Episode Transcript
Welcome back to Sort Sophisticated the podcast where we help you sound smarter than your girlfriend or your boyfriend. Unless they're listening too, of course. Then you'll just sort of look like an idiot, I guess, or be equally as smart. Yeah. I guess, right. We're just try to make you sound smart. Okay. That's the idea. I'm Pete to end with me, as always. Sounding very smart. Is Amanda. Hello everybody. Hello Amanda. Pete, what are we talking about today? We're talking about stuff. We're talking about big stuff today. Oh yeah. Um, what are we talking about? Well, I'm gonna tell a story first. Okay. And then I'm gonna explain to you what we're talking about because I have Sounds good To take the mic, I've realized why I do this podcast with you. So you have a platform to talk on. That's It's really, that's so sad. It's so embarrassing. It's therapeutic. It's fine. Here we are. So what's our story? It is a little bit, I need a couch then instead of a chair, if it's gonna be that I got a couch for you. Let's go, let's sit on the couch. Um, I just went to Portland. I just got back from Portland. Went to visit my sister-in-law. Shout out to Jean and Daniel. Yes, we had a fun weekend. So I get on the plane and. I'm hearing the people behind me and they don't know each other, it's like an older lady, well, I guess I'm old now, but like older than me. Okay. Respectfully. Sure. Mm-hmm. Uh, talking to a man a bit younger than me. Okay. Probably more than a bit younger than me. So a boomer. Okay. Talking to a millennial. Okay. And she was okay. This is my opinion now. She was telling him a story. I don't really remember the story, nor do I care what the story is. I just put myself in his shoes and thought to myself, kill me now. This plane hasn't even taken off yet, and I am stuck listening to this, uh, lovely woman. Tell me her life story. Mind you, I did not put myself in her shoes. Just probably wanting someone to talk to and maybe lonely and the whole thing. And it dawned on me that, people suck at telling stories. That's what your thought is. Yeah. Oh, very interesting. Yeah. People suck at telling stories. My thought was, wow, you're such a dick. Oh no. Yeah, no, there's that, right? No, no, no. I know. I, okay. Can we just like, we know after 70 whatever episodes I'm a dick. Everybody knows it. Okay. so she told a story more engaging than that was the problem. There was no, you would feel there was literally no point to story. Do you remember playing Strangers in automobiles? Steve Martin and John Candy. But hold, here's the thing where he is like, I have an idea. When you tell a story, have a point. She had no point to her story. It was terrible. I remember in the last episode or the episode before that me and you were talking about like, oh, we have to do a story. I would argue something on storytelling. So it was in my brain. Okay. And um, but I would argue that if you were a good storyteller, you don't necessarily need a point. You can take people on a journey and they'd be engaged. So is it really about having a point or is it about the storytelling capabilities? You're you're preaching to the choir. I believe. No, you said you have to have a point. I believe I know how to tell a story, but you said how to have a point, and I would disagree. If you were a good storyteller. You gotta know when, then you wouldn't. You gotta have a point. You gotta know when, daddy, here's the deal. My whole story to you right now. Has no point was to, was to explain. Kidding. We are doing an episode on storytelling. That was my point. Okay. I mean, you did mention this last week, so this is what we're doing. This makes sense. This is what sense. Okay, fine. Okay, so then what is the title of our episode? Make this Have a point. Yes, that is, that should, you know what? That should be it Storytelling. Make this have a point. All right, it's once upon a time, the science, history, and magic of storytelling. Aw, it's so pretty. Yeah. We're gonna tell stories today. That's all we're gonna do. That's good. I'm gonna tell a story. You're gonna tell a story. we're gonna see who does it better. Okay. Not really. We're gonna talk about why humans are wired for stories. All the science behind what makes a real story. What more do we need to know that when we were hunter-gatherers, the hunters would go out, the gatherers would be in community and tell each other's stories? Yes. And would pass down generation to generation. So what more is there? I don't think there is anything else. Oh, okay. I think you just summed up the entire episode in one sentence. Job all done. It's gonna work. Okay, so then what's gonna get me cultured from this then? How's it not gonna get you cultured? What like it, it is the epitome of culture. Stories are everywhere. We tell them to each other all the time. Literally a man. It's what we do on this podcast. I know to each other, we do history, we do movies, we do travel. Religion, politics. Well, we try not to do politics, but you get the idea like it's everywhere. Commercials, TikTok, everything. Folklore. Folklore. Okay. You did miss music. Music. Music. We do music. We've done music. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If we know how our stories work, then we're more cultured. 'cause we can then appreciate other culture stories more. Like that's the whole point of story. Like we share, we're swapping ideas here. I'm here for it. Like we're being less divisive. Or trying to at least, yes, exactly. Open minds people. Yes, open minds. That's what we're doing. Mind. Okay. Yeah. Give us the word of the day. Word of the day. Here we go. Are we gonna do it this time? Last time we screwed up. Word of the Day. We didn't even get that. No, we got it at the end. It's fine. I think that was cheating. Okay. Our word of the day today is Invidious. Invidious. Invidious. Invidious. Like super envious. Isn't it weird how like you automatically could tell that it's a word that's like negative, like invidious. You already can tell. It means resentful, envious. Close or obnoxious. Oh, look at that. There it is. Here we are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Huh? Well, gonna, I'm gonna nail this word of