319. Open the Portal: The Simple Science Behind Impactful Storytelling
“Causality is this foundation that really allows us to anchor what we’re trying to do when we’re telling stories.”
Storytelling doesn’t require a dramatic narrative. For behavioral scientist and former Disney Imagineer Troy Campbell, even everyday information can become a story when we explain the “because” behind it, connecting what happened to why it matters. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Campbell joins Matt Abrahams to unpack the psychology behind storytelling and persuasion. From structuring ideas around goals, insights, and actions to creating “portals” that prepare audiences for what comes next, he shares practical ways to make communication more relevant, persuasive, and memorable.
Takeaways:
- Stories are built on cause and change. Connecting information through the “because” behind it turns isolated facts into a narrative that helps audiences understand why something happened and why it matters.
- Start by preparing your audience for what comes next. Effective “portals” create anticipation, shift people into the right mindset, and provide just enough context to help them engage with your message.
Activity:
- Create a portal. Choose an upcoming meeting or presentation and redesign the first minute to prepare your audience for what follows. Build an opening that creates anticipation, shifts their mindset, and previews where you’re taking them before diving into the main content.
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- (00:00) - Introduction
- (00:56) - The Power of “Because”
- (01:58) - Stories in Everyday Jobs
- (03:03) - Goal, Insight, Action
- (06:32) - Overcoming Change Resistance
- (11:34) - Creating Powerful Portals
- (17:54) - The Final Three Questions
- (23:35) - Conclusion
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Join our Think Fast Talk Smart Learning Community and become the communicator you want to be.
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Portals provide a powerful way for
you to begin your communication
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and engage your audience.
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My name's Matt Abrahams, and I
teach Strategic Communication at
00:00:09.408 --> 00:00:11.147
Stanford Graduate School of Business.
00:00:11.327 --> 00:00:14.498
Welcome to Think Fast,
Talk Smart, the podcast.
00:00:19.246 --> 00:00:21.326
Today I'm excited to
speak with Troy Campbell.
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Troy is the chief scientist at the firm On
Your Feet, and a former behavioral science
00:00:26.095 --> 00:00:27.726
professor at the University of Oregon.
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Previously, he was a Disney Imagineer
and a researcher at Netflix Insights.
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Troy specializes in blending a scientific
mind with an artistic heart to understand
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consumer behavior, storytelling, and
the psychology of human connection.
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Well, welcome, Troy.
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We have chatted on and off for a
long time, and I am thrilled to
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actually have you in studio and
the opportunity to chat with you.
00:00:49.185 --> 00:00:49.995
Thanks for being here.
00:00:50.786 --> 00:00:52.765
Long-time listener first-time guest.
00:00:53.356 --> 00:00:54.475
Very excited to be here.
00:00:54.626 --> 00:00:54.915
All right.
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Shall we get started?
00:00:55.685 --> 00:00:56.305
Let's do it.
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Uh, I love so many ways you frame things.
00:00:59.036 --> 00:01:03.855
Uh, you describe story theory
as essentially the word because.
00:01:04.345 --> 00:01:08.035
How does understanding causality
improve our storytelling?
00:01:08.365 --> 00:01:15.715
Yeah, so, um, pretty much if you ask any
theoretician of story, about one out of
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two of them will give you a definition
that is more or less the word because.
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They'll talk about causality.
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So if you read the book
Narrative by Abbott Porter,
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he's gonna talk about causality.
00:01:26.155 --> 00:01:29.436
If you talk to the comics
professor, Kate Kelp-Stebbins,
00:01:29.475 --> 00:01:30.965
she's gonna tell you it's causality.
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If you listen to the South Park creators,
they'll talk about how in between every
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scene, what happens in one scene better
cause the next thing to happen, right?
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And causality is just this foundation
that really allows us to anchor what
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we're trying to do when we're telling
stories, which is that characters
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are changing, and there's something
that's causing them to change.
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And that cause is what's gonna make it
a story rather than a bullet point list.
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I just love the idea of thinking
about the change, and that
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change is because of something.
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So not all of us are in situations
where we have to tell grandiose stories.
00:02:09.695 --> 00:02:11.805
We're trying to pitch our business,
we're trying to get people
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aligned to what we're saying.
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Help us understand how we can
tell stories in our everyday jobs.
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Yeah.
00:02:18.415 --> 00:02:22.745
What we can do is we can say, "You're
gonna come into the workplace, and you're
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gonna share a piece of information."
