We all have one… A story. The story of our journey and every story, every journey is amazing. Our stories are compelling, interesting, and give others a window to view who we are. Sharing our stories creates a feeling of safety allowing us to collaborate with others. The reason for this is Oxytocin. Oxytocin is that neurochemical that enhances cooperation & empathy. A study by Paul Zak the Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and a professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University found that you can “hack” the oxytocin system by sharing character-driven narratives to cause Oxytocin synthesis in our bodies, This means we can create motivation to engage in cooperation and motivate people to help others in our work places. How does this impact how we do things?
- Whenever you are speaking or teaching a group of people something they will have a better understanding of key points and better recall if you add a character driven story with an emotional impact into the content
- Add a compelling human story to your marketing internally & externally. IE what impact do you have, what is the history & the story behind “why” you do what you do? People are so much more moved by how you impact lives than what you sell.
- The company has a story – what is it the story of passion, hardship & triumph that led founders to risk their health and wealth, to persevere to get to a place of success. That story is moving and that journey is amazing.
We can motivate people simply by sharing a story of our journey and everyone has one? This happens by capturing their hearts by way of their brain & their neurochemicals. Most of our favorite team building programs include some stories, pieces of the organization, the impact you are part of by being a member of this team. We also love having teams make movie trailers or commercials that are character-driven stories depicting the organization’s purpose, mission, values, or history. We also love building teams by fostering trust & empathy through sharing pieces of each individual’s stories.
Here is our challenge to you… SHARE A STORY!!! I promise everyone’s story is powerful, moving, amazing and has the ability to impact others, create empathy & build collaboration.