline Florence is the founder of Insight Narrator. She is online at www.insight-narrator.co.uk. Florence is conducting an interactive workshop using gameplay to create commercial narratives at MRS Annual Conference on 20 March. More details at www.mrsannualconference.com.