Caroline Adams Miller

And it's the way that your brain says, hey, there's nothing here that we need that is useful, so we're going to go into rest mode. And it stops paying attention. That's why you daydream so much in church, right? Because you're having trouble figuring out how the second chapter of Numbers is going to do anything for you. And so you daydream.

Until the pastor says, it reminds me of when my cousin and I tried to jump across the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle. All of a sudden everybody in the room is paying attention because he started into a story. So story is the only tool known to man that can stop people from daydreaming for not just 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for hours on end.

Until the pastor says, it reminds me of when my cousin and I tried to jump across the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle. All of a sudden everybody in the room is paying attention because he started into a story. So story is the only tool known to man that can stop people from daydreaming for not just 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for hours on end.

Until the pastor says, it reminds me of when my cousin and I tried to jump across the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle. All of a sudden everybody in the room is paying attention because he started into a story. So story is the only tool known to man that can stop people from daydreaming for not just 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for hours on end.

When you're watching a movie, when you're binging something on Netflix, you pay attention and your brain engages. And so the reason it's so important to understand story, how it works, how to invite people into a story is because if you have a passion

When you're watching a movie, when you're binging something on Netflix, you pay attention and your brain engages. And so the reason it's so important to understand story, how it works, how to invite people into a story is because if you have a passion

When you're watching a movie, when you're binging something on Netflix, you pay attention and your brain engages. And so the reason it's so important to understand story, how it works, how to invite people into a story is because if you have a passion

that you want other people to know about or understand or join with you in working on, you need to invite them into a story in which doing that and taking action on that passion actually benefits them in some way. And so understanding story and story structure is really about how to understand how to communicate in such a way that people listen to you, they hear you, and they join you.

that you want other people to know about or understand or join with you in working on, you need to invite them into a story in which doing that and taking action on that passion actually benefits them in some way. And so understanding story and story structure is really about how to understand how to communicate in such a way that people listen to you, they hear you, and they join you.

that you want other people to know about or understand or join with you in working on, you need to invite them into a story in which doing that and taking action on that passion actually benefits them in some way. And so understanding story and story structure is really about how to understand how to communicate in such a way that people listen to you, they hear you, and they join you.

And if you don't use story to do that, you've got a very low chance of anybody engaging your ideas. So story is very important as understanding how to communicate if you want people to pay attention.

And if you don't use story to do that, you've got a very low chance of anybody engaging your ideas. So story is very important as understanding how to communicate if you want people to pay attention.

And if you don't use story to do that, you've got a very low chance of anybody engaging your ideas. So story is very important as understanding how to communicate if you want people to pay attention.

Not just religion, but political movements, autocracies grow almost exclusively through narrative propaganda. Not often true when it's an autocracy, but horrible things have happened in the world because leaders have understood how to tell stories that scare people into doing what they want them to do, which is almost always to the benefit of the autocrats.

Not just religion, but political movements, autocracies grow almost exclusively through narrative propaganda. Not often true when it's an autocracy, but horrible things have happened in the world because leaders have understood how to tell stories that scare people into doing what they want them to do, which is almost always to the benefit of the autocrats.

Not just religion, but political movements, autocracies grow almost exclusively through narrative propaganda. Not often true when it's an autocracy, but horrible things have happened in the world because leaders have understood how to tell stories that scare people into doing what they want them to do, which is almost always to the benefit of the autocrats.

It's important to know how story structure works so that you can use it yourself to invite people into doing good things, and so you can understand when it's being used to benefit something that is very harmful for the world.

It's important to know how story structure works so that you can use it yourself to invite people into doing good things, and so you can understand when it's being used to benefit something that is very harmful for the world.

It's important to know how story structure works so that you can use it yourself to invite people into doing good things, and so you can understand when it's being used to benefit something that is very harmful for the world.

Well, yes, both and. Hitler was arguably the world's best, perhaps in history in terms of world leaders, at using narrative structures and propaganda to fool a lot of people. And of course, the way that you know that this is harmful is if it's filled with lies. Like if you actually test the story and discover that's not true, this is not true.