the day. You know why, I've a sneaky suspicion. Why, so can we just move past that, please? Okay, fine. Okay. And just at some point, why don't you just call me invidious 10 times. Perfect. Great. Here we are. Okay, here we go. Let's go. Wonderful. Can we start the episode? I'm so glad you agreed. Can we go, but before you get any more invidious? Yeah. Okay. Why don't you go ahead and get us the whole history. Wow. That took all but one second of storytelling. All right. History of storytelling. Yeah. Right. This is totally my jam. It is. You love the history, this is it. Who wouldn't wanna be a storyteller? Get to do, and supposedly, you're also a storyteller, so make it interesting. Supposedly. What? Why are you killing me on this? I'm, I think I'm a decent storyteller. Let's go then make it interesting. One outta 10 right now. Look me in the eyes. Am I a decent storyteller? Yeah. What is it? I don't know. One outta 10. I'll tell you after you, uh, do this history lesson, I'm not gonna tell a story. I'm gonna tell the history of storytelling. I wanna know in general, but you can make it interesting because you know what made history interesting. What Hamilton? Okay, I got it. Hamilton told it in story format, Amanda, and it made it interesting. Amanda, we are, everybody could tell you all about Alexander Hamilton now, who's interrupting? Who's being invidious? Um, we're on episode 73. I was talking and you were trying to interrupt me. That's true. Don't topsy-turvy that shit on me right now. Listen to me. We've done 73 episodes. Seven, three episodes. Yeah. Either I know how to tell a story or I don't. What is it? You are gonna wait till the end to decide when we're out to dinner. When you out to dinner, do I tell a decent story or not? You do tell decent stories. I You are good at storytelling. You're gonna gimme a seven. You're gonna gimme a milk to seven. I'm screwed. You have to be a seven because that is your level seven line. Oh, whatever. You're just seven across the board. Fine. Okay, just, can I start? Yes, go right ahead. Miss Invidious, we are getting our scorecards ready. Okay, let's start at the very beginning, which is a very good place to start. I love the sound of music. Okay. Whatever. We're fine. So before Netflix. And television and all the stuff. Even before books. Before books. Amanda, correct? Yes. Storytelling was everywhere. It was a thing, like it predates papyrus, correct? I know. It's crazy, right? We started telling stories as soon as we could breathe. It is in your DNA. Yes. It's no, no History confus. Thousands of years people. It's coded. Into it. Okay. One of the oldest examples that we have of storytelling, at least written down anyway, we found in a cave in Ula Wasi. In the island of Indonesia. Do you remember our art appreciation episode? Absolutely. One of our fun facts, I totally remember the first known artwork was found in a cave in Ulae. Yeah, it was of three pigs. I totally remember when we were talking about art. Okay, so not same cave, not same different caves, same island. Wasi. Like this shit's going down right? This dated to 43,900 years ago, and it's a hunting scene with humans and animals and even some weird shit that's like half human and half animal with some like big ass horns in it. So this is after the first three pigs. This is after the, three little pigs, but same sort of time, but telling a story this time. Yeah. The concept that that's what they were looking at, the three little pigs was art because there was no story with it. This actually depicts a hunting scene, so technically they're saying this was the first real what they story, right. That they found experienced, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It counts. It's storytelling. Okay. Okay. But if you think about it, I'm sure there has to be some way before that, right? 'cause especially we've been around for so long, we just haven't like unearthed them. We don't, we haven't found the shit yet. Somewhere in another cave or whatever. It just got like swept away with the wind or the tide. 'Cause we were making stories in sand or like on, on rocks and like, it didn't all make it, that's all I'm saying, right? But like we found creative ways to be storytellers one way or another. Sula wasi first, official evidence before that. Concrete evidence. Yes. I like the way you said that. Concrete evidence. But if I wanna go back way before that, like centuries before, in Africa, you had people called the GREs. These were these storytellers that memorized literally centuries and centuries of genealogies acting as sort of like a human library for their communities. So these were oral traditions that they were passing down for hundreds of thousands of years. Thank you. And then in Europe, instead of the OTs, they were called Bards, and they were like, mobile librarians. So same, same. They would travel from village to village and share stories and songs and legends and That's cool. All the things, right? So you had it going on in Africa, you had it going on in Europe, and then even indigenous cultures around the world had their own version of these same people with like hundreds of different names, of course. That would teach spirituality, culture, even survival skills. So sort of happening everywhere, all over the world, all throughout time. In one way or another, like forever. You with me so far? Basically you're saying that all these places and cultures had historians. They did. And hand in hand a k historians are storytellers. Storytellers, correct? Yeah. And it was to keep all of their traditions and histories alive. RA is ch and I think this is why you like history, because you are a storyteller. This is it. It's all, it's all a little bow. Yeah. They're all a little packaged with little bow, right? Like I'm a, I'm a mediocre storyteller, so this is great. No, I really appreciate this. Okay, so if you, I didn't give you a five. Five is mediocre. That's average. I had to, I had to, like, I gave you a seven by the way. I had to pull a seven outta you and I said, if you go back and check tape, you didn't say seven. I said, so you're giving me a seven? And you were sort of like, yeah, fine. Like, it was bullshit. You didn't