The Desired Effect
A desire to find out what happens
- Suspense
- Curiosity
The Science of Storytelling
Creating curiosity
When you raise a question the listener wants to know the answer to, you create what psychologists call a curiosity gap.
Uncertainty of Outcome
What happens next?
An unanswered question creates forward momentum and active attention.
Jay’s background in psychology and neuroscience
Jay studied psychology at Yale and spent years as a Senior Editor at Psychology Today, where he covered neuroscience, decision making, persuasion, and consumer behavior.
More about JayThe Unanswered Question
The mind wants to complete what it cannot yet resolve
Keep the Rope Taut
Make the listener want to know more
You want the listener tugging on the rope, eager to find out what happens next. You don’t want the rope to go slack.
Withhold the Outcome
Reveal enough to make the listener care
When Curiosity Fails
More information does not create more attention
The curiosity gap
When you raise a question the listener wants to know the answer to, you create what psychologists call a curiosity gap.
The curiosity gap taps into a human need called the need for cognitive closure.
The Science of Storytelling
Explore the science of storytelling
From Theory to Practice
What your team walks out with
Too often, employees sit through workshops and hear a bunch of complex principles they never think about again. They go back to their day-to-day work and nothing changes. In Jay’s storytelling workshops, he gives participants time to apply the principles they’ve just learned to their real work, and get feedback from Jay and each other. Everyone walks out with a piece of their own real work that they’ve actually improved during the session.