We must change their brain chemistry in our favor. We must tap into their unconscious. We must establish an indelible connection. We must tell a story.

Michael Harris, the author of Insight Selling: Sell Value & Differentiate Your Product with Insight Scenarios, says it this way: “Our subconscious/intuitive decision to buy is then communicated to the conscious mind via an emotion. The conscious mind then searches for rational reasons, and that’s how we complete the circle: We justify our emotional

This is nothing new. “People buy on emotion and justify with logic” is a commonly known phrase in marketing and sales, and in most cases, it’s absolutely true.

When we hear a story, the neurons in our brain fire in the same patterns as the neurons in the storyteller’s brain via a process known as “neural coupling.” Our brain activity, and even our heartbeat, will eventually match that of the storyteller, even if that story is being told via video conferencing over thousands of miles and half a dozen time

The work of behavioral economists like Nobel Prize–winner Richard Thaler tells us that human beings are not rational decision-makers.

That’s how we find what we need: We start with ourselves. Our personal experiences. Our observations of the world. Our successes and failures and everything in between. From there, we find stories, and from those stories, we can find the content we need to connect, communicate, and convince. Almost all my metaphors are personal stories or

According to Will Storr in The Science of Storytelling: “Neuroscientists are building a powerful case that metaphor is far more important to human cognition than has ever been imagined. Many argue it’s the fundamental way that brains understand abstract concepts like love, joy, society, and economy. It’s simply not possible to comprehend these

You name the topic and I have a story for it because I always start with story. I believe in bricks. I believe that if you build a foundation with enough bricks, you’ll never need a Band-Aid. Play the long game. Believe in bricks. Build a foundation of stories.

Remember: First identify a good story, and only then see what problems it might help solve.