Believe Me: A Storytelling Manifesto for Change-Makers and Innovators by Michael Margolis

Author:Michael Margolis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2014-03-22T14:00:00+00:00

—ANNETTE SIMMONS

Author, The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling

18

DISBELIEF

The power of your story grows exponentially as more and more people accept your story as their truth.

After being told so many tall tales and empty promises, from politicians to marketers, it’s easy to feel suspicious. People need a good reason to believe. They must selfidentify within your story before they can commit to fulfilling its promise.

Stories reflect collective agreements about reality.

A story feeds on belief. The more deeply and widely it’s believed, the more it becomes true. This could be belief in a specific God, or recognition that cigarettes kill. It was once believed the sun revolved around the earth, and slavery was the accepted norm. What’s a widely held belief you need to confront?

Only when people can locate themselves inside the story will they truly belong and participate in your narrative.

This is why the global warming movement struggles to make greater impact. Granted, its now generally accepted as fact. But what is the average citizen doing about the issue? How are major nations really committing to solving the crisis?

While we can all intellectualize the problem, most of us have yet to experience a dramatic and direct consequence of the problem. Self-interest continues to trump collective action. “The Inconvenient Truth” tries to guilt and scare us into action. Instead, we find ourselves scared, depressed, and powerless. A new story approach is required.

?

Choose a story angle that helps people get inspired and internalize the truth. Why have people given up hope?

What can people agree on despite the differences? 19

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.