Tell Stories Like Jesus
Published: Wed, 01/16/13
Available on Amazon. Print and Kindle
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Tell Stories Like Jesus
One of
my favorite books on teaching is Made
to Stick by Heath and Heath. They illustrate the power of story by
telling this one:[1]
A friend
of a friend of ours is a frequent business traveler. Let’s call him Dave.
Dave was recently in Atlantic City for an important meeting with clients.
Afterward, he had some time to kill before his flight, so he went to a local
bar for a drink.
He’d
just finished one drink when an attractive woman approached and asked if she
could buy him another. He was surprised but flattered. Sure, he said. The
woman walked to the bar and brought back two more drinks—one for her and one
for him. He thanked her and took a sip. And that was the last thing he
remembered.
Rather,
that was the last thing he remembered until he woke up, disoriented, lying
in a hotel bathtub, his body submerged in ice.
He
looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was and how he got
there. Then he spotted the note:
DON’T
MOVE. CALL 911.
A cell
phone rested on a small table beside the bathtub. He picked it up and called
911, his fingers numb and clumsy from the ice. The operator seemed oddly
familiar with his situation. She said, “Sir, I want you to reach behind you,
slowly and carefully. Is there a tube protruding from your lower back?”
Anxious,
he felt around behind him. Sure enough, there was a tube.
The
operator said, “Sir, don’t panic, but one of your kidneys has been
harvested. There’s a ring of organ thieves operating in this city, and they
got to you. Paramedics are on their way. Don’t move until they arrive.”
Call a
friend. See if you can tell them this story from memory. Now; contrast that
with this piece:[2]
“Comprehensive community building naturally lends itself to a
return-on-investment rationale that can be modeled, drawing on existing
practice,” it begins, going on to argue that “[a] factor constraining the
flow of resources to CCIs is that funders must often resort to targeting or
categorical requirements in grant making to ensure accountability.”
Imagine
you were to call a friend and try to recall that. Stories stick to the
brain. But why?
[1]
Heath, Chip; Heath, Dan (2007-01-02). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas
Survive and Others Die (Kindle Locations 50-64). Random House.
Kindle Edition.
[2]
Heath, Chip; Heath, Dan (2007-01-02). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas
Survive and Others Die (Kindle Locations 76-79). Random House.
Kindle Edition.
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