This episode is an introduction to stories and metaphors. The more you explore the idea of using stories, analogies, anecdotes, and metaphors in the way you communicate the more you will understand just how deep a subject this really is.
There are many reasons to use storytelling. People find that stories are more memorable than cold hard information. This makes storytelling useful in the business world too. You can make a sales pitch or a presentation more memorable by incorporating elements of storytelling. It is also useful in a leadership setting. Here you can inspire people by engaging them with stories. One of the ways that children learn about the world and what strategies to use in it is through stories. And much of our religious or spiritual understanding is conveyed through stories too. We also make up narratives about who we are and how the world works and carry these with us in our consciousness as we navigate our way through life. And of course, our novels, plays, and films are all stories too.
During this episode I will introduce the idea of the Hero’s Journey, which was originally codified by Joseph Campbell in his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell explored ancient myths and stories and identified a common theme running through them. This Hero’s Journey is a human archetype. Hitting the beats of this in a story makes the story more appealing, because it is an archetype that at the very least resonates with our unconscious. I will also explore how our unconscious mind likes to find connections between the characters and events in a story and relate that to our own lives. This is the basic structure of a metaphor.
Explore this episode for yourself and discover more about your own story.
“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when live seems most challenging.” Joseph Campbell
