Strategic storytelling has been enlisted to change attitudes and behaviors. Forges emotional connection as is done by IO in rapport making , GTO in standard briefing and Psychologist also by standard briefing Successfully convincing IO/GTO/Psych like famous Lawyer Moe Levine who often used the “whole man” theory to successfully influence juries to empathize with his clients. Olympians prepare mentally for their performance so can a candidate for SSB Change in thoughts or emotions will have a corresponding effect on the individual's physiology , The ability to self-regulate in a desired direction is a critical skill

1. By
Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd)
Based on Havard Research paper probably
pub in Jan2015
STOREY TELLING:A way to
improve personality

2. Thematic Apperception test
&Interview
 Team of Coach(Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd) & CMDE C S AZAD) ) are
involved in personality development, coaching and preparing basically
Sainik School Students and others to face Services Selection Boards
for selection as an Officers in Indian Armed Forces besides undertaking
School Psychology classes at all level)
 In our attempt and learning from our interaction we have published book
“Decoding Services Selection Board-Career In Armed Forces As an
Officer”
 The book is available on request costing Rs 350 plus Speed post
charge(Contact muktesh_prasad@yahoo.co.in and Mob/WhatsApp -
9007224278)
 In our Endeavour to teach Personality Theory we relied heavily on Story
telling in our book
 Cliff Young -Hero of Sydney to Melbourne race
 Rattan Tata
 Story of Eagles
 Story of Dinosaurs and cockroach
 Story of Geese
 Lord Ganesha
 Besides many folk tales for
 Besides quoting extensively from our personal experience

3. Thematic Apperception test
&Interview
 Inference on interaction and assessing Dossiers of over 1000 students and
corresponding interview by CMDE Azad our observations are
 TAT
 If Students is confident of himself and his personality he has the tendency to
write good story with fair complexity ,flow ,adequate details and positive
happy ending with in specified time consistently for 12 stories with low
fluctuation .
 This in turn demonstrated most of personality traits required to be tested to
be an officer in Indian Armed Forces.
 Indicating release of “Oxytocin “
 Happy ending indicated release of “Dopamine”, because the tendency to
write consistently good story increased and persisted and was indicated by
good story written later part of test.
 This was at unconscious level
 WAT
 Same trend continued with WAT test where in one good sentence written
opened up door for writing good observational sentences for most of 60
sentences written under time pressure of 15 minutes with 15 seconds for
each sentence. That too fairly good complex sentence.
 This was at sub conscious level
 SRT
 Same can be said with fair certainty at conscious level while writing 60 SRTs
in ½ hour

4. Thematic Apperception test &Interview
 On the contrary candidate with fickle and fragile personality
did show mental block , lack of imagination with low
level ideas indicating release of cortisol
 Their performance remained much below expectations
 Real time assessment and 360 degree input generally
confirms not so good personality with many fractures and
gaps
 Cortisol release probably may have been because they
had many things to hide which restricted their
imagination and thinking ability.

5. Performance in Interview
 Similar to TAT/WAT/SRT a candidate performs very well in
Interview if he has had fair amount of credential and
past performance to show and talk about which may
be academic , sports or other co curricular activity
 He will be brimming with confidence if he has had fairly
good interpersonal relationship with friends, peer and
parents
 This also implies good character and personality with
adequate positive experience of environment
 As a result he is at ease to answer all questions, he is
attentive indicating release of “Oxytocin”
 Reverse indicate nervous and inappropriate answers
indicating release of Cortisol

6. Performance in GTO task
 As in Psychology and Interview same thing
happens in GTO tasks
 If he finds himself better than his competitors in
the group his confidence swells and he starts
performing better indicating release of oxytocin
and cortisol otherwise .This continues in all tasks

