How telling green campaign stories draws out empathy in our audience
· Stories are satisfying as they involve a beginning a middle, and an end. · They help the audience identify with the characters and their situations. · Stories play a dual role: conveying information whilst also arousing an emotional response, but the story-telling keeps the information at the general audience’s level of understanding · Stories aren't laden with facts! This is ideal where the audience aren’t receptive to lists and tips, facts and moral strictures! · With stories, we can raise the characters up to hero-status, which makes the audience think: I want to be that person, I want to do and be like that person (mirror neurons). . Stories work really well with children (and those of us still in the process of growing up!) Weren't we like sponges - soaking up new stuff when we were children, and story-telling allows us to drop our guards, and be right-brain receptive. Stories work in inspiring environmental change as they arouse sympathy, as well as making sustainability fun, working on our sub-conscious minds and ultimately building up trust, empathy and purpose to convert to action.
2 Comments
Tim Whitelock
26/3/2013 10:47:22 am
Very true, I find the most effective stories about animals and how they relate to our environment. Children especially are empathetic to these stories, and can relate to them really well.
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27/3/2013 04:53:46 pm
Thanks Tim, for your comment. Empathy is certainly the catch-phrase! Cheers, Nicolle
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Contributors to Converse Conserve.ComNicolle K., Peter Nesbit, (cartoonist) Chris Palmer (film-maker), Jackie Eco (comedienne), Archives
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