Why Stories are Important & Why You Should Tell Them
Coming from a technical field, I didn’t respect stories too much.
I thought it was an unneeded skill that would waste my time.
What am I…4 years old?
As a few years went by, I realized I was wrong.
Dead wrong.
The reason storytelling is needed in technical fields the most is because technical fields have difficult concepts to grasp.
Concepts that can be made understandable through storytelling.
In technical fields, people often talk like robots.
Using too many numbers, formulas, and lifeless charts.
For what?
You are speaking to humans, not machines.
As more real-world experience kicked in, I realized why stories are important.
This blog is going to break down why stories are important and how you can see value in them as well.
What Are Stories?
Stories are a connection of ideas.
That’s all you need to know.
This whole world is a connection of ideas.
When you learn a field in-depth, you’ll realize it’s one idea stacked upon another idea.
One example is ‘business.’
To an outsider, when you tell them to picture a ‘business.’
- They mentally create a building with a lot of employees in it.
But an actual business owner views business as a series of concepts.
It’s not really a thing.
- It’s a series of steps and processes designed to give someone value.
Same with the internet.
Can you hold the internet?
Taste it?
Touch it?
Smell it?
Nah…
It’s just a series of concepts and protocols.
Everything in the world is a series of ideas.
The deeper you go into a field, the more you’ll see stories showing its face.
Why Stories Are Important for Communication
If you are in a field that requires you to talk to humans, then storytelling is important.
All fields require you to talk to humans.
The average person has a monkey mind.
‘Hey, don’t call me a monkey!’
Chill out bud, it’s just a phrase.
Although you do kind of look like a monkey.
The monkey mind is the mind that hops from thought to thought.
One minute, it’s thinking about the Twin Towers.
The next minute, it’s thinking about a betrayal from 5 years ago.
Most people have a monkey mind.
Others are often not paying attention to you when you are speaking.
This may seem mean, but it has a splash of truth.
I mean a tsunami of truth.
When you see their poor concentration levels, it becomes easier to get to the point.
Not get to the point like a lifeless Google search.
But get to the point with enthusiasm, comedy & information.
What separates a story from information alone is that the story has personality.
‘Whose personality?
Your personality.
Telling Compelling Stories
To tell compelling stories, you need to see the PRACTICAL utility of stories.
If you don’t see it as a practical tool, then your mind is going to default to viewing stories as:
‘Things for little kids.’
To see the practical value, I want you to envision a painful moment.
More specifically, a painful moment of when someone had to explain an important topic to you but did an awful job.
A couple of years ago, I had no clue what a 401K was.
Anytime I’d look on Google, I’d be even more confused.
My intent was to get an intuitive feel for the topic.
Not a bunch of aimless definitions.
There was this kid named Justin who knew what a 401k was.
But he was awful at explaining things.
He’d give fragmented knowledge.
Aimlessly parrot percentages & formulas.
And gave 0 examples or analogies.
I left more confused than ever.
This was a real-world scenario where a story would have helped.
‘Helped how?’
Helped with saving time & seeing how I should go about handling a 401k.
Because it wasn’t only the 401k I didn’t know…
I also didn’t know the subsets of knowledge that came from knowing the 401k.
- Should I give more money to it?
- Is it a scam?
- Should I try another investment strategy?
I was a sitting duck blinded to this knowledge.
After that moment, I understood the practical utility of stories & explaining things in an understandable way.
You may have a 401k kind of knowledge.
There are 1000s of people who want to know what you know.
But they want to know it in a way where they understand, rather than leaving confused.
Telling More Stories & Explaining Things
This world is favoring those who can elegantly explain things.
Not explain it in a fragmented way.
But to explain it in a way that is clear, dazzling & sheds insight to a bigger picture.
Right now, people are confused.
There is so much content.
However, there is not enough context.
Context is king.
Content is prince.
Take that to the bank.
You may be someone who suffers from analysis paralysis.
That’s because you are solely a reductionist thinker.
Always breaking things apart.
While a storyteller is a systems thinker.
They see the bigger picture first and then break the small parts down.
To practice storytelling, tell & write more stories.
Turn complex topics into simplicity.
Pick 1 topic you know well that you want to demystify.
Then connect 1 idea after the next.
This is the dummy’s guide to practice basic storytelling.
By learning to tell stories, you understand why stories are important.
Learn the Art & Science of Storytelling
If you are curious to know more about storytelling, then be sure to check out my book:
This book will teach you how to:
- Tell better stories in social interactions.
- Build an immortal brand on stories.
- Command your team and audience.
- Explain topics with crystal clarity.
And much more!
Big picture thinkers are lacking in this world.
Therefore, the bigger that you think, the more valuable you become.
Level up your storytelling game and make an impact on others.
For more strategies on storytelling:
Get the Art & Science of Storytelling
– ArmaniTalks 
