“Human minds yield helplessly to the suction of a story.”
– Jonathan Gottschall (b. 1972), cited in Brian Grazer’s book, A Curious Mind
Grazer cites what he calls “Driveway Moments” in the book. A driveway moment is how National Public Radio (NPR) describes the phenomena of listeners turning off their cars and sitting in their driveway for five more minutes to hear the end of a story. NPR — whether we’re comfortable with their positions editorially or not — understands that the “suction of a story” is what draws others to us and us to others.
For many years, I’ve trained sales pros and executives to imagine that the single most indicative sign of success for them, is if they do something, or say something that gets mentioned at the dinner table that evening by their client or prospect. If the CEO is taken enough by something we’ve given her that she shares it with her husband and kids that night at dinner, we’ve gained the high ground –mindshare — that is exceptionally valuable.
The odds are pretty good that what we sell or do is largely a commodity, either in fact or in perception. So the stories that we use to make our differentiators real — our driveway and dinner table moments — become the things that will make a difference.
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