A Perspective on Narrative: “A more powerful vehicle to amplify impact.”

John Hagel III is co-chairman for Deloitte LLP’s Center for the Edge which “develops original research and substantive perspectives on new corporate growth.”

In 2013, he gave an interesting speech at SXSW on “Moving from Story to Narrative.” In the session, John talks about the difference between stories and narratives. Stories can be a powerful way to engage an audience. However, story alone can only achieve so much.

Story alone may limit your ability to retain attention or generate engagement.

Narrative, on the other hand, can be a more powerful vehicle to amplify impact. Through narrative you generate interest, retain attention, and spark engagement.

Is story without an effective narrative really a story?

“In an attention economy where more and more options compete for scarce attention, the ability to attract and retain attention will increasingly determine who creates and captures value. Narratives operate at three levels in parallel: the individual, the institution and the social unit. By understanding this and crafting narratives that operate at all three levels, it is possible to amplify impact.”

In case you absorb information better when watching it vs. just listening to it, we’ve included both a video and audio source for this speech. The video is lower quality audio while the audio only is much higher quality.

YouTube video with lower quality sound recording: