Episode 9: Sensory Immersion: Making Your Audience See, Hear, and Feel Your Story

Well, welcome back or welcome for the first time to all of you storytelling mind movie makers. This is the show where we're going to study the science to the art form of storytelling. And why does that matter? Because we need to tell stories all the time, especially in business. But we also have personal stories that we've gathered along our lives, obviously.

Each format. It could be a client success story or it could be a personal story that you're telling about your own trials and tribulations that maybe someone that is going through a similar situation can feel like they're not alone.

So today's story that I'm going to share is going to help us study the power of senses. And I'm going to tell a story and then we're going to break it down. So this story is in my book, The Storytellers Mind Movie, and it's called Hand in Hand. OK, and it goes like this.

So it's 1994 and I am sitting at a luau in the big island on the big island of Hawaii and we have the most amazing tasting pork that's been roasting in the ground wrapped up in banana leaves, purple potatoes which I'd never experienced before, fresh salads and plenty of wine. And as I'm sitting there with my husband because this is our honeymoon and we're so excited because we're going to walk hand in hand through life.

Our table mates are named Jack and Sandy and they're kind of a fun playful couple and they announce that this is how they announce themselves. They're like, hi I'm Jack and I'm Sandy and we're here on our 30th wedding anniversary. Now that's great but we can't help but notice that Jack does not have a hand. I mean it's just chopped off, gone. And it's fine. It's just friendly banter. They tell us a little bit about the story and then we just move on. Lovely time.

But the next day I gotta have more of that pig. I mean, it's that good. And so now we have an entirely new group of people. And my husband turns to me and he goes, the guy does not have a hand. Like what? Are you, what, are you si-My gosh, he doesn't. my god, that's so weird. I mean, come on, that's weird. And spiritual things happen in three, so now I'm like looking around trying to see if there's anyone else without a hand, but no one. And again, pleasant conversation, and we move on. But we could never figure that out. Why were two people in a row on our honeymoon with only one hand?

Well, 20 years later our marriage has receded just like the waves crashing into the sands of those beaches. And I'm sitting on a bench with my husband and he says, so are we done? Yeah, we're done. And as we stand up, this woman who we don't know walks out of the public bathroom and she has one hand.

And as we stand up, we walk single-handedly towards divorce.

Okay, so now let's unpack.

That personal story. Okay, first off, that story could be very helpful if you have a friend who's going through divorce or if you have a sample of someone saying like, I had these weird things happen to me. That's definitely a weird story that I could pull out of my story like toolbox. So it's a story that I have told before and I've used it in performance level storytelling. It's even won awards, but whatever. That's not the only reason why I tell story.

So what I did though was I want to study what we did.

Okay, cut that last sentence.

Okay, so let's study now the elements of what happened with that story. So I used senses. So I started with some data. It's 1994 and I am sitting at a luau on the big island of Hawaii. Right there. There's the where.

Okay, now I then go into the food. You know that we're eating roasted pig that's been wrapped in banana leaves that has been roasting in the ground all day. All right. Now that's pork. Did you, when you were listening to it, smell it and taste it?

Then I explained the purple potatoes and I have an opinion about it because I've never seen them before. And if you've never had purple potatoes, you know, that's an unusual potato so that's kind of an interesting detail. And then fresh salads I kept general because you'll come up with your own salads in your mind. And then plenty of wine for us to sip and enjoy. Now, I didn't say it was Chardonnay, I didn't say it was Chablis, I didn't say it was red wine. I just said wine.

Because I know that the audience is enjoying their own glass of wine possibly as they are enjoying the luau and the tastes and flavors with me.

Then I added sound when I introduced Sandy and Jack and I used dialogue. I said, hi, I'm Jack and I'm Sandy and we're here on our 30th wedding anniversary. Gave them enthusiastic sounds so that you could picture them. I said 30th wedding anniversary. Again, that's another piece of data. So you could in your own imagination start to think, they must be a little bit older. They're probably, I guess in their 50s, maybe 60s. So you've created the characters in your head.