Like, "Here's an action that we want
00:02:26.956 --> 00:02:29.725
to do," or, "Here's a data point
that's really important," and you're
00:02:29.725 --> 00:02:31.855
gonna explain the because behind it.
00:02:32.115 --> 00:02:35.865
And once you start saying because, and
you say because a couple times, it's
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gonna transform something into a story.
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The current sales of this product are down
and it's because this thing is happening.
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And a deeper reason is because
the consumer cares about this.
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And it becomes this real simplified
way to tell, in my opinion, what
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is a story, which is explaining why
something has happened, what has caused
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a character, a set of characters, they
could be your consumers, to change.
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It, it all boils down to that causality.
00:03:06.037 --> 00:03:09.737
And when you frame it that way,
it makes it so much easier to
00:03:09.737 --> 00:03:12.848
think about how do I, as somebody
telling the story, structure it?
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I first have to introduce the players,
the issue, the cause, and then explain
00:03:17.968 --> 00:03:19.177
the cause that comes from that.
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So you start by explaining who the
characters are and the components,
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and then the cause that's involved.
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One of the things that you and I
connected on right away is you,
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like, like I, believe very strongly
in frameworks and structure.
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And you have a great structure
that I really like, GIA.
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Goal, insight, action.
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Can you tell us a little bit about
that structure and how can we use it?
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Yeah.
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Um, so goal, insight, action is
goal, what your audience cares about.
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We wanna always start with relevance.
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That insight is the data, the expertise,
the ingenuity, the causality, the,
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the reasons that you're gonna bring.
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And action is what your
audience can do with it.
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And if you think about this,
you'll actually see it so
00:04:04.008 --> 00:04:05.417
many times in things, right?
00:04:05.627 --> 00:04:07.787
It's how Steve Jobs always communicated.
00:04:07.798 --> 00:04:10.967
He would come up to audiences and,
right, of all, all the people in
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the world, Steve Jobs could just be
like, "Hey, Apple, we should do this.
00:04:13.697 --> 00:04:16.817
We should have this think different
campaign." But instead he comes up and
00:04:16.817 --> 00:04:21.288
he says, "The goal we have in the 1990s
at Apple is that we need to stand out
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again, that we aren't resonating." And the
insight, and he says this with his hands,
00:04:26.944 --> 00:04:28.169
like that's always how he would talk.
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You, you're dressed in black.
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I'm having a moment here.
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Yeah, I know.
00:04:30.454 --> 00:04:30.674
I know.
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Uh, my lady said I looked a little
Steve Jobs when I came over here.
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Um, and he would be like, "My insight
is that marketing is about values. And
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in a world that's really busy, how you
stand out is focusing on values," right?
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And then he says, "So the action, what
we're gonna take, is we are gonna have the
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Think Different campaign, which is gonna
focus on our core value that we believe
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in misfits. We believe in people who
believe that they can change the world."
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And that structure is just so simple.
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It, it works, whenever you're talking
about data, don't jump to your data.
00:05:01.313 --> 00:05:04.603
Say, the goal we have at this
organization is to reach this consumer
00:05:04.793 --> 00:05:07.783
or address this fire problem right now.
00:05:08.073 --> 00:05:12.444
Some insight we have about the consumer,
about this moment is this, and the action
00:05:12.453 --> 00:05:14.134
that we can take to deal with it is this.
00:05:14.424 --> 00:05:18.624
And we teach organizations this
structure, and they love not only the
00:05:18.633 --> 00:05:22.513
structure, but they love using the
words because it creates sort of this
00:05:22.534 --> 00:05:26.113
collective also culture where they
can signpost to their audience 'cause
00:05:26.113 --> 00:05:29.633
they've both been trained to receive
and deliver in goal, insight, action.
00:05:29.863 --> 00:05:33.014
And it can just be a wonderful
personal habit, but also group habit.
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Goal, insight, action, I think,
is a fantastic structure.
00:05:36.064 --> 00:05:40.324
And what it allows you to do, the goal
is often something that's commonly
00:05:40.324 --> 00:05:43.263
shared or based on a value or your
mission that's already shared.
00:05:43.264 --> 00:05:47.323
So you're already halfway there
because you're tapping into something
00:05:47.323 --> 00:05:50.054
that people already believe in and
then you're further focusing it.
00:05:50.563 --> 00:05:54.843
And, and like any structure, I think
with a little practice and ingenuity,
00:05:54.853 --> 00:05:56.463
this can be a really useful tool.
00:05:56.493 --> 00:05:56.743
Yeah.