even gimme a number. I, I said I was gonna wait until the end of the episode to give you fine. Alright. Wait until the end of the episode. Okay. All right. So if you think about it back then, the whole indigenous culture with the survival stories, like, I mean, that's how they had to survive though. Yeah, thank you. That's exactly what I was getting at. So it wasn't just purely entertainment, this shit was real, how to hunt, how to farm, how to navigate rivers on canoes or boats or whatever the things they were using, how not to eat poisonous shit. Like all this stuff mattered for survival. That's one piece of it. And then you had like. Remember our episode we just did on the Greek gods and everything. Then you had the morality side of it, like the whole storytelling, how to live a virtuous life, what was appropriate, how God or their gods wanted you to live. How to choose right from wrong. So all these things matter a lot, so on the one hand, they're using stories to stay alive. On the other hand, they're sharing their values to the tribe or the community or whatever. So like it's, important shit, right? It was a way to pass down everything from generation to generation. I read somewhere a long time ago, I forgot what it was, don't quote me on it, but I was figuring out the difference between human and animals, like opposable thumbs and that kinda shit, whatever. And it said one of the main differences is that humans have the ability to tell stories and pass them down from generation to generation so we don't have to recreate. Same thing with each generation. So we have the ability to learn from our past and other animals and creatures do not, which I found fascinating. And If you would've said like, what's the difference between human and animals? That's not the first thing I would've thought of. Right. Yet it's a massive component of what separates us. Never really thought about it, our intellect. I know. It's, it's incredible. It's a good one. Yes. I know. But okay. Is that all we got on history? Just that it's been around forever and ever and we're better than animals. Yeah. Sort of. Or is there more? There's a little more. There's not a lot more. Just a little more, I mean, think that sums it up though, right? Yeah. Sums it up. It developed from there, like you had the cave paintings, you have the hieroglyphics or whatever, and then they use the, what was it? Papyrus, Pappas, Papyrus, whatever. Okay. Then a little while later, Homer and Shakespeare come along and they like take it to a whole nother level. We won't go into that whole thing, but like. They turned it into entertainment. It went from morality tales and survival to like entertainment. Uh, then middle ages, a bunch of religious people go crazy 'cause that's what they do in the middle Ages. It's about faith and spirituality. So they add that component in. Then in the 14 hundreds Gutenberg drops a printing press. Printing. Press the printing press. Here we go. Books go. Bonkers. And basically that brings us to today with newspapers, radios, photography, TikTok, social media, film, everything. Podcast us now. Ai. You get the idea. There we go. History out. Oh, okay. Finished. Well, I think I need you to do a little science. Science. A little science. Let's go Science. We said we'll do science. We'll do science. We'll do a little science. Okay? Because I know that we understand the history of storytelling, why it's important, how it all kind of got started, how it's in our DNA, but why? Why do we all love to listen to a good story? Is it just because it's in our DNA or is it No, there's science behind it. Like, and maybe it's like we are just No, we were made to have to pass down stories in order to survive. So maybe again, it's just we are in tuned with it. Are we? We crave it. Prepare to get mind blown. Okay. Ready? Here we go. Totally. Science behind it. Okay. So I'm doing all this research. I learned basically, as it turns out, your brain loves capital. L-O-V-E-S loves stories, Amanda. Okay. Check this. I guess when we hear facts like from a PowerPoint or from you know, a list of data. There's only a certain part of your brain that lights up. It's called your language processing center, a place called Broca's Area, and then where Nikki's area. I know I'm trying to get a little sophisticated here. I guess those are used as sort of the fact translators. But when we hear a story, all sorts of shit in your brain lights up. So you start firing on way more cylinders. So broka and more Nicki's area still light up, but then you also have your sensory cortex, your motor cortex, your prefrontal cortex. So many cor cortexes. A lot of cortexes. Is it, is it cortesi? A lot of cortesi, a lot of Cort, a lot of cor. Doesn't matter. I don't know a lot of it. Okay. Then your amygdala gets into it. So does your hippocampus. Psychologists say. Our brains naturally organize stories the same way You watch a movie, it's crazy. Huh? Your brain turns into a frigging movie theater. It's like we are creating the movie in our brains. You are. As we're hearing it. Yes. Oh, I mean 'cause your brain's firing our off our That is true. Yes. I mean that makes sense that when you hear a story and your brain kind of like starts to formulate its own little movie, that we retain things better. We do. Um, but do they all do different things? Do they all turn on at the same time? Do they all need to turn on at the same time so we can understand the story? Oh, they need to turn on at the same time. Lemme tell you. Like, it all just goes together or is like, good question. No, no one thing does one thing and when the other does another, I had no idea. So actually they all do different things. Yes. So like I said earlier, i'll buzz through this really quick. Broka and more Nikki, they do the language processing. Okay. So they're like literally just changing speech into visuals. Okay. But then you have the sensory cortex that does the imagining for you. So like if someone's talking about how something tastes or sounds, the sensory cortex is helping you imagine that taste or that sound. Okay. Then the motor cortex helps you with the action. So if you're talking about like driving or running or doing something, the