The best TED talks on Storytelling

Storytelling may be the marketing buzzword of the moment, but it’s no simple, off-the-peg strategy. As these TED talks reveal, storytelling is a complex business – but it’s also absolutely central to effective communication, and a hugely powerful competitive advantage when you can get it right. Here’s our hand-picked selection of the best TED insights on the art of stories: why they matter, why they are so powerful, how to construct better ones and where they might lead us in the future:

Need convincing about the importance of storytelling for marketers? Try Yuval Noah Harari’s talk, What explains the rise of humans? The answer (no prizes for guessing) is stories – but not necessarily, the type of stories you’d expect. Harari explains how our ability to use language and imagination to create new fictional realities is what separates us from animals, and has given birth to companies, brands, nations, even money. 

Much has been written about the formula for the perfect story. Andrew Stanton, the writer behind Toy Story and Wall-E, rejects some of those ideas and embraces others in a hugely entertaining talk, The clues to a great story, that’s a must for anyone looking to capture an audience’s attention and make them care. In a world of shortening attention spans, this is an essential guide not only to creating a great story – but making that story count.

Stories have the ability to free our minds, punch holes in preconceptions and generate empathy that crosses nations and cultural boundaries. Unfortunately, they don’t always work out that way. In The danger of a single story, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores how single, dominant, stereotypical stories can be used to reinforce power relationships and disenfranchise whole groups of people. It’s a theme continued by Turkish-born novelist Elif Shafak, in her talk on The Politics of Fiction. Both of these authors argue passionately against a world with preconceptions about the types of stories different people should tell. As Adichie puts it, stereotypes aren’t wrong, they are just incomplete stories. You won’t change people’s perceptions by conforming to them.

Malcolm Gladwell’s talk on The unheard story of David and Goliath is not only a brilliant telling of a story you thought you knew, but also a masterclass in looking at established stories from different perspectives. Don’t just accept the narrative around your category – there is often a more unexpected, profound and illuminating story hiding below the surface.

As the media landscape evolves, what new forms will storytelling take? In The visual magic of comics, artist Scott McCloud shares some fascinating insights on how to evolve storytelling techniques when the creative canvas keeps changing.