7. Is SSB a mere story telling
 In strict sense complete SSB testing is story telling as
performance is based on past events , past knowledge
and experience
 It is story because the way you narrate story with ample
imagination and application decides success
 You will write good story if and only if your acquired
personality is right
 Performance all technique also depends on how well
have you learnt from past experience . Were you open to
experience as we say in BIG FIVE (OCEAN) of
personality development or not ? Did you develop right
or adequate coping mechanism (Like defense
Mechanism acquired and used ) or not?
 You will talk about your past to IO if and only if you have
had good performance to talk

8. Advantage of story telling
 Strategic storytelling has been enlisted to change
attitudes and behaviors.
 Forges emotional connection as is done by IO in
rapport making , GTO in standard briefing and
Psychologist also by standard briefing
 Successfully convincing IO/GTO/Psych like famous
Lawyer Moe Levine who often used the “whole man”
theory to successfully influence juries to empathize
with his clients.
 Olympians prepare mentally for their performance so
can a candidate for SSB
 Change in thoughts or emotions will have a
corresponding effect on the individual's physiology ,

9. Imposter Syndrome and Cognitive
Distortion
 Impostor Syndrome is a pervasive feeling of self-doubt,
insecurity, or fraudulence despite often overwhelming evidence to the
contrary. Or
 Impostor syndrome refers to an internal experience of believing that
you are not as competent as others perceive you to be.
 It strikes smart, successful individuals.
 It often rears its head after an especially notable accomplishment, like admission to
a prestigious university, public acclaim, winning an award, or earning a promotion.
 This definition is usually
 Narrowly applied to intelligence and achievement
 Has links to perfectionism and the social context.
 The Imposter Syndrome may leads to Cognitive distortion as under
 1.ALL OR NOTHING THINKING
 2.OVERGENERALIZATION
 3.MENTAL FILTER
 4.DISQUALIFYING THE POSITIVE
 5.JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
 6.MAGNIFICATION OR MINIMIZATION
 7.EMOTIONAL REASONING
 8.SHOULD STATEMENTS
 9.LABELING

10.  Imposter Syndrome and cognitive distortion can
certainly be improved by Story telling as Jamvant
had told story to Hanuman before Hanuman
could recognise his own strength.
 This in itself is a classical example of Imposter
syndrome and resulting in cognitive distortion
 Large no of candidates have enough potential to
pass and walk through SSB on their own merit
but bug of Imposter Syndrome makes them under
confident .Hence story of Jamvant and Hanuman
and other such story may help them to do well in
life

11. Freytag’s Pyramid(For Story Telling) — a dramatic
structure that can be traced back to Aristotle — were the most
popular.

12. Pysch GTO IO
Exposition
(Inciting
moment)
Complication
(Rising action)
Climax (Turning
point)
Reversal (Falling
action)
Denoument
(Moment of
release)

13. Introduction
 Storytelling may seem like an old-fashioned tool,
today — and it is.
 That’s exactly what makes it so powerful.
 Life happens in the narratives we tell one another.
 A story can go where quantitative analysis is
denied admission: our hearts.
 Data can persuade people, but it doesn’t inspire
them to act; to do that, you need to wrap your vision
in a story that fires the imagination and stirs the
soul.
 It has physiological and psychological effect

14. Introduction
 We humans have been communicating through stories for upwards of
20,000 years, back when our flat screens were cave walls.
 A more complete story using Freytag’s Pyramid — a dramatic
structure can be traced back to Aristotle — were the most popular.
 Shakespeare had mastered this structure, arranging his plays in five
acts to include an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action,
and a dénouement—or final outcome.
 Storytelling evokes a strong neurological response. Neuroeconomist
Paul Zak‘s research indicates that our brains produce
 The stress hormone cortisol during the tense moments in a story, which
allows us to focus,
 While the cute factor of the story releases oxytocin, the feel-good
chemical that promotes connection and empathy.
 Other neurological research tells us that a happy ending to a story triggers
the limbic system, our brain’s reward center, to release dopamine which
makes us feel more hopeful and optimistic.
 In one experiment after participants watched an emotionally charged
movie about a father and son, study participants were asked to
donate money to a stranger.
 With both oxytocin and cortisol in play, those who had the higher
amounts of oxytocin were much more likely to give money to