motor cortex simulates all that movement for you to make you feel like you're in the driver's seat, like you're in it. Okay. Than if the story is suspenseful or emotional in any way. The amygdala, that's the one thing I was talking about earlier that starts working. Have you ever like stopped breathing during a horror movie? Like in your butt hole? Gets like really tight. Oh my God. And then like the scary part ends and you're like, oh my God, I'm back. Does that happen to you? Okay. Yes. That happens to be all the time. Okay. Breathe the sigh of relief. Yes. That's the amygdala. It helps you feel the story. Okay. You with me? Then after that, your prefrontal cortex comes to the rescue and helps you feel emotionally connected to each of the characters. It's a thing that helps you feel empathy. Oh, and then finally that hippocampus, the last thing we said that basically says, shit, that was a good story and helps you commit it all. To memory so you never forget it again. Do you know what's amazing? What The fact that we have all of these different things happening in our brain, I at one time, that we don't even realize it's happening. No. And you need all of them to work properly in order to be like, quote unquote, a normal human being. Right? Well, and so you think about, right? Yeah. Like if something's just a little altered. I how that screws with everything. Yeah. Oh, this gets your mind, blow your mind. This is about to get a little cooler. Oh. So scientists have proven that when someone is telling a story. Like our brain, like if you're telling me a story, my brain literally syncs up with your brain. How so? Yeah, so it's something called neural coupling and all the brain things that I just talked about, like all the regions and everything, that get activated. When you're telling me the story, they're also activated in your brain at the same time as my brain. So both are activating the same areas. So as you are reliving the story, I am taking in all the emotions that are going along with it, and I am living it with you. Is that why when we say like telling stories and storytelling, it makes that deeper connection at 100%? Huh? In all cases all the time. And that's why when you're in high school and you are learning facts for a test, they always say, look, don't just memorize the stupid fact on the flashcard because you'll forget it. Make a story, make a little ride, make a story, something you relate to. Yes. Thank you very much. It's amazing, right? The brain. Yes, I know. Incredible. I know. It's brain power, man. Okay, so since our brains like everything kind of lights up all these different cortexes are working together, is it because it's starting to create some sort of like chemical reaction or one of those chemical dopamine things that. Our bodies crave. Yes. So we crave storytelling and it totally, you're absolutely 100% I, right. I dunno. That's exact. No, you're, you're, yes. It's dopamine, it's oxytocin. It's all the things we talked about before in psychology, episode 1 0 1 or whatever it was. Yes. It's all the things that your brain desires and loves and wants. It's pretty cool. It's why we can retain it, huh? It is. Absolutely. Yes. It's the do more things you love. It's the dopamine loop people. That's what's going on. Our brain releases all those chemicals and it like floods the zone. Floods the system. That's why we're wired to trust people who tell good stories. Alex Kuck, you remember Alex K. Chuck? Oh, I love Alex. The best storyteller could be a total asshole, but he told a good story. No, he not. He's a good, so you trusted him. Yeah. That's how it works. Yeah, that's true. Mm-hmm. I guess it kind of also makes sense as to why, like why politics work. Oh, totally. Right? Yes. Because I feel like a lot of politicians are really good storytellers. Uh, I wasn't gonna say speakers, but talkers all the above, right? Yeah, absolutely. And even bad people are too. Oh, a lot of bad people. How interesting. This is how cult start, isn't it? Hitler. Oh, Charles Manson. Yeah. Yeah. Good or bad. Right? What are you gonna do? They all use stories to get their hooks in that's how Charles Manson did his whole cult. It was a whole storytelling thing, all the things that are famous are big in the world. Think about it. Even Disney. You know what? Charles Manson, little Nvidia. Oh, definitely. Really was, yeah. So was Hitler. So sorry. Yeah. But if everything that we are drawn to, brings out emotion in us. It's storytelling, it's things that get us hooked. Yes, I'm gonna assume that they have a bunch of scientists on payroll in order to figure out how to, they have to like, get us sucked in more or get us connected, you know, to laugh or to cry at something. They probably pay these people millions and millions of dollars to figure this stuff out, to get us out. Now I just feel like my whole life is. No ding controlled. What do you think Nike's, what do you think Nike's doing? Or Apple or Disney? They're all doing it. They're all doing it Well, and it's, so it's one thing because I told you one time, I think some maybe on this podcast, uh, we had the opportunity to listen to this, uh, doctor of Neuroscience, who's from Berkeley. She's phenomenal, brilliant woman. Um, and she just talks about how as a neuroscientist, a lot of her cohort, got swooped up by private companies mm-hmm. To make lots and lots of money. Even like the little swoosh noise when you send an email, right. That is addictive. Let's go. Right? Yes. And and her specialty is the addictiveness of things, right? Yeah. Or just the colors of your screen on your phone for an app or every little detail, tiny detail. When you go into Disneyland, it makes you, makes a cute little noise when you go into Disneyland. Yeah. Yeah. It just gets, every little thing makes you more addicted, right? Yeah. Well, now I'm like, well, is this all about storytelling too? It's all just a game, a ploy to get, suck me in and get out my money. It's, it's literally all take it from my brain, but it's not just market. Like it goes back, like I said, like forever, but I feel like storytelling then It's like the good side, right? That's the good side. Learning how to survive and to defend yourself