The Science of Story
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•99 views
When you go home at the end of a busy day at work, and your partner asks how your day was, do you talk about the percentage increase in your productivity, or how many emails you sent and received? No, you tell a story. You might talk about the amazing conversation you had with someone over lunch, or give an update on your coworker who is having some health issues. Why are stories so powerful? What is it about the human brain and how it works that makes a story so critical to successful fundraising? In this keynote, Leah digs into the brains of our donors, and shares research and insights into the role of narrative in guiding donor behavior. Using everything learned throughout the day, Leah then conducted a live (and authentic) story-gathering interview and, together, the audience created a fundraising appeal for one lucky organization in the room. Keynote address, and live story gathering, at the AFP Westchester NY Chapter National Philanthropy Day conference on November 13, 2018
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to The Science of Story
Similar to The Science of Story (18)
More from Blue Canoe Philanthropy
More from Blue Canoe Philanthropy (11)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
The Science of Story
- 1. The Science of Story Leah Eustace, ACFRE Blue Canoe Philanthropy @LeahEustace www.yourbluecanoe.ca
- 6. Maybe that isn’t exactly what’s going on
- 12. How did you view the video differently now that you know the story?
- 14. Our brains are helpless against the gravitational pull of a good story. Why?
- 16. The average daydream is 14 seconds long and we have 2,000 of them every day
- 17. Neural Story Net (NSN) Your NSN is the part of your brain that holds the task of initially making sense out of this stream of incoming visual and auditory information. ~ K. Haven, Story Proof
- 18. The NSN lies between your sensory organs (eyes and ears) and your conscious mind
- 19. Nothing reaches your conscious mind before being massaged into story shape by your NSN
- 20. What reaches your conscious mind is always your own story-based interpretation of what your sensory organs actually recorded.
- 21. When you talk, the story donors see and hear in their conscious minds is not the story you said! Their conscious minds hear the story their NSN created based on the story you actually provided.
- 22. The Story of One
- 23. The Syrian Civil War
- 26. Give $100,000 to fight a disease claiming 20,000 lives and save 10,000. or Give $100,000 to fight a disease claiming 290,000 lives and save 20,000.
- 27. Stats detract
- 28. Instinct rules. Emotions come second. Thinking comes third.
- 29. There’s a direct correlation between the strength of the ending emotional state of the audience and the magnitude of the influence that story can carry.
- 32. During the interview… • Listen and take notes • What’s the story? • Where are the emotional touch-points? • Where do we hear the passion for the cause? • What’s the urgency? • Who is our main character? • What conflict does that person face? • What role does the Center play in offering solutions? • What does the donor-sized hole look like? • How do we make the story relatable?
- 35. • What stood out for you during the interview? • How would you weave Emily’s story into the appeal? • How do we make Emily relatable? • What is the obstacle that Emily faced and overcame? • What are some unique details that can better illustrate the obstacles Emily faced? • What does the Center do to alleviate the obstacle? • How can donors help ‘fix’ the problem? • How do we adjust the letter for prospects? • What’s the call to action?
Editor's Notes
- NO Sound
- NO Sound
- Stories are what makes us human
- Humans have told, used and relied on stories for 100,000 years Written communication only began 6000 years ago Western cultures began, en masse, to read and write only a few hundred years ago Oral stories have been dominant throughout history Every culture in the history of the world has created stories: myths, fables, legends, folk tales Not all have developed laws, or logical arguments Not all have written language
- Stories dominate human life We spend half our waking hours – one third of our lives on earth – spinning fantasy stories
- The Syrian Civil War, also known as the Syrian Uprising, is an ongoing armed conflict taking place in Syria. The unrest began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of Arab Spring protests, with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The conflict gradually morphed from popular protests to an armed rebellion after months of military sieges. As of April 2014 the death toll had risen above 190,000. International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL and other opposition forces of severe human rights violations, with many massacres occurring Chemical weapons have been used many times during the conflict as well. The Syrian government is reportedly responsible for the majority of civilian casualties, often through bombings In addition, tens of thousands of protesters and activists have been imprisoned and there are reports of torture in state prisons The severity of the humanitarian disaster in Syria has been outlined by the UN and many international organizations. More than 6.5 million Syrians have been displaced, more than 3 million Syrians have fled the country and become refugees, and millions more have been left in poor living conditions with shortages of food and drinking water. Yet, it’s barely mentioned in the news. Charities who work in the area of international development, have trouble raising money to help the people of Syria. Why is this?
- But then came Alan Kurdi
- In another experiment, people in one group could donate to a $300,000 fund for medical treatments that would save the life of one child – or, in another group, the lives of 8 children. People donated more than twice as much money to help save one child as to help save 8. And there’s more…
- Today neuroscientists like Gerald Zaltman are proving that giving is not a rational choice 95 per cent of human thought and emotion happens without our conscious awareness. Here’s more proof? Paul Slovic ran another test offering people the following choice: Give $10 million to fight a disease claiming 20,000 lives and save 10,000. Give $10 million to fight a disease claiming 290,000 lives and save 20,000. The first option won! Devon being a preemie?
- Fight or flight