15. Implication
 The implications for advertisers, who’d also like to part people from their
money, are clear.
 But advertisers aren’t the only ones tapping into the trust-inducing power of
storytelling.
 Strategic storytelling has also been enlisted to change attitudes and
behaviors.
 Two studies from the health care industry show its power: Penn State
College of Medicine researchers found that medical students ‘ attitudes
about dementia patients, who are perceived as difficult to treat,
improved substantially after students participated in storytelling
exercises that made them more sympathetic to their patients’
conditions.
 And a University of Massachusetts Medical School study found that a
storytelling approach has also been effective in convincing
populations at risk for hypertension to change their behavior and
reduce their blood pressure.
 The most successful storytellers often focus listeners’ minds on a
single important idea and they take no longer than a 30-second to

16. Implication : Used to empathize by Lawyer
 Widely recognized as the leading trial lawyer of his time, Moe Levine often
used the “whole man” theory to successfully influence juries to empathize
with his clients.
 Seeking compensation for a client who had lost both arms in an accident,
Levine surprised the court and jury, who were accustomed to long closing
arguments, by painting a brief and emotionally devastating picture instead
like
 ”As you know, about an hour ago we broke for lunch. I saw the bailiff
come and take you all as a group to have lunch in the jury room. Then I
saw the defense attorney, Mr. Horowitz. He and his client decided to go
to lunch together. The judge and court clerk went to lunch. So, I turned
to my client, Harold, and said “Why don’t you and I go to lunch
together?” We went across the street to that little restaurant and had
lunch. (Significant pause.) Ladies and gentlemen, I just had lunch with
my client. He has no arms. He has to eat like a dog. Thank you very
much.”
 Levine reportedly won one of the largest settlements in the history of the
state of New York.

17. Implication : Physiological response study of astronauts at zero
gravity
 This research was given a boost when, with funding from the U.S. Department of
Defense to measure oxytocin release noninvasively at up to one thousand times per
second.
 For decades, NASA has been studying astronaut’s physiological responses to zero
gravity, to living in outer space and to staying in a space vehicles and space
stations for extended periods of time.
 NASA recently conducted under water research since the environment provides
some useful similarities to working in space.
 The device is a wearable outfit that records multiple physiological measurements
simultaneously.
 The technology is ultra miniaturized, using a standard FlexComp Infiniti™
physiological encoder, storing the data using flash memory cards.
 Olympians prepare mentally for their performance:
Winning Performance - Using biofeedback for sport psychology and better athletic
training .
 A mental performance consultant witnessed firsthand the evolution of sport
psychology services through working with various athletic teams and organizations
including the Canadian Olympic Association, the Aerial and Mogul Ski Teams in the
Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Games, Speed Skating and Ski-Cross Canada in
preparation for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, and most recently with Para-

18. Implication : Physiological response study of astronauts at zero
gravity
 Olympians prepare mentally for their performance: …..
 Consequently, he had the opportunity to familiarize Olympic athletes with a range
of sport psychology programs, and specifically, to introduce biofeedback training
that facilitates the self-regulation and mindfulness of athletes that ultimately
allows them to perform on demand and under pressure.
 He is convinced about application of field of applied psychophysiology to the
greater sports medicine community, as an example.
 Enhancing Mindfulness
 The rationale for biofeedback interventions in the athletic population is based
on the psycho-physiological principle that states that every physiological
change is accompanied by a corresponding change in the
mental and emotional state. Conversely, the opposite is also true-
change in thoughts or emotions will have a corresponding effect on the
individual's physiology.
 1.Consequently, biofeedback can be a powerful tool for self-regulation and for
enhancing mindfulness among athletes to better manage stress and pressure
in preparation for sport performance.
 2. Olympic athletes, in particular, do not receive second chances; therefore,
the ability to self-regulate in a desired direction is a critical skill