From My Brain to Your Brain

When you tell a story you are in brain synchronicity with your listener.  The story goes from my brain to your brain when you hear me tell a story about burning my fingers on the stove, my visit with an old friend or my dinner at an ethnic restaurant.  There are studies that show the listener's brain lights up in the same way that the storyteller's brain does. You can read about it in Psychology Today.

When you are listening, you develop empathy for the storyteller because you are experiencing the event for yourself.  You may remember a time that you told a friend about something that happened to you.  Some time later, you heard that friend telling the story as if it happened to him.  They felt as if they were there.  The memory seems so real that he feels that he lived it.

Storytelling can be powerful. We can help to build empathy for others by telling a story well.  One story at a time, we can make the human race a little bit kinder and more understanding.  Share a story with someone today. That's the power of story.