Learn how to tell stories

“Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better.” — Yuval Noah Harari

Is the big difference between us and our ape ancestors, the ability to tell stories? It might sound ridiculous, but if we zoom out, I believe it is hugely important.

My own journey with storytelling has been quite a 180! As a Maths grad, I thought people who told stories, were charlatans, who swapped hard facts with fluffy stories. I now think the exact opposite. Someone who cannot distill ideas into easy to understand stories, does not understand their subject well.

A scientist telling his story

I think the big misconception of storytelling is that it is just tales. I believe that is a blindspot. Storytelling is the hidden engine behind human communication. Gossip, songs, poetry, films, news articles, advertising campaigns, scientific journals, social media, memes, Excel spreadsheets, religious parables, CVs, and even your linkedin profile are all narrative-driven.

Why am I interested in storytelling? It started with noticing a gap. Much like how mathematically-minded people (like myself) often experience a disconnect with Emotional Intelligence (EQ), storytelling represents another crucial EQ-like skill, which I explored in a previous series (EQ - what you need to know). It allows us to communicate complex ideas memorably and persuasively. Many analytically minded individuals underestimate the power of storytelling, and I was no different.

Importantly storytelling isn’t just an art - it's a crucial skill. It's how you distill complexity into clarity and how you make your message land and then stick. Master storytellers inform, influence, and inspire.

Let's do this together and explore storytelling through the perspective of an analytically minded person:

• Stories as Compression Algorithms: How we simplify and transmit complex ideas efficiently and what the components of a story is.

• Narrative as Sensemaking: Making sense of chaos through meaningful narratives. Understanding the choices people make in terms of what to emphasise or ignore and the use of perspective.

• Distilling Data into Meaning: Transforming cold data into impactful stories.

• Stories as Simulation: Exploring scenarios safely before they become reality so we can protect ourselves from risks and using an imagined amazing future as inspiration to make sacrifices today.

• Making things memorable: What makes a story stick

• Stories as influence: how framing, language and emphasis can impact the way you read the story

• Humour in storytelling: How can we safely use humour to improve our storytelling.

• Improving your own storytelling: Practical tools and techniques you can apply immediately.

Ready to turn your data, insights, and CV into stories that stick? Let's get under the bonnet of storytelling and help you land that job, sell that idea or win over the favour of that person.

Next week we'll dive into "Stories as simplicity". Until then, please sign up to receive the blog directly to your email at Blog | Deciders.