TELL A COMPELLING STORY

Speaking Is a Transference of Emotion

Why do audiences like stories so much? Because stories help them put the point of the lesson into context, but also add an emotional element to what could be a dry subject.

In addition, our brains are wired to remember emotionally charged events. As we become emotionally involved in a story, our entire being changes at the physical level.

In her book, Molecules of Emotion, Candice Pert explains exactly how our emotions physically affect our body, changing the way we behave at the cellular level. Her work shows there are actual physical molecules associated with the emotions we feel, and these molecules bind with receptors on our cells and alter the way our cells behave.

Dr. Bruce Lipton, an internationally celebrated cell biologist, explains in his book, The Biology of Belief, precisely how the cells altered by an emotional process affect us at the molecular level. Each molecule has a positive or negative charge, and when they bind with receptor proteins on the walls of our cells, those positive or negative charges cause the proteins in our cells to change their shape, resulting in physical changes in the body.

As a speaker, transferring information only engages the intellect of your audience, but adding an emotionally charged event to your talk brings your audience out of their intellect and into their emotion. That’s where real learning is done and that’s where real change happens.

So, what’s the lesson? Use emotion to help your audience remember you and your point.