"Storytelling is probably the best method for communicating important - sometimes complex - concepts in a simple and memorable way. Regardless of the age of the audience or the discipline being taught, a well-told story trumps a Power Point presentation anytime." Neili Langer, "The power of storytelling and the preservation of memories"
I clearly remember a professional conference presentation I attended many years ago.
While I don’t remember the name of the speaker, I do remember that he was an expert in memorization techniques. All these years later I still think of his presentation and how he engaged the audience in challenging us to write down the planets in our solar system in order of distance from the sun.
Not easy, right?
The correct order is: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune.
To help us remember this, he asked us to close our eyes and visualize a STORY which went something like this…
“I was in my kitchen one day and the Sun was beaming in through the window.
Suddenly a huge shiny blob of liquid metal crashed through my ceiling and landed on the floor. It looked like Mercury as it spread across the floor in a shiny metal pool. After a few seconds, the metallic substance started to gather itself together, growing into a human female form, tall and beautiful.
When it was fully formed, she spoke in a beautiful multi-toned voice and said “I am the Goddess Venus., come to Earth to restore love to all people. Enough of Elon Musk’s nonsense about moving to Mars. Humans must restore this planet.”
“By Jupiter!” I said. “You’re right… and Saturn is way too far away. It does have cool rings though!” She turned to leave but I noticed her godly dress had been torn, probably from her battle in the supernatural realm. Beneath I could see the entire solar system swirling and orbiting. It was mesmerizing.
“Um, excuse me goddess, you should probably know that your dress is ripped and I can see all the planets, all the way to Uranus.” I couldn’t stop myself from falling on the floor giggling…
“Ugh, humans!” she sneered. “That’s so childish and not funny! Well, if humans continue to poison this planet and can’t live on land, they should choose to live under the sea, like Neptune.”
And then she pointed at me and turned me into a cupid.
Hopefully you didn’t mind my risqué little story – but isn’t that how everyone remembers Uranus, or is it just my childish brain or my off-color South African sense of humor?
The point that the presenter was making is very well-recognized and accepted: Storytelling is powerful and Stories and visualization help us remember complex details. He added that the more ludicrous the story and the events around key words, the easier it is to remember.
At ProDio we know that this translates to professional learning as well. Whether it’s bullet-point lists, onboarding information, compliance or safety checklists, audio stories are guaranteed to make the learning more memorable and also more enjoyable and engaging.
Also, neuroscience evidence shows that listening to stories, imagining, visualizing and memorizing increases brain health, specifically the brain's capacity for critical thinking and creativity.
Did you know:
Since 2017, ProDio has created StoryStyle™ learning for over 13 professional associations, including an accounting ethics series for the International Federation of Accountants.
ProDio has five StoryStyle™ courses on LinkedIn Learning, with over 60,000 learners.
ProDio courses include complex topics like privacy, ethics, safety, compliance, change management, digital transformation, emotional intelligence, conflicts of interest, intercultural leadership and public sector documentation.
Our Free Offers:
1. We’ll write your first module for free: We get it! We're a new concept and you may be wondering "how can audio-only work for my content?" We've taken on some tough content and converted it to StoryStyle™ with engaging stories, scenarios and expert voices. Send us your outdated or stale content that you want to update and we'll write the first module for you at no cost or obligation.
2. Pilot a free course for up to 10 employees
You may not be sure how your team will accept this new form of learning - will they love it?
After over 3,000 evaluations, we're confident that employees will love our learning content, so we'll provide access for up to 10 employees to try out our course "Leading through Influence" at no cost or obligation. This offer is available for employers with over 200 employees.
3. Future-ready learning scorecard
The learning environment has been changing rapidly since 2020 when Covid brought about an accelerated move to digital learning - but the foundational principles of learning are still the same. Take our Future-Ready Learning Scorecard to assess your learning program in five key areas: Engagement, Completion, Flexibility, Retention and Evaluation.
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