Why Stories Captivate | Tomas Pueyo | TEDxHumboldtBay

Stories hack into our brain to hypnotize and influence us. Have you ever wondered how they do it? Or how to harness their power?
In this entertaining and eye-opening talk, storytelling author Tomas Pueyo will change how you see stories forever. He takes us on a journey through the neuroscience of stories, why all the good ones follow the same hidden blueprint, and how we can use them as our secret weapon. Tomas Pueyo Brochard is the author of “The Star Wars Rings”, an Amazon Best Seller that analyzes the storytelling patterns that underpin great stories such as Star Wars, Beowulf, and Harry Potter.
He grew up in Europe, throughout France, Spain, and Italy, as part of a family of filmmakers. Tomas was fascinated with the Why behind everything, he studied two MSc in Engineering from ICAI Madrid and Ecole Centrale Paris. After a few years of management consulting, he moved to America in 2008 to pursue his MBA at Stanford University. He specialized in Behavioral Psychology, Design, Storytelling, and Scriptwriting in an effort to uncover how people think and why they think the way they do.
Since Stanford, he has applied his knowledge to design, fabricate, and market products for companies throughout Silicon Valley. He has created video games enjoyed by millions and viral applications used by tens of millions. He is now in charge of Growth at SigFig, where he strives to make investments acc This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@jimmyfallen4970]

The guy used a ring structure himself! He started with the story about the old hunter and finished with the same. That’s some good storytelling right there.

[@jake.presents]

Problem-Solution;)

[@mitchellbaylor8132]

I realize it's pretty randomly asking but does anyone know a good site to stream new series online?

[@maddoxdouglas4138]

@Mitchell Baylor i use FlixZone. You can find it by googling =)

[@forestrhys476]

@Mitchell Baylor try Flixzone. Just search on google for it =)

[@chrisjaiden1405]

@Mitchell Baylor i watch on flixzone. Just search on google for it :)

[@manuelarademacher2436]

He is they Mastermind of the worldwide lockdowns. What a great storyteller...👏👏

[@nourasaifi6686]

I’ve been studying storytelling for years. I’ve read John Yorke, Truby, Save the Cat, and many others, so I think I know a thing or two. But nothing I’ve ever read is as elegant as this.

[@travelstories30]

I've searching for this for a while. the science behind story telling. he's explaining every bit you should know. It's a good speech by himself as well.

[@starwarsrings8133]

Perfect to learn how to tell good stories. This guy took the ring theory and expanded it to all storytelling. Impressive.

[@phabigobacbara5727]

Master storytelling, and you will spread it!" i feel like this wont be the last time i watched this So cool! Now I understand why storytelling is so powerful.

[@bolllisa4756]

Such a great talk!? Points: - Neuroscience has shown that the brain can't tell the difference between living something and hearing a story about it - The structure of all good stories is the same as the structure of problem-solving: you state the problem, you explore the problem and why you can't solve it, you receive a new insight to solve the problem, you explore that insight, and you finally solve the problem - We've evolved to love stories because they teach us how other people solved problems

[@jaimemendez3395]

That's it in 3 sentences

[@synnikellen8072]

Great TED. “We’ve learned to love stories because they teach us.” Love the quote.

[@zandersturgill]

I've been watching dozens and dozens of Ted Talks about storytelling. This is the best of them so far.

[@tomas_pueyo]

Thank you Zander! I appreciate!

[@jaimemendez7066]

I found the explanation of how stories have been a necessary part of our evolution fascinating. That storytelling is deeply ingrained in us. I also found fascinating that stories are empathy. It certainly resounded with my own experience of listening to a story - to be in the story, to empathize. Overall, provided much food for thought. Thank you!

[@magnusruben9646]

You must read Sapiens by Yuval Harari. He devotes a whole chapter to this idea!

[@rakimon427]

Blessings! My mother needs to hear this As a storyteller, I have first-hand experience reading about the structure of stories and writing stories myself.

[@harchikbanro5568]

Loved to see the same hidden structure in all those famous movies and stories

[@ovenradid9719]

It's true! All movies are the same! I love Matrix and I never realized it's symmetric.

[@suancesbeachtc8739]

Incredible Franc-Spanish knowledge about the importance of ancestors storytelling! Congrats !

[@deutchi]

Excellent presentation! Loved it and enjoyed it so much, thank you sir.

[@koggokgaming9428]

This is excellent talk Tomas! That hidden blueprint is really incredible.

[@AkshayGangam]

Loved the way you tell stories tomas !

[@saachishetti2939]

First of all, wow. And why on earth doesn't it have more views. This is such beautiful and captivating content. I have been directed here from Tomas Peuyos medium blog.

