Stories help us connect with real people in a personal way.

Well, at least one person is reading my new blog...my sister! Valerie Francis is currently writing the first of a series of children's novels: Nature Knights. She replied to my blog post last week with some excellent points about storytelling:

Storytelling is an art, and when done well can become a powerful communications tool. In Newfoundland, storytelling is part of our culture, but people all over the world have always been fascinated with stories. That's why we have such a booming publishing industry. Whether stories are crafted for entertainment (as with fiction) or educational purposes (non-fiction), the bottom line is that we love them! They give us characters, or real people, that we can connect with in a personal way; and from a marketing/awareness perspective that is where their true value lies I think. I completely agree that they are a far more effective means of communicating a message than bombarding an audience with statistics.