Fact: The second day (july 2, 1963) of The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest and costliest of the Civil War.  Among the strategic points being fought was on Little Round Top.

Lt. Col Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine, “Not a moment was about to be lost! Five minutes more of such a defense, and the last roll-call would sound for us! Desperate as the chances were, there was nothing for it, but to take the offensive. I stepped to the colors. The men turned towards me. One word was enough, –“BAYONET!”–It caught like fire, and swept along the ranks. The men took it up with a shout, one could not say, whether from the pit, or the song of the morning star! It was vain to order “Forward.” No mortal could have heard it in the mighty hosanna that was winging the sky.  Nor would he wait to hear. There are things still as of the first creation, “whose seed is in itself.”  The grating clash of steel in fixing bayonets told its own story; the color rose in front; the whole line quivered for the start; the edge of the left-wing rippled, swung, tossed among the rocks, straightened, changed curve from scimitar to sickle-shape; and the bristling archers swooped down upon the serried host–down into the face of half a thousand!  Two hundred men!”

We remember stories for they give flavor and emotion to facts.  American psychologist Jerome Bruner, a senior fellow at the New York University School of Law, stated that stories increase the remembering of fact by as much as 20 times.

We may remember what happened to us earlier in our life and tell the stories of each event, even though we don’t remember the exact date or even period of time.  I can remember when I was a toddler sitting in the backyard of the house my parents rented in Tujunga, CA.  It was a sunny day and my mother was pinning her laundry onto the clothesline.  There I was sitting there and what I remember most was a swarm of ants covering my body.  I cried out and my mother ran to get the hose to spray the ants off of my body.  I had numerous bites all over me.  I remember my mother giving me a bath soon after and there were still ants coming off and into the water.  For a long time afterwards I was terrified to even into the bathtub.

For years I assumed that I was around 4 when that incident happened.  It turned out that I was only 18 months old.  It was a story that I remembered for a lifetime, even though the date was way off.  The only thing for me was the fact that if you sit on an anthill, they will swarm on you.  And they will bite you.

In whatever endeavor you engage in, there will be a story.  If you run a business, what is its story as well as yours.  If you present facts, find a story that will enhance the facts.  A story that will be remembered.  Without the story of our country (United States), facts would have been meaningless.  People remember the battle of The Alamo.  They remember the bravery of the men, like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who gave their lives for Texas.  It was that story that propelled others to band together to finally defeat Santa Ana’s army in Texas.  About 200 defenders of the Alamo and about 600 Mexican soldiers died during the battle.

We tell the story of a 65-year-old man by the name of Col. Harlan Sanders, who with his first Social Security check, set out to sell his family’s recipe for fried chicken.  His persistence led him to create Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Look into the facts of what you present and ask yourself, where is there a story?  Discover the narrative and tell it with the deepness of flavor to your audience.  Stories move people to action.  Stories are what we remember most in life.  Be a storyteller in business and in life, especially when you give facts.

Cheers,

Bob