by Randy Ritz

Last month I talked about the way in which a story can provide the emotional context of a sermon – a congregation can discover the truth in a story (the “aha” moment) at the same time the character in a story discovers a truth. Jesus realized that by adding a “felt experience” to his messages, people would remember more of what He said. Let’s build on this idea in Part II.

Stories affect the audience

Why do stories work for the audience? Stories are effective because the audience vicariously lives the experience of the story. The audience enters into the images of the story – the description of the people, the setting, the action, the emotional turmoil or celebration. In essence, the audience sees the descriptions in their own mind. Why is this important? By living the story vicariously, the audience begins to own the story.

It becomes their story because they are painting the images by pulling them from their own history of experiences (whether lived in real life, viewed on TV, read in books or drawn from imaginative dreams). The images that are created from the story are ones that emanate from the audience’s personal bank of memories. Because the audience has participated in the creating of the images from the story, they will be less likely to forget the story or its implied information. Thus they begin to own the story and that information; it becomes theirs. 

When Jesus used the simple analogy that likened the kingdom of heaven to yeast that affects the entire yield of dough (Matthew 13), His audience would immediately think about their home, their mothers or wives, their bowls and the ritual of making dough that took place every morning. As a result, they grasped and retained the message of the parable: The small idea infects large numbers. But today, this parable generates merely an intellectual idea. It has little effect on a congregation because few of us have strong images of baking bread – only of buying bread. New metaphors or new parables need to be discovered for North American cultures.

People in a mess

If you want to tell good stories, find the problem in the story and build around it. You see, a story is most effective when the speaker can identify the core of the action, crisis, drama or struggle and build on it. In other words, look for “people in a mess.”

Audiences love to connect with characters as they struggle to find a way out of the mess. We want to learn the outcome. A story does not always need dramatic action (such as in Luke 8 were Jesus and the disciples are out in their boat and caught in a killer storm). It can be a psychological struggle (as in the case of Peter and his guilt at denying Christ three times). It can be a reflective struggle (as in the case of Joseph locked in a prison and forgotten for many years).

To make a story more effective and more appealing, find the drama – the "mess" in the story – and the audience’s interest will increase. A good speaker can extract the drama from a story and highlight it, if you will. It could be a story that you have heard or read, a verbal description of a movie, or a re-telling of a childhood experience. By being sensitive to the drama/mess in the story, you can tell it with greater impact. 

Dr. Randy Ritz is a passionate educator, actor and communication coach. He helps leaders use the power of narrative to transmit vision, values and history to others in an entertaining manner. He is currently head of drama at Concordia University College and can be found at Randyritz.com.