00:05:56.773 --> 00:06:01.374
And the one thing I would say is, like,
the goal may be the most important
00:06:01.374 --> 00:06:06.033
part of goal, insight, action, and it's
that even if people have that goal,
00:06:06.063 --> 00:06:08.343
it's not always active in their brain.
00:06:08.554 --> 00:06:13.713
And so you need to remind people
that that is what's important, right?
00:06:14.133 --> 00:06:18.694
Um, they might even tell you, "I know that
already," but they're, it wasn't, they
00:06:18.694 --> 00:06:22.953
really didn't know that in the moment,
and those motives were not activated.
00:06:22.953 --> 00:06:26.053
So make sure you always, before
you're communicating, if you can,
00:06:26.063 --> 00:06:30.313
even if it's just one sentence,
repeat the goal that they have
00:06:30.374 --> 00:06:31.603
that you are gonna help them with.
00:06:32.014 --> 00:06:35.393
A, a goal, I like to say, is a
focusing, has a focusing function.
00:06:35.543 --> 00:06:36.483
It helps you focus.
00:06:36.493 --> 00:06:38.883
It helps you frame the
discussion and highlighting that.
00:06:39.143 --> 00:06:41.943
And assuming people understand
it, and maybe some people say,
00:06:41.943 --> 00:06:44.823
"I already got the goals," still
state it, and very good advice.
00:06:45.693 --> 00:06:50.044
You've developed research on identity
persuasion and solution aversion.
00:06:50.404 --> 00:06:54.094
I had to practice saying that several
times 'cause I, I slur the words together.
00:06:54.533 --> 00:06:59.623
When an audience is highly resistant
to the truth due to solution
00:06:59.624 --> 00:07:04.113
aversion or flight from the facts,
uh, as you like to say, how does
00:07:04.113 --> 00:07:08.663
a, how do we as a communicator
restructure our message to avoid this?
00:07:08.704 --> 00:07:09.154
Yeah.
00:07:09.163 --> 00:07:13.580
So Solutions can be very aversive.
00:07:13.630 --> 00:07:20.630
And because of these solutions, we will
often deny that there's even a problem or
00:07:20.660 --> 00:07:22.420
that we need to engage in that solution.
00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:26.950
And I often like to think of solutions
aversions as coming from two areas.
00:07:27.309 --> 00:07:32.099
So one is our tangible things and
one are more identity based things.
00:07:32.430 --> 00:07:36.539
So a tangible thing could be just
like, "I don't wanna stop drinking
00:07:36.539 --> 00:07:38.269
caramel frappuccinos." Right?
00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.890
And when a doctor diagnosed me with
these blood sugar problems when I
00:07:41.890 --> 00:07:45.659
was younger, it was like I had a big
Frappuccino on my forehead and like,
00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:48.149
"Deal with this issue or I'm not gonna
believe any of the science you're
00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:49.700
telling me about my health issue."
00:07:50.030 --> 00:07:53.889
And one of the things that he did,
Dr. Manuel Fernandez, is the very
00:07:53.889 --> 00:07:57.919
first thing he did is he told, is
he's like, "Here's how your diet is
00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:02.839
not going to be as bad as you think
it was." So before all the science
00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:06.700
and all the stuff, he was managing my
solution aversion that I'd have to that.
00:08:07.330 --> 00:08:10.939
Now the second thing, and, um, this
is the one that's gonna get into one
00:08:10.940 --> 00:08:14.709
of my favorite kind of storytelling
principles, is identity, right?
00:08:15.049 --> 00:08:19.900
And oftentimes really what we wanna
be as people is we don't wanna have
00:08:19.900 --> 00:08:24.239
our identity threatened and we wanna
do things that feel authentic, right?
00:08:24.699 --> 00:08:30.500
And so if somebody is telling you
to change your behavior to be more
00:08:32.280 --> 00:08:36.659
healthy in your behaviors, or you want
to, or they're telling you to be more
00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:40.799
creative, or they're trying to tell you
to tell storytelling, they might even
00:08:40.809 --> 00:08:45.029
think, "You know, that does sound like
a good idea, but that's not who I am.
00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:49.270
That's not me." And so one of the
things I really like bringing into
00:08:49.270 --> 00:08:52.520
this situation is something I worked
on in my dissertation and that I
00:08:52.530 --> 00:08:54.339
now call the destiny narrative.
00:08:54.699 --> 00:08:59.889
And so the idea behind this is that in all
great stories, characters change, but they
00:08:59.890 --> 00:09:01.639
go through a very specific type of change.
