Good storytelling and leveraging its power

Today, as advertising professionals we call ourselves 'storytellers'. There are serious commentators who talk about the 'immense' power of storytelling. They are absolutely right. An experience I had as a boy brought home to me the power of storytelling.

I was in Class 5 in a school called Don Bosco, in Siliguri, north Bengal. It was, as the name suggests, a convent school run by missionaries. Most of the teachers were priests, the younger ones being 'brothers', presided over by a 'father'. And at the top of the heap was an old, jovial Italian anointed 'father rector'. School was, for the most part, a happy, relaxed place.

Even among these paragons, we had our favourite teachers. Topping the charts were Brother Francis and Brother Thomas, who taught us moral science and civics, respectively. Now, while we loved both these affable men, most students found the pursuit of the subjects they taught boring and devoid of any relevance to their future prospects. So most of us would aim for just passing marks in these subjects.

Passionate teachers that they were, the duo decided to do something about our lack of interest in their subjects. So one day, Brother Francis came to class carrying just a postcard. After we had greeted him, he asked us to keep our notebooks away and just sit back as he was going to tell us a story for the rest of the period. Excited and intrigued, we sat back to listen.

For the next 40 minutes or so, Brother Francis told us the story of a pulp novel called 'Assignment Sorrento Siren'. It was a detective story, and he had us transfixed with his masterful storytelling. He had made telegraphic notes on his postcard and would just glance at them from time to time. But mostly, he would gesture and modulate his voice as he took us on the hero's journey. Cannily, he had timed his story in such a way that he stopped at a critical point, when the bell rang signalling the end of the period.

Disappointed, we clamoured for him to finish the story. But Brother Francis told us that in our next class, we had to read a chapter from the moral science textbook and memorise the summary (which was in question-answer form). He said that if every student got every answer word perfect in an oral test, he would finish the story. We groaned and complained but he was adamant.

The next class was two days away and everyone went into a flurry of preparation. I have never seen anyone study so hard for a moral science test. Then, a strange thing happened. Those of us who had memorised the answers went to our classmates who were having trouble doing so. We helped them and tested them till they were fluent in the answers. Even the so-called 'poor' students were coached and drilled till they were perfect.

Finally, the day of the 'test' came and Brother Francis strolled in carrying his books. Stern faced, and with no pleasantries, he set about asking the questions randomly. One after the other each student answered his questions. There were times when we had our hearts in our mouths as someone fumbled for the answer, but they always recovered quickly and got it right. My heart thudded as he pointed to me and asked the question. I managed to get it word perfect and he just nodded curtly. Finally, the last lad was asked his question, and when he got it word perfect the entire class burst into loud and spontaneous applause.

Brother Francis broke into a wide grin and promised to tell us the rest of the story in the next class, which he did.

That's the power of stories. And that's what we as agencies need to leverage.

By Ajay Gahlaut

(The author is Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Group of Companies)