[@cruittomhank601]

That’s captivating I’ve never heard a good theory on how we’ve evolved to love stories

[@potterjame5078]

It is wonderful to gain new knowledge and expand our thought processes

[@pierredjian4641]

Fascinating. Super cool look into storytelling, why the brain can’t tell the difference between living something and hearing a story about it, and why we have evolved to love stories because this is the best way for us to remember the most important things we need to survive and thrive as human beings. A+

[@lylymonica859]

Thanks so much for caring and sharing

[@seliadenu2963]

Best TEDx on storytelling.

[@younesrahim8386]

Stories are a way to get into somebody else’s brain to see how they solved a problem”. Yes

[@crouchmartin3239]

That storytelling is deeply ingrained in us

[@amolhuddar3789]

Stories are the way to learn , this has totally changed my life

[@tomas_pueyo]

Thank you, Amol. I'm glad this is helpful to you!

[@jeffsmith3083]

This is really amazing.well done Tomas.

[@robertjesicas1805]

Excellent! I often watch this show

[@eleNYork]

Muy útil e interesante. Gracias!!

[@AlejoConejoCuentos]

This my friend, is one of the best teds I have seen.

[@ngannguyenkim2989]

Amazing presentasion! Please, let me send you a big respect & thank!

[@hakkejerry9327]

Unbelievable! Wow that video in the middle.

[@patriciacartersashairstudi1806]

That was awesome

[@ezragoldberg6465]

That's some crazy powerpoint skills

[@jean-francoisazincourt963]

I don't think that was powerpoint. It's too good. Must be an animation or something.

[@jonhtep2782]

Wow!!!Awesome

[@diegoMay0r]

Fascinating, congrats

[@markallen349]

Excellent work buddy.

[@SteveTurtle]

This was awesome! Thanks!

[@heinrichschimpfschannal]

The best one I ever heard!

[@AutoEspy]

Just Great Video Tomas! I'm going to share your video.

[@tomas_pueyo]

Garry Person thank you!

[@nisalanjana8709]

Awesome video.I really like it.

[@jean-francoisazincourt963]

Hahaha this guy is so into it. I wonder if he rehearsed a lot. In any case, pretty fun stuff.

[@sanusasara3275]

Good job dr.Keep it up.

[@robertpaula7756]

Great ! Very interesting

[@hentanja3844]

Lots of TED Talks on storytelling but this one hits it off the park

[@jaimemendez3395]

+1!

[@sandeepsahni4235]

nice storytelling 👍👍

[@veronakallo4804]

Two thumbs up.

[@heshniumandi2257]

Wow..I'm really interesting.

[@belalnoor9686]

This needs to get viral

[@tomas_pueyo]

I think so too! In fact, there's an easy way. The TED organization just needs to pick it up and post it on their site. You should tell them to do so!

[@susanmiller5912]

I'd love to see him talk about the Heroine's Journey or one of the other's like The Seeker!

[@CjkingEntertainment]

Great presentation 🤞🏾

[@grantcase2870]

Interesting how anecdotes i.e. stories are never considered valid in proving a point, establishing the facts, or debating, yet what draws us in and convinces us the most are the anecdotes.

[@joriturpin4603]

I'm currently talking to my class about this exact fact. Where do we find the balance...?

[@grantcase2870]

@@joriturpin4603 I suspect it is entirely too subjective to find a precise balance. So, perhaps it just comes down to the individual as to what is convincing, but in order to do the convincing yourself you need to find ways to please both types of people. Share anecdotes for the ones who are more convinced through experiential learning, and share facts or statistics to the best of your ability for those that prefer less abstract and more concrete evidence.

[@pasindupavithra7360]

Liked and Subscribed.

[@captvkm]

Brilliant! Absolutely true. ALL Bollywood movies have a mid point in the form of a cliff hanging intermission! What you say about stories, as vehicles for passing on wisdom to youngsters, is also true. India has centuries old Panchtantra, with stories and stories within stories of birds, animals and people to pass on worldly wisdom. "In these five books the charm compresses Of all such books the world possesses!"

[@tomas_pueyo]

I'm glad to hear! I didn't know about this structure in Indian content, and wasn't acquainted with Panchtantra. Thanks for sharing!

[@captvkm]

@@tomas_pueyo Great! Check out The Panchtantra by Arthur Ryder translated from Sanskrit to English. He was an American prof who studied Sanskrit in pre war Berlin.

[@tomas_pueyo]

@@captvkm thank you!

[@goegrejonathan5136]

However, that is for me. Provided much food for thought

[@parkinricky157]

Traditionally, ring structures are reserved for things like big sagas, but I guess you can find them in standard stories.

[@williamaudrey9513]

I find this mostly right.

[@esiiobeniiciio3114]

Interesting....

[@besadaniel5608]

I wanna be a storyteller! Can anyone help me? The neuroscience is good, but evolution is just a theory people! Light bulb! Thank you! I loved the explanation of how stories have been a necessary part of our evolution

[@jaimemendez3395]

Do your homework!

