Author Rolf Dobelli writes in his book The Art of Thinking Clearly that we find stories attractive, and abstract details unattractive.

This “story bias” can be seen clearly in how events are reported in the news.

For example, a car is driving over a bridge when the structure suddenly collapses. 

In the news the next day, we’ll hear about the tale of the unlucky driver, where she came from, and where she was going. We’ll learn about her biography: born somewhere, grew up somewhere else, worked some job. If she survives the bridge collapse and can give interviews, we’ll hear about how she felt as it happened.

But these stories overlook the underlying cause of the accident. 

Instead of focusing on the driver’s account, consider the bridge’s construction: 

The problem with these questions is that, though valid, they don’t make for a good story.

In another example, below are two descriptions of the same event:

As Dobelli points out, most people will recall the second description more easily. The deaths don’t simply take place successively – they are emotionally linked.

The first description is a factual report, whereas the second one has “meaning.” Information theory suggests that it should be easier to remember the first description because it is shorter. But our brains don’t work that way.

To view events more objectively, whenever you hear a story, Dobelli recommends asking yourself the following questions: 

Author and consultant Simon Sinek writes in his book Start with Why that most organizations use tangible features and benefits to build a rational argument for why their company, product, or idea is better than another.

The problem with this approach is that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

Sinek argues that the most influential leaders and organizations – from Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy to Disney and Southwest Airlines – have all followed a pattern he calls the Golden Circle.

As you can see in the above diagram, the Golden Circle has three parts:

When most people and organizations think, act, or communicate they go from the outside in, from what to why. As Sinek puts it, “they go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing.”

Not the inspired ones.

For Sinek, Apple is a prime example of a company that follows the Golden Circle.

Here’s how Apple’s marketing message might read without the Golden Circle:

In his book All Marketers Tell Stories, marketing guru Seth Godin writes that a person’s worldview is the set of assumptions, biases, and values that they use to determine whether they’re going to believe a particular story.

For example, when a furniture store runs a going out of business sale with banners on every street corner, they’re not talking about the furniture. They are “framing the story for people who need an excuse to get their cheap spouse to finally get up and go with them to shop for furniture.”

And while this frame works on some people, it’s unlikely to be effective with those who are willing to drive 200 miles to an antique fair, or others who take pride in building their own furniture.

As Godin points out, many marketers fail because they try to use facts to prove their case about their product or service, without sufficiently acknowledging the biases of their potential customers.

For Godin, frames are the words, images, and interactions that reinforce a bias someone already has – having a frame is the first step in telling a persuasive story.

“Nothing can be clearer than that we require a story to explain to ourselves why we are here and what our future is to be, and many other things, including where authority resides … when people do not have a satisfactory narrative to generate a sense of purpose and continuity, a kind of psychic disorientation takes hold, followed by a frantic search for something to believe in or, probably worse, a resigned conclusion that there is nothing to find.”

- Author and media critic Neil Postman in his book Building a Bridge to the 18th Century