One of the best TED talks ever. SJ is not only one to talk about the power of storytelling. She's witnessed it first hand in the lives of her students who, inspired by the rich traditions of literature and history, are able to think more closely about their education as something beyond just job-training, but as a broadening of one's mind toward a life of virtue and community service. She's helping to raise up great storytellers in the realms of art, academics, and business. Keep up the awesomeness, SJ!
If you don't create an emotional connection with the audience first and foremost, the audience won't care about the facts. Emotions are critical in great stories. Like she says, stories that answer “why,” and that tell your audience who you are and what you care about are more powerful and meaningful. As far as marketing, companies need to shift the discussion from what they do to a discussion of who they are. It’s no longer about products and services offered; it’s about embodying a purpose that is much larger than the company. A timely and very important talk, SJ Murray!
SJ is an amazing professor and person. She continues to inspire. My mom watched this video with me, and when it finished, she asked me, "Is she always this put-together and well-spoken?" Truly, she is, and she is a delight to have as a professor.
Absolutely love this talk! So inspiring to remember the power of stories, not only in how the affect us, but in how we can affect the world with our stories.
The way this lady loves her students and her craft shifted the direction of my life. She is one of the reasons I'm doing what I do now. Sic Em, Dr. Murray!
An extremely insightful and effective introduction to how narrative works. This stuff is so incredibly important! Both on micro and macro levels. The stories we internalized (especially when young) on an individual level shape us people, and the stories we and societies shape us as nations and communities. By learning to understand how story works, we can evaluate what stories we have internalized and ask how they effect our interactions. We can also ask why we believe what we do and and what lessons are worth passing on to future generations as the stories that they will internalize.
This definitely made me want to hear more from her. Sad I never got to take her class at Baylor. She has a beautiful speaking voice and story-telling spirit.
She spins a good yarn herself! The talk has some fascinating ideas about how stories affect us and our brains. Inspiration for writers and for readers. Storytelling is one of the things that connects us as human beings. We love to hear great stories, and we love to tell them to others.
Glad to have discovered this (through Twitter connection to elizabeth rynecki ) I've given this same lecture to many aspiring authors yet never this well. Thanks for the hat tip to Aristotle, especially. Brilliant.
Amazing. Would love to hear more about how to use the power of story for good and how we are unaware of how so many use it to promote their own agenda!
The biological perspective is fascinating. In light of its physiological effects, storytelling is so much more than sharing words-- it's the sharing of life itself.
That was a very interesting talk. And I love the blend of Irish and American accents. I challenged myself to write a children's book, just for the very young ones. My sister doesn't think I can do it well but I think I can. I know I can at least do better than the lazy efforts that seem to be so easy to find on the bookshelves. I've even stopped reading halfway through and told my niece to pick out a better story from the pile. I'm curious about the whole 3-act thing. I've often wished that Hollywood wasn't so obsessed with each character following an arc through the story which always seems to be a 3-act bit. I guess you've helped me see why they do that, a bit like why music is arranged the way it is in the Western tradition.
You could increase the neural coupling:... and then, it happened: One night, Slatterywoke up. The door wasn't closed! And Slattery runs off, heads to the fence, jumps and ... crashes right into it. Well, it is difficult for a poodle, to jump with only three legs. Yes, Slattery had only three legs, and that is why he was never trained to circle the cows.The fence broke. Slattery barked, and the inhabitants of the house woke up. And the burglars, who opened the door in the first place, ran off with unfinished bsuiness.Slattery never undestood the fact, that all the caring and fondling was because of chasing away the thiefs.He always thought, that he was the best sheep-dog ever.
