Human Beings are naturally predisposed to hear, remember, and to tell stories. The problem for teachers, parents, government leaders, friends, and computers is to have more interesting stories to tell.
Roger Schank, Tell Me a Story
Why Storytelling?
Think back to your childhood, what do you remember? I bet most of the memories are connected to stories. My memories are full of interesting stories about relatives, places I have lived and visited. Some of the stories are long, some short; some funny, some sad, but all memorable:-) This is the power of stories – something can be told once in a story and it is remembered for years, while other information slip from one’s memory even though we spent hours and hours learning it (What is the capital of North Dakota? Who was the 32nd President of the United States?).
The connection between experience, stories, memory and emotion is powerful. This is the way humans have learned since the beginning of time. Peruse the following links about why storytelling is used in different venues:
In Business: The Power of Stories
In non-profits: Put Persuasive Storytelling to Work for Your Nonprofit
To preserve culture and history: Storytelling helps preserve Navajo culture