and to hunt and like, you know. Yes. All the things. Generational of the history and now it's like taken by the dark side on how to. Take over your brain. Yeah, I would agree. But it's also, but, but it's so sad, yes. But then there's also still an awesome and good part to it that you're just not focusing on right now, that's all. No, I mean, it's just like, it's the, the good and the bad. Right, right, right. That's I'm just telling you, you're just, you brought up just having a moment of the bad That's Charles Manson. Right, right. The storytelling's great for religion. Getting people connected and passing down it. Absolutely. All of these narratives or the creation story, origin stories, superhero stories, profit stories. All the stories. Right? All the stories. Religion is very powerful in that regard. Yes. It can then be morphed into bad and controlling like Trump. Yeah. It's just like anything else. It's all a spectrum. You're absolutely right. I know you just did religious stories, but I mean, they do the same thing, with politics. Right. We don't talk politics. I get it. But. Think about it. Like that's all anybody gives a shit about anymore. You control the story, you control people. It's like, right. I'm not about it. Right. I No, I know. Now it's kind a spiral moment. If you go, what we just said, Hitler. Right. Okay. Propaganda. That's all it was. It was this whole campaign controlled millions and millions of people during World War ii. I think there was like. 8 million people in the Nazi party. Wow. Because of what? His like rhetoric, right? Yes. 8 million people. And I think he had a million people. You remember ss like his, like that special army that he used, there was a million people in that thing. Wow. Pole pot. You remember Pole pot, Cambodia and the killing field. Yep, yep. True. Same concept, right? So I, I know there's good and there's bad, you could use it both ways. That's all I'm saying. But the point is still the same storytelling built. Civilizations. Yes. Literally whether it's good, whether it's bad, what, what, what? Today with, like you just said, with Nike and, and, and Apple or whoever's telling the story, but it built civilizations. People don't realize the power and now it just controls you. Yes. Like when Nike has an ad and you just wanna do it. The Greek ads thing we just did. We just did it. That was all stories, right? Everything was a story. Okay. Anyway, Okay. So if we get off of all the negativity and how it's controlling us and sucking our brains, please. Um, yeah, thanks for going down. Well, no, no, no. Thanks for going down that rabbit hole, Mr. Well, but it's kind of like invidious. Yeah. I guess let's go to the positive side of it. Positive. Let's go. Positive, positive side. Like how to tell a great story. Let's get sort of sophisticated here in like an uplifting way. Yes. Not how to control your brain. Right. Let's get all the way back to the beginning where we're sitting on the airplane. And we're gonna introduce ourselves to someone. And you were very bored. Uh, yeah. And we're gonna take a two hour flight to Portland and we're gonna tell a good story, okay? Okay. That's what's gonna happen. Let's just start with fact. How do you start off? Let's just start with the fact that some people got it and some people don't. I'm not gonna lie. So it's a gift. That's true. It's just like everything else, right? Making music, being an athlete, all that kind of shit. I don't care. So there's a certain number of people in this world that know how to tell stories. They're usually your TED Talk people. Yes. Fine. Absolutely. But. We can learn it. Okay? We can learn it. I promise you. We can learn it. Okay, we're gonna do it. What's step one? Step one is malcolm Gladwell, 10,000 hours, you know, 10,000 hours. That's how we're gonna do it. A lot of practice. Oh, a lot of practice. Outliers. Do you remember Outliers? The book Outliers? No, read the book. Outliers. Okay. It's amazing. Um, is that for, you're gonna practice to become like a professional storyteller? No. It's just to become a storyteller. It's like anything else, Amanda. You have to practice. People don't practice. They just assume they know how to talk to other people because like, why do I need to practice things, right? I mean, if, if you're gonna play a sport, you have to practice. People don't think to practice storytelling. Are you with me? We're gonna, but I don't dunno if every, I don't know because I don't know if people back, like again, hunter gatherer days practiced to be a better storyteller. They did not. That's my point. That's the problem. And that's why I'm on an airplane last week going to Portland. So you Portland listening to a woman who didn't know how to tell a story 'cause she didn't practice. So You're trying to differentiate between just telling a story and being a storyteller. Yes. Okay. Got it. Because being a storyteller. Makes it interesting. Okay. And that's what we're trying to build here. So first, number one practice. That's what we're trying to do. We gotta 10,000 hours. I'm just saying that's not number one. That's like, that's what you have to do. Okay. Okay. Let's start with this. Here's my foolproof method. By the way, I have no idea if this is Legit or not. This is not science. This is, this is heaters. This is sorta okay. Everybody has a million life experiences to choose from, right? Literally we do. They're all stories. All anyone is ever trying to do is just like wait for the right time to tell that story and not look stupid. So really storytelling is about timing because if you say it at the wrong time, you look like an idiot. But you say at the right time it's hysterical or good, or teaches a moral story, whatever the hell it is. But you just gotta know when to do it. Like the gambler, you gotta know when to hold 'em and no when to fold 'em. Okay. But for the most part, it's pretty easy. You just gotta be thoughtful about it, and just, just a little bit of work in advance. So, okay. Start with the end in mind. Almost tell the whole point of the story at the beginning, like without actually saying it. So you gotta go grab attention. Come in hard. Yes. Come in. Yes. I love that On so many