The Power of Storytelling

[info being]

Recently, I've been trying to become a better storyteller. Facts and opinions can be ignored or neatly filed away, but stories stick with us and influence us in powerful ways.

For example, compare the following two statements:

1) "The rich should pay higher taxes to help the less fortunate."

vs.

2) "I grew up lower middle-class family living paycheck to paycheck. My parents were proud people who worked hard every day and did the best they could for us, but their's was not the life I envisioned for myself.

Thankfully, my small town had an excellent public school system, and I was able to do well enough to get into college. I probably wouldn't have been able to afford college with tuition the way it is today, but I went to a good state school that was heavily subsidized by taxpayers. I studied business, did very well, and went on to graduate school to earn my MBA.

Today, as I'm doing rather well for myself and living the American dream of class mobility, I think back about all the help I needed along the way. A lot of that help came from taxpayers. So it doesn't make sense to me that some people don't feel a responsibility to pay their fair share of taxes. I think we all need to give back after everything we've gained from each other."


I think that would be a good way to talk to a "Me, Me, Me" Conservative. I'm going to try this approach more often...fewer facts and more narrative. How could this be refuted?

[Not Me]

1. I have a friend

who attended public schools for 12 years, then went on to a (SU)NY public university for both his BS and MS degrees, and complains about the taxes he pays to NY. He vows that he is going to leave the state.

By my calculations, he will never pay enough in income taxes there to repay the taxpayers what he drew in education alone.

Jeesh.

[salib]

2. Wonderfully put, excellent point

I also try to turn clear, but seemingly dogmatic, statements into stories and/or analogies. While, one can take this too far (after all anyone can come up with an example to "prove" a point, if that example is carefully selected). Still, I think it appeals to many conservatives, who already live by religious and political dogma, and thus are unimpressed by someone else simply saying they are wrong.

My latest one is, instead of "the U.S. is wrong to torture prisoners, violating the Geneva Convention, no matter what the reason", it seems better to invoke the Golden Rule as an analogy, or to tell a story about a bully who feels he or she can do anything.

[Bandit]

3. Reagan was considered a superb story teller and thus his immense

popularity. You are Correct in that people like everything to be spelled out in detail. Especially if you throw in a few humorous anecdotes. People love to be entertained.