00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:04.629
They change into who they
were always meant to be.
00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.160
The princess was secretly
always the princess.
00:09:07.469 --> 00:09:11.269
The boy on Tatooine looking up at the
twin sons longing for more always had
00:09:11.269 --> 00:09:15.270
the force inside of him, and Moana was
always meant to sail across the seas.
00:09:15.819 --> 00:09:19.699
And we really, really like this
thing not only in these stories,
00:09:19.699 --> 00:09:20.910
but it works in marketing, right?
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Unleash your inner goddess.
00:09:22.599 --> 00:09:24.319
There's a warrior inside of you.
00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:29.619
So the idea is that we are changing,
but we're changing more into who we
00:09:29.629 --> 00:09:33.259
always were meant to be or who we
already are, and it resolves these
00:09:33.259 --> 00:09:37.729
two psychological motives that are
so in conflict all the time, right?
00:09:37.769 --> 00:09:41.370
I want to improve.
00:09:41.530 --> 00:09:43.400
I wanna have goal progress.
00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:45.700
I do kinda wanna change.
00:09:47.030 --> 00:09:49.220
But at the same time,
I wanna be authentic.
00:09:49.280 --> 00:09:50.360
I wanna be me.
00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:53.099
I wanna have some sense
of identity consistency.
00:09:53.309 --> 00:09:59.240
And what the destiny narrative does,
it is allows for you to stay true and
00:09:59.250 --> 00:10:00.989
have narrative change at the same time.
00:10:01.389 --> 00:10:04.999
So whenever I'm trying to persuade
people to change, I don't tell
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:06.500
them storytelling is good.
00:10:06.719 --> 00:10:10.120
The very first thing I do is prove to
them that they're already a storyteller.
00:10:10.400 --> 00:10:13.459
And so now all you wanna do is
you wanna do more of that because
00:10:13.459 --> 00:10:14.859
you wanna do more of who you are.
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.809
You might not be eating healthy,
but there are some habits that
00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:20.630
you have that are already healthy,
and that's important to you.
00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:23.870
So eating healthy now is more
consistent with who you are.
00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:26.450
So much richness in that response.
00:10:26.459 --> 00:10:28.529
So let me break it down
from what I'm taking away.
00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:33.670
Uh, solution aversion, resistance,
hesitation, concern that people bring can
00:10:33.670 --> 00:10:36.319
be focused on something very tangible.
00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:39.200
There's something I like doing
or don't like doing and you're
00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:42.059
threatening me because you're saying
I should or shouldn't do that.
00:10:42.789 --> 00:10:46.710
And a great way to address that is to
immediately address that resistance.
00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.459
This it's not as bad as you
think or they're, you're, you're
00:10:49.459 --> 00:10:50.979
well-equipped to deal with this.
00:10:51.229 --> 00:10:54.190
So address the emotion, the
concern before you layer on all
00:10:54.190 --> 00:10:55.269
the things that need to be done.
00:10:55.769 --> 00:10:59.330
And, uh, as you were saying that, I was
reflecting on my parenting and how poorly
00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:01.870
I did because I would always lead with,
"Here are all the things you have to do.
00:11:01.889 --> 00:11:05.800
And oh, by the way, you can do it."
Uh, vice versa would be helpful.
00:11:06.180 --> 00:11:09.630
And then the other part with the
identity piece and part of what I
00:11:09.630 --> 00:11:13.289
heard you say there, what's, what's so
important is this notion of consistency.
00:11:13.290 --> 00:11:15.589
You're showing that you're already
there or you have that ability,
00:11:16.439 --> 00:11:17.760
and having people reflect on that.
00:11:17.760 --> 00:11:22.669
So as we go to persuade, motivate,
inspire, thinking about those areas of
00:11:22.669 --> 00:11:26.659
resistance that, that, uh, challenge
or solution aversion, and then thinking
00:11:26.659 --> 00:11:30.749
about the tangible and identity issues
that play out can help us restructure
00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:32.729
the narrative to motivate people more.
00:11:33.582 --> 00:11:34.532
That's fantastic.
00:11:34.812 --> 00:11:38.292
One of the things that you teach and
talk about that has fundamentally
00:11:38.302 --> 00:11:41.112
changed the way I teach and
think about my communication
00:11:41.122 --> 00:11:42.741
is through the lens of portals.
00:11:43.382 --> 00:11:46.401
When you talked about portals, and
I'd like you to define for all of us
00:11:46.401 --> 00:11:50.901
what they mean, uh, it really changed
the way I think about how I start and
00:11:50.902 --> 00:11:52.852
how I move through my communication.