[@Jason-qp1kl]

"Stories are 2-10x more memorable than facts alone, and that's why the most influential books in history are just series of stories yet they've spawned the biggest religions in the world."

[@ulisessrinivasan4650]

That ring structure is kind of crazy. I've never seen if before. But it fits. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that it's the structure of problem-solving though. I wonder if there is research on that topic.

[@richardkuda321]

Nice.

[@TarcisiousKuateRasegojwa]

This guy Tomas is right even the Bible is like that, Old Testament shadow and new Testament reality

[@andreasiciliano8040]

Amazing Talk! Since i noticed you are kind enough to answer the comments, can i ask you some reference/source for exercises or deeper explanation about practicing storytelling? That circle is a very good start but i feel i miss something that will get me going

[@andreasiciliano8040]

For some reason KZbin tells me there is an answer but doesn't let me see it! Could you send it again?

[@taxoon]

Read his book "The star wars rings: The hidden structure behind the star wars movie"

[@Borzzah]

great talk :)

[@tomas_pueyo]

Thank you!

[@paolasanta9015]

If I think about this in light of what Facebook is, it is possibly a venue for everyone to tell a story

[@jaimemendez3395]

You have to check yourself. You make no scents

[@rangerhermoni9751]

Apparently he predicted 90% of what would happen in Star Wars 8.

[@hondubarak9108]

What are the odds that yours will be unique? I've looked this guy up and he's also written a book about storytelling, focused on Star Wars.

[@LordUzumaki]

Hey can you tell me all those movies ? Someone please ?

[@ezequielmiceli3097]

Me snifaste el Bocho!! Te regalo los redondos, pero dudo de la alerta de Coronavirus.

[@danielbevan11]

This concept becomes dangerous when you use stories to influence public opinion instead of relying on facts to inform the public. Stories allow you to ignore the need to rely on reason and sell a point of view.

[@alexonharry5418]

Stories are mirrors

[@Patriot1789]

This stuff is Lit and Comp 101 at SUNY Binghamton 1965!!! I guess enough time has passed for it to seem new again. :(((

[@choptiffany8054]

Perhaps this accounts in some measure for the phenomenal popularity of FB? The ring structure is a bit too over the top

[@jaimemendez3395]

That makes no sense lol

[@sanchesmario8438]

It's better to watch and deconstruct the masters then to just start writing stories.

[@richardroyster405]

TEDx = Why

[@tomas_pueyo]

That's right! Why. It's the most important question.

[@Imtotallydiggingthis]

Kimba the lion!

[@tomas_pueyo]

Simba!

[@Imtotallydiggingthis]

@@tomas_pueyo Simba is just a copycat.

[@tomas_pueyo]

@@Imtotallydiggingthis I didn't know. What do you mean?

[@Imtotallydiggingthis]

@@tomas_pueyo Disney stole the whole idea behind the lion king. Google it to find out more.

[@readbooks6370]

Say Tony Robins

[@svengustafsson6429]

I had read about the mathematical patterns of music, but storytelling too? That means artificial intelligence can do it too. We're all doomed...

[@ezragoldberg6465]

Robots are going to take over!!

[@devangsubramonian6941]

@@ezragoldberg6465 Robots are never going to replace us all, especially not the artistic parts

[@jean-francoisazincourt963]

@@devangsubramonian6941 It's clear that everything humans do, machines will be able to do. It's just a matter of time. After all, our thoughts come from our brains, and our brains can be replicated in silicon.

[@gauravkadam5593]

Wht u want to tell

[@veronikaburkin2010]

Der sieht wie ein Zombie aus

[@zed9zed]

The information is good, but I find the delivery incredibly annoying. There's definitely a Toastmaster-trained artificiality in the exaggerated expressions, and for me it is distracting and detracts from the message.

[@tomas_pueyo]

Thanks for the feedback, @Zed I'll gather you came from the article about How to Become the Best in the World at Something, and that's why you venture it's Toastmasters-trained. Interestingly, Toastmasters doesn't train. It has manuals to review concepts, but there's no style to it. In fact, I worked hard on the TED style. This style not for everybody. I adapt the one I use to the audience. I don't speak like that within my company, for example. But this is for the broadest audience possible, and the emotional load and expressions substantially help for that. Hope that gives context!

[@Donello]

@@tomas_pueyo Thank you for the presentation. I'm not yet through it, but I can relate to it and I think I understand rather well why you did it the way you did it. Total coherence of form and content, a metapresentation of sorts. Neither did I find it exaggerated, but just right. I recognized most of the movies, but not all of them. Would it be possible for you to put in a list of them, to fill in the gaps?

[@tomas_pueyo]

Donello it’s there! Look at minute 16:09

[@gente_invencible]

@@tomas_pueyo Brillante.