levels. I never thought you would tell me that. Okay. So here we go. Tell me which one of these sounds better to start with. Are you with me? Ready? Like let, let's like hooks you and gets you interested. Okay. Okay. So Amanda, um, I was running yesterday and feeling pretty good, listening to music and everything, and I was, I don't know, I around mile two or mile three and I don't remember really, but like I started to feel this cramp and I started to slow down. And walk for a minute. Okay, that's the beginning of story one. Okay. Okay. Or, or this, oh my God, I got a story, Amanda. I was running yesterday and all of a sudden my stomach was like, no, nope. We're done. Get home now. Like now, now. Which one is a more interesting start to a story, please? Well, so my question I guess for you would be, what are we going for? Are we talking more about your inflection and being a storyteller that is more of your expressive nature. Okay. That matters. Oh, okay. I did that on purpose a little bit. Okay. But my point is, is the second. Part I told you about. Just like get home. Like you wanted to know what was gonna happen because you knew some shit was going down right now. Fair. Like literally I was about to take a shit fair. The other story was like taking too long to get there. I was meandering through the story. You mean I was being boring. Too many details. I was, totally. Yes. So you have to hook someone now. I have the attention. Now I'm ready to tell you the rest of the story. Now you can be boring. No, I'm just kidding. Now I start the story again and I slow down a little bit. So. Build up from the beginning, I tell you everything that's going on. Then after you lay out a little storyline, you gotta raise the stakes. Okay? So you gotta give 'em a reason to care a little more. Okay? You wanna know if I made it back in time, right? You wanna know if, I just shit myself. You wanna know what the hell just happened in my story when I started to tell that yes or no. You want people invested in your story is what you're saying, right? You gotta build suspense. Yes. Okay. And that's always the part where you say like, I'm 11 seven liar, but I'm not really a 11 seven liar. I'm just sort of adding my suspense element to it. So the story is still real. I'm just adding bits of suspense that probably weren't real. You're exaggerating a little bit. I'm, thank you. Thank you. You finally embellishing. Finally you're finally understanding this. Oh my god, this is so great. Okay. So you just gotta not lies. So you start with a hook, then you can go back and tell the story in its sort of entirety building up to some important part of the story. And then you just gotta know when to end the fucking story. Like, let's be honest. 'cause a lot of people draw out the story way too long. I'm really wondering what this story was on the plane and why you hated it so much. Honestly, I don't even remember the story because it was that boring. Because you tuned it out and, and, and I think she was like, what's the word when you go from like one story to another with no pause in between. You're just literally all over the place. You're like manic. I don't know what, it's like I'm talking about this and now I'm talking about this, and then my mother did this and then my sister did this, and like, maybe she was a nervous flyer. She just keep talking. I mean, she was lonely. I, I don't know, whatever. Can I get back to what you need to do? Yes. Yeah. With the story. Okay. So you gotta add all the emotions, you gotta add all the feelings. Remember the whole idea we were talking about at one point? We were doing the toasting episode. People remember how they feel. They don't remember shit about like different things. They remember how they feel. So if you tell the story right, and you're connecting with their feelings and the emotions and all that crap behind it, then you have a legitimate story on your hands. Fair? Yes. Fair. It's like real estate, right? Location, location, location. You know? Telling a story. Timing, timing, timing, that's what this is all about. You gotta know how to hook 'em. You gotta know how to slow down your story. You gotta know how to build it all up to the crescendo. And then you gotta know how to end the damn story at the right time. And you can't come outta nowhere with it. You gotta sort of have a reason to even begin the story in the first place. Otherwise you look like an ass. But do you think with AI now. Storytelling is gonna be like a lost art because AI can just write it for you. AI writes shitty stories. You think so? But um, I think so. Okay. Because I use AI all the time to like figure out podcast stuff and like anytime if I want facts, it works great. But if I wanna start embellishing or doing things, AI sucks at it. So you're saying that our human connection's still worth something? I think so. Okay, great. I I have an idea though. Oh, no. Do you wanna test AI right now? I don't really. Input, like tell it to tell a story. Okay. Okay. Yes. AI knows us because it knows who you are and it knows who I am because I, pay for service, da da da da dah. So write in, say, I'm Amanda. I want you to tell me a quick story, that I would tell one of my friends. In, you know, whatever, three sentences and see what it comes up with. I'm very interested to see what this would do. Okay. Ready? Yes, but wait, wait, hold on. But make sure it adds in like the hook. What the stakes are, the emotion behind the story, and then the ending. So start with a hook. Raise the stakes, make sure it gets to emotion and end the damn thing on time. So just, just make sure you put those four words in there. Okay? And do you want me to read it with literally, you're gonna read it right off a chat GPT, right? But don't get shit. You're gonna read it with a little like emphasis. Read it, however you wanna read it. Okay. Okay. Just make sure it knows the hook, the stakes, the emotion, the ending. Okay. All right. Did you pull something up here? I did. Are we ready to go? Yeah. Alright, let, we'll see if it works. Let's see. Let's see what this does. Okay. And then, and then when it's done, critique it and tell me if you liked it or not. Okay. Okay. Okay. So precisely 12:04 