The document summarizes a 2009 study that found readers experience stories neurologically in a similar way to how the characters experience events in the narrative. When components of a story like time, cause, subject, space, and objects change, they initiate neural reactions as if experiencing the events firsthand. Hearing stories leaves a neurological impact on listeners and using testimonials and stories of transformation in presentations can help audiences experience the key components the storyteller wants them to feel.

1. How Your Brain Hears A Story
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2. The study
• 2009 – Association of Psychological Science

3. Components of a story
• Time
• References to temporal information
• “immediately”
• Cause
• Initiations of new causal chains
• When something that happened was not caused by something described
previously
• Subject
• When the subject of the text changes (character changes)

4. Components of a story, cont’d
• Space
• Changes in the character’s spatial location
• E.g. moving from one room to another
• Objects
• Changes in characters’ interactions with objects
• E.g. picking something up or putting something down
• Goal
• When a character initiates a new goal

5. The Story
• Taken from the book One Boy’s Day
• Described the everyday activities of Raymond, a 7-year-old boy.
• Getting up and eating breakfast
• Playing with his friends
• Performing an English lesson in school
• Participating in a music lesson

6. The Findings
• Each component of the story initiated a neural reaction of the
same nature as the physical manifestation of whatever action or
concept presented in the narrative.
• In other words, the readers experienced the characters’ feelings and actions
in much the same way as they would if they were the character themselves.

7. The Findings, cont’d

8. What does this mean?
• Your stories are more powerful than you think
• What you say–the stories you share–will leave a neurological impact on the
person you’re speaking with
• Use the following:
• Testimonials from patients themselves
• Testimonials from your own work and life
• Stories of transformation, birth, loss, epiphanies, etc.
• Focus on the strongest story components that you’d like your audience to
experience
• Time
• Objects
• Goal
• Space

9. What I look forward to learning…
• Correlations with story components and mental states (i.e.
happiness, sadness, excitement)
• How word choice within one particular story component affects
the strength of the neurological reaction
• How long the effects of experiencing a story last

10. Questions/Comments
• Email us at bizpros@synduit.com
• Send in any ideas for topics!