It’s all about the story
I’ve always lived at least one town over from my work location. Except for a short period in the mid-2000s, I’ve never lived in the same town or city as my school or office. As such, I’m among the millions of people in America who commute at least 15 miles or more daily to work. Currently, I drive each day from my home in Desoto County, MS, to Bartlett, TN, a suburb of Memphis, TN.
While driving to work a few weeks ago, I was surprised to see an incongruous item sitting on the side of the road. It was located near an exit on I-240, a busy interstate looping around Memphis. I’ve been driving this same route for over 10 years, and as such, I see all sorts of things sitting on the side of the road: tires, mattresses, broken down or burned-out cars, etc. However, this item was different. It was a full-size couch.
Usually, I wouldn’t pay any attention to a random item on the roadside, but seeing an item that looked like it was taken from someone’s living room and deposited just beyond the flow of traffic brought up several questions in my mind: How did it get there? Was someone moving it to another house, and it fell off a truck, or was it left there intentionally? How long would it take for someone to notice it and remove it? How does someone ‘lose’ a couch on a busy interstate and just leave it there?
I looked for the item each morning as I drove to the office. When it was still there nearly a week later, I decided to snap a picture and make a humorous post about the item on my Facebook account. Here is the original post:
After several more days of seeing the couch in the exact location, I posted an update. I even tried my hand at making an AI-generated photo of the scene (despite my attempts to generate an image of a couch sitting on the shoulder of the road, Google Gemini insisted on placing it in the line of traffic):
The couch was gone nearly two weeks after first spotting it on the shoulder. Seeing it each morning caused me to laugh for several reasons, and its removal prompted several more questions: Who took it? How did the people responsible for removing it learn it was there? Where was it taken? While I wouldn’t want to see it sit there for weeks or months, which would cause a humorous situation to devolve into a sad or pathetic one, it was a little sad to see it go.
While posting regular “Mr. Couch” updates, I was reminded about the power of telling a relatable, humorous story. People who I’ve known for years but haven’t seen for a while commented on the couch posts. One work acquaintance, who I hadn’t seen for several months, approached me at a school event and said, “Ok, Brad, I just need to know one thing: How is the couch!?” Several other people told me in person how much they enjoyed following the couch saga and would miss my updates.
I recently heard something I believe to be true about using stories to persuade people. In past years and decades, persuasive arguments often began with the presentation of data followed by a personal story that is relatable and thought-provoking. Today, the story is the most important component and should be shared first. The story is paramount in an environment where people are known as influencers for posting short-form videos on TikTok or Instagram. Hard data isn’t unimportant; it isn’t always the first thing to always be shared when making a persuasive argument.
Storytelling was a central part of my dissertation study and resulting conclusions. Along with collecting quantitative data related to arts integration, student growth, and teacher effectiveness, I interviewed teachers in person and via email about their experiences with incorporating music and visual arts with ELA and math content. Their words were the strongest part of my study, as they showed the joy and excitement the arts can bring to subjects that can be difficult for some young learners. I could have primarily focused on the quantitative data, which was persuasive on its own, but adding the teachers’ experiences took my findings to another level.
While I wasn’t attempting to persuade anyone with my couch posts, the story I told with those posts did persuade people. It caused them to look at a dirty, abandoned piece of furniture with admiration and, dare I say, compassion. People took the time to ask me online and in person how the couch was doing! I’m a huge proponent of using qualitative research and reporting methods to frame data in a more accessible way. I never imagined a silly post about an abandoned couch would remind me of the power of storytelling and drive home the importance of it in persuading people to relate to and connect with a point of view.
Brad