PM I began to construct a sandwich. Okay. This was not just lunch, this was my first meal of the day, hunger levels were critical. I was reaching that point. If this sandwich failed. Productivity for the next three hours would also fail. I like this. So halfway through the disaster struck, the toaster burned the bread into black rectangles. The smoke alarm screamed. My cat observed from the counter with judgment in her eyes, and of course, my heart rate increased 20:00 PM This is excellent. Hope was diminished. So after a tens 27 minutes, a replacement sandwich was successfully assembled. It was edible, though not very impressive. Mission outcome, acceptable hunger status resolved. I think chat GBT did pretty damn cool. I mean, I had to add in a few words to finesse it a little bit. That is not bad, but I mean, it's okay. No, but you get the idea hook, sure. Okay. Yes. We had the stakes. We raised the stakes. Right? Uh, like the emotion what was it? It was about the toaster burned the bread, the black. Right? It worked. Yeah. Okay. I'm doing the same thing from a running story right now. Okay. Okay. My, I took a shit running story. Okay. Are you ready? Ready. By the way, just for the record, I actually did not have to like, I mean I like I got home and took my shit. Like it wasn't a problem. It was for anybody who cares. Like I didn't like poop my pants. Okay. And anybody who was ready. Alright, you ready? Yes. I was running. The GPS watch displayed 3.42 miles. My digestive system initiated an urgent alert. This is hysterical. Nearest bathroom, unavailable nearest tree, inadequate heart rate 1 78 beats per minute. This is, this is really good. I accelerated a maximum human velocity towards a Starbucks arrival Was successful. Bathroom secured crisis, avoided morale restored. Coffee purchased as a tribute. Oh my God, I, I'm wrong chat. GPT can tell a good story. Well, And I'm back to, that was pretty funny. Our lives are ending. Yeah. Okay. With ai. Yeah, they are. Here we are. Right. So, so my secret is keep your damn story simple. I think that's the secret. I think AI just figured that out. Hook, fake emotion. Yes. Pacing, yes. Cheat sheet. Make sure somebody feels what's going on in the story. That's all I care about. It's a craft, like you said, it's a craft. if we get it right, you can make any topic Interesting. Amanda, anything? I mean, maybe just like one hint to people would be what? Take a minute, take a beat and see if the person you're talking to is actually engaged. Right. Because they're not, this is point. That was my point of the lady on the airplane. If she would've just like known the audience, figured out, maybe had a few stories prepared in advance, she would've done way better. I think people just start talking to talk. Yeah. Because they're lonely or they haven't like I get it. I'm just saying get better at it. Practice. You're not gonna practice 10,000 hours. I don't know. Practice one hour for crying out loud. Yeah, we'll get better at it. All right, fine. Where are we at? Well, I, I'm off my soapbox. I think we should, uh, do fun facts. Fun. Did we already? Fun facts. I mean, I even, we did the history, we did the science You gave us. What do, how? Alright, so, because we screwed up a few episodes ago or whatever it was. Did we, we snuck in the word of the day. Enough times. I'm pretty sure we did. We did this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All I love when I get that in there. Okay. My few episodes, me last week. Cool. Cool, it was last week's episode. We screwed up. Yeah. Oh Jesus. Okay. We got it in before we ended. It's not as if, like, do you remembered it at the very end? We cheat? No. 'cause that was bs. 'cause I said we didn't get it in. You were like, oh. And then you said she was, but then you said something and you were like blah, and you put it in. Whatever, whatever. Um, okay. Fun facts. Okay, fine. Maybe not 10. 'cause that was a lot last time. Maybe just like five. I'm doing fine. They were good, but I might do that. But no, it was too many, too, too many because it was Greek. God, you could, every story is a fun fact for Greek gods. Oh, that's fair. That's fair. Okay. Here we go. Number one, did you know that stories improve your memory? No, but I need to know more because my mom needs all the memory help. Let's go. Okay. Studies show that you remember information. Amanda up to 22 times better if it's told in story form versus a list of facts. Ooh. No more spreadsheets. No more PowerPoint. Just tell the story. Super fun fact, Amanda, studies show that misinformation spreads online 70% faster if it's told as a dramatic story versus plain facts, I believe it. 70%. Seven. That's that's, this is the problem with social media, period. Yes. Right. They could say anything so long as it's an interesting story. Yep. Like, oh my god. People will take it as truth. Oh my God. Okay. Number two, campfires shaped our brains. Like around the fire campfire. Yeah, like camp when you're camping camp. Yeah. Yeah. Like real campfires. Yeah. A 2014 study of the Kung song people of Botswana, one of the world's oldest hunter gatherer cultures, found that storytelling around campfires was a huge driver of social bonding. The fires glow extends the day without harsh light, creating a safe, relaxed setting that encourages sharing stories. Researchers noticed higher cooperation among groups with strong storytelling traditions, and the storytellers themselves were also more respected and even got better access to food and resources. Wow. So what you're saying is, is that fire wasn't just for cooking food. No, but it was for cooking culture. It was, you're so good. Um. Three. Can I get on number three? This one's obvious. Storytelling changes our behavior and consumption choices. You were just talking about this. Marketing and public health campaigns that use storytelling instead of facts. Think Nike, apple, Coca-Cola, Disney, right. Are more likely to change beliefs and habits 'cause they connect emotionally with people faster than their competitor companies do. Like Intel or Toyota or Bose or any of those guys. Right? 'cause they're like more traditional and they don't do it the same way. They take over your brain. I they do. I know you're having a minute with that, but it's still cool. Let's be honest. They figured it out. You're just pissed. They figured it out. I Maybe they don't have to take over your brain. No. It's like when do, you're letting them take over. You're letting them take over when you use the good for the bad. Oh my god. 1984, George Orwell. Okay, number four. Uh, number four. Here we go. In the old days, stories traveled faster than tech. Like way before the internet, oral traditions allowed cultures to pass down information. Amanda, for literally thousands and thousands of years without a single written word, the perfect game of telephone. You know, a game of telephone you kids play at telephone, right? Never screwed it up. Always got the story right. Some Australian Aboriginal stories. Are estimated to be tens of thousands Oh. Of years old. Like think about that. And they, they didn't get the story wrong. Generation after generation, they still have it. Right? Yeah. Which is amazing. Interesting. Right? I think that's totally cool. Okay. And finally. The longest story ever told that we have on record is something called the Mahata from Ancient India. I think Amanda, that was in one of our other episodes that we had. It's an epic poem like The Iliad or Odyssey, with over 1.8 million words. Just for some context, that's 10 times longer than the length of the Bible. It's crazy. Super fun. Fact to finish this whole thing off, the shortest story ever told was famously attributed to Hemingway, and it was just six words for sale. Baby shoes never worn, huh? How's that for storytelling? I mean, that's quite the trivia right there, right? It is. It's one of the wildest, like six words, one of the greatest stories ever told. Brings up so much emotion. That's insane words. They have power. They do a lot of them clearly. Right. Speaking of having a lot of words, yes. Why don't you boil it down for us? Totally. A few. Oh, I'm gonna boil this down. Do things that we need to remember so the next time we're sitting on a plane next to somebody we know how to tell a good story. That's what I'm gonna do. Okay. That's what I do every time. Okay. But I gotta give you a little bit of, but make it interesting. But I gotta give you a little bit of where else to go if you cared more about this episode first and then I'll sum Okay. Have you ever heard of Masterclass? Yeah. You've done Master I, have a subscription to Masterclass. It's great. So they have a masterclass called The Power of Storytelling narrated by LaVar Burton. And it's actually amazing and it's where I picked up a lot of this stuff for this episode. Oh, very cool. So people get a subscription to Masterclass. It's cool. Uh, I would totally do it. Um. Or try something called Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It's more of a modern take on why some stories and ideas stick, and stay with us and others. Um, like your stories. You wanna add that one to Libby? Not so much. Yeah. Good idea. Wow. Right. Wow. Spoiler alert. Uh, you need more emotion in your stories. Wow. Okay. Uh, or you could binge watch a little tv. Watch Pixar's Storytelling Rules. It's a series on YouTube, and it totally talks about how to tell a Disney story, which I think is. Excellent. Let's go Pixar in your little lamp that makes you cry all the time. Okay. Or even simpler. Let's just do a little homework this week. I'm, um, we're gonna have a little, we're gonna do a little existential like work here. Okay. We're, we're gonna get thoughtful. Okay. Okay. Just ask a family member to tell you their favorite childhood story that they can remember. Okay. That's it. That's it. Just do that. Yes. Okay. You'll get a free history lesson. Okay. You'll get a good connection with somebody. You'll probably get a laugh or two along the way, Amanda. Isn't that really what this is all about anyway? Just like ask someone to tell you a story I'm gonna go home and ask my mother-in-law to tell me a story. Okay? That's what I'm gonna do, and I'm gonna see what I get. We'll come back next week and talk about it so we don't lose this tradition. Alright? Okay. And then finally, remember these relevant details to seem sort of sophisticated, so you're on the airplane and you're ready to go. Storytelling is way older than writing humans. Were telling stories around campfires, tens of thousands, maybe a hundred thousand years ago, way before writing in books ever existed. Number two stories. Light up your whole brain facts. Hit your language centers, but stories activate sensory, emotional, and memory regions. Making them stick. Making 'em stick. Number three, stories shape culture and power from myths and religion to political propaganda and brand marketing. Storytelling literally builds society and influences your beliefs. Number four, good storytelling as a formula. Here it is. Hook your audience. Raise the stakes, make them feel something. Wrap it up before it drags. Ladies sitting in 10 C. And finally, humans are simply wired for stories. Every culture tells them our memories are stored as narratives and cliffhangers are basically a dopamine hack. So next time you're binging Netflix, it's not your fault, Amanda. It's just science. You're allowed to binge Netflix and that, dear listeners, is a wrap on our deep dive into the power of storytelling. Proof that humans have been dramatic way longer than TikTok has been around if we did our job today. You're leaving a little more curious and maybe ready to casually drop a fact about Ulai cave art. Or Y Pixar makes you cry at your next dinner party. If this episode added a little narrative flare to your brain, hit subscribe. Leave us a review, or just enjoy feeling smarter than you did. Uh, what, 30. 50 minutes ago, whatever it is, you are welcome. Or just leave us a review people and tell us your favorite story from history, your family, even when you made up. I don't even care. We love hearing stories. Just please keep them short. 'cause I have a DHD, I can't handle this and Amanda has it worse than I do. Keep the stories short and subscribe. It's true. Until next time, stay curious, stay creative, and remember every great story starts with someone brave enough to tell it.
