#1140 Will Storr: How to Use the Science of Storytelling to Lead, Motivate and Persuade

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Aug 22, 2025

Will Storr, a British author and journalist renowned for his insights on storytelling, dives deep into the art and science behind persuasive narratives. He discusses how storytelling has evolved, its impact on human identity, and its role in fostering connections. Storr highlights successful marketing campaigns like Molson's that resonate with audience identity and contrasts them with failures. He also explores the darker side of storytelling, illustrating how compelling tales, such as the Theranos saga, can mislead. Tune in for a fascinating look at how stories shape our lives!

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INSIGHT

Story As Cooperative Technology

Story is a unit of information about overcoming an obstacle to pursue a goal that unites minds into cooperative groups.
Story evolved to let humans cooperate like an ant superorganism, coordinating many individuals toward shared goals.

INSIGHT

Three Evolutionary Phases

Human evolution progressed from reflexes to feelings to a story system that stores and shares information across minds.
The story system lets culture retain solutions to obstacles and coordinate huge cooperative projects via oral and written transmission.

INSIGHT

Brains That Live As Stories

Our brains automatically turn reality into narratively structured lives with plots, moral roles and imagined futures.
This storytelling architecture explains unique human capacities like autobiographical memory and envisioning heaven or political utopias.

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Will Storr is a British author, journalist and former photographer. He has been a contributing editor at Esquire and GQ Australia. He is the author of several books, including The Science of Storytelling, The Status Game, and A Story is a Deal: How to use the science of storytelling to lead, motivate and persuade.

In this episode, we focus on A Story is a Deal. We discuss what storytelling is, the evolution of storytelling, the process of identification, how storytelling develops in infants, identity growth and identity anxiety, connection and status, underdog stories, and storybeing. We also talk about what constitutes persuasive storytelling, examples of successful and unsuccessful marketing campaigns, and how to write persuasive stories. Finally, we talk about Theranos, and how storytelling can be used to deceive people.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, ROBINROSWELL, KEITH RICHARDSON, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, AND CHARLOTTE ALLEN!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, AND PER KRAULIS!

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