And then he doesn't have a hand right just chopped it off no big deal and it's just friendly banter so all of that like we just stop right there I have oxytocin actually running through your minds because I've used very clearly food and food creates smells and tastes all right and it's also a story a love story so that neurotransmitter's probably starting to flow through you and I'm pulling you in.

And then the story goes on with the next characters and how we're looking for the person to have another hand missing, you know, like we can't find it and it becomes a mystery.

So then I fast forward, I used time travel. I just simply said, 20 years later.

Our marriage has receded like the ocean waves hitting the shores of those beaches. Could you hear those beaches? Could you hear those waves hitting that beach? Many of you will probably say yes that you did.

Okay, now I've done a soft entry into a sound, right? Just by saying because we've all heard water hitting the shore. Most of us have probably seen oceans, okay? And that's a very distinct, very wonderful experience for most people. And so, but I'm using it in sad way.

Our marriage receded like the ocean waves hitting the shore. So you could see maybe the white foam and then it's coming back. That's what I'm intending in the imagination of the listener.

And then when we're in the park bench, I said, 20 years later, we've got that. And I've now moved us into a new scene. OK? I didn't talk about then we had kids and we went to school and blah, blah, blah. I didn't do any of that. I just cut it all out. And in the book, I call it weed whacking. And I brought us right to that park bench.

And Kenny and I, my husband, had to have that conversation. When the woman walks out of the public bathroom, so what did you see? Did you see a square building with the doors that don't have doors, but they allow people to go in? Did you see the symbols for the men's room to the women's room?

And when she walked out, what did she look like other than she had no hand? Was she an older woman, a younger woman? Did she have children with her? I don't know. If that's what happened in your mind, maybe it did. But I have you seeing that.

And then I tie it together in that the finally like the mystery gets solved that we stand up and now we walk single-handedly towards divorce, which was a tie back from the beginning where I said, we're so excited to walk hand in hand through life. But at the end I pull back, we're walking single-handedly towards divorce.

So it's a story that it has a lot of depth in it. It's not a very long story.

But I just want you to think about moments in your life where you're in a situation and I want you to tell it, but I want you to be thinking in the picture painting.

And I want you to try to think about like, was there food involved? If so, what kind? What was the air like? What was the vibe like?

Like you could tell like with the luau we were having a great time.

I hope. I mean all of the language and tones were indicating that we were having a great time because I said the next day I'd have more of that pig.

So obviously we had a great night the night before.

So that's how we use senses.

So you have sight, which is probably one of the easier ones unless of course you are not able to see.

But when you paint the picture, people will see it.

They'll start sitting at that luau in their minds with you.

Sights and sounds, the sounds I've already shown you with the dialogue as well as with the ocean.

Taste with the food, smell with the food.

And then I also have inner thoughts and dialogues going.

So we have both of the adults are talking in this.

All the adults talk.

All of the adults show who they are.

We don't just tell you.

I could have, most people would have told that story like this:

Well when I was in Hawaii on my honeymoon, there was a guy that didn't have a hand. And it was kind of weird.

And then the next night we went back and the other guy doesn’t have a hand.

And then our marriage ended up breaking up.

It was like 20 years later, I was at a park and this woman walked out and she didn’t have a hand.

And that’s when I realized like I thought we were gonna walk through life together and now we’re walking single-handedly.

Tells us the story.

But it’s vague.

It doesn’t have the dramatics.

Now you can do these in different environments.

If you are on a podcast, telling the story like I did is very rich.

If you were at a networking event, you might balance it a bit.

But if you’re on a stage like The Moth, you go all in.

That’s how people land on NPR.

They create mind movies.

That’s what’s happening.

So that’s all I’m going to say about the senses.

Now you can kind of see how important they are and why you’re using them to really entice your audience to listen.

Now that was a personal story.

But we can do the same thing with professional stories.

We’ll talk about that in the next episode.

So again, tell your stories and tell them well.

Learn why and how you can become more captivating.

Watch your leadership elevate.

People will find you more interesting.

Let’s live vividly.

That’s where stories come in.

Okay, that’s it.

Thanks so much for showing up.

Please like, comment, and share.

Let’s help people realize they are walking, talking storybooks of wisdom.

All right, tell your stories and tell them well.