Why Human Beings Tell Stories

(What story to you need to tell — and to whom?)

Mention the word “storytelling” to most people and they will immediately think fairy tale, CNN spin doctor, or teenager explaining why they haven’t done their homework. Good for entertainment and distraction, perhaps, but not much more. Guess what? Not true. Storytelling is the most powerful communication tool the human race has ever conceived. Why? Because it delivers the goods in at least nine different ways:

1. TO DISCOVER WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW: I don’t know what your nationality is. Nor do I know what your religion, philosophy, or IQ is. But there is one thing I do know: You are a human being — a member of a species known as “homo sapiens” — a Latin phrase that translates as “the wise ones”.

A quick glance at the evening news is likely to reveal otherwise, of course, but if you a dig deeper, you cannot help but notice that our species has learned a thing or two along the way. And not just how to use our opposable thumbs, make fire, and open 25,000 Starbucks. Like how to be compassionate, for example. Like how to be grateful. Like how to be of service to others — all aspects of what it means to “know thyself.”

All of us have had at least one “know thyself” moment. For some of us, this moment may have been sparked by the birth of a…