00:11:53.112 --> 00:11:56.482
Can you educate us all on what you mean
by portals and how we can apply that?
00:11:56.541 --> 00:11:56.851
Yeah.
00:11:56.861 --> 00:12:01.941
So my definition of portal is
about how to begin an experience.
00:12:02.312 --> 00:12:07.722
And the idea is, is that a portal is
a way to transition people into an
00:12:07.722 --> 00:12:13.591
experience where the point of it is, is
that you are getting them ready for the
00:12:13.591 --> 00:12:15.971
most important parts of the experience.
00:12:16.032 --> 00:12:19.161
So you might start with a
bang, but you really don't.
00:12:19.341 --> 00:12:22.841
You just need to slowly
transition people into it.
00:12:23.332 --> 00:12:27.762
And a lot of this is based upon
Walt Disney Imagineering, and they
00:12:27.762 --> 00:12:31.831
actually use the word portal to
describe how to begin experiences.
00:12:32.071 --> 00:12:37.331
So when you are walking into the Disney
park, you go through a tunnel, and that
00:12:37.332 --> 00:12:41.542
tunnel even says, like, you're leaving
the current space you're in, and you're
00:12:41.542 --> 00:12:43.782
going into fantasy tomorrow and the past.
00:12:44.262 --> 00:12:50.741
And that transition time inside of
that tunnel and knowing the direction
00:12:50.741 --> 00:12:54.521
in which you're heading allows you
to sort of start transitioning.
00:12:54.652 --> 00:12:58.611
And then when you go on each of
the rides, they have these ways in
00:12:58.611 --> 00:13:02.901
which they ease you into the story
that is different for each ride.
00:13:03.152 --> 00:13:07.131
So in Buzz Lightyear, that is a ride where
you're gonna be on the ride and you're
00:13:07.141 --> 00:13:08.891
gonna be shooting this little laser gun.
00:13:09.161 --> 00:13:13.981
So the portal into that is a cartoony
intro in which Buzz Lightyear gives you
00:13:13.982 --> 00:13:16.421
a pep talk and they show you the targets.
00:13:16.851 --> 00:13:19.911
It's silly, high energy,
very focused, right?
00:13:20.082 --> 00:13:22.601
And you can think of,
like, a creativity warm-up.
00:13:22.771 --> 00:13:24.961
They're like, "We're gonna
be really active later in
00:13:24.961 --> 00:13:26.271
this meeting," so we do that.
00:13:26.582 --> 00:13:31.031
But the portal into Haunted Mansion is
very different because Haunted Mansion
00:13:31.071 --> 00:13:34.781
is a passive ride in which you're
gonna go through a haunted mansion
00:13:35.122 --> 00:13:38.211
and you're gonna look around and
you're supposed to look for details.
00:13:38.471 --> 00:13:42.862
And so the way that introduces you is
you walk through a graveyard noticing
00:13:42.862 --> 00:13:47.702
silly little jokes on the tombstones, and
then you get in the stretching elevator
00:13:47.702 --> 00:13:51.291
where your ghost host literally tells
you to look in different directions.
00:13:51.591 --> 00:13:54.241
And so it's facilitating
you into those things.
00:13:54.571 --> 00:14:00.542
And what they're doing in these portals is
they're doing three general psychological
00:14:00.552 --> 00:14:02.641
things that are overlapping but distinct.
00:14:02.821 --> 00:14:06.381
One, it's creating anticipation
for what's to come.
00:14:06.841 --> 00:14:10.782
Second, it's getting you in the
mindset shift, in the specific
00:14:10.782 --> 00:14:12.191
mindset you're supposed to be in that.
00:14:12.451 --> 00:14:18.211
And the third is it's previewing
the narrative for that experience.
00:14:18.251 --> 00:14:22.101
So it's not telling you the whole
story, but it's giving you enough
00:14:22.181 --> 00:14:25.802
into the narrative that you're ready
to be going, what Melanie Green
00:14:25.802 --> 00:14:27.242
would call narrative transportation.
00:14:28.310 --> 00:14:30.290
I think this is such a powerful idea.
00:14:30.699 --> 00:14:33.510
Many of us in our communication,
especially high-stakes communication,
00:14:33.510 --> 00:14:35.430
we focus on what's the message we want.
00:14:35.699 --> 00:14:38.270
We don't think about how do we
bring people to that message.
00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:40.079
And there are lots of ways to do it.
00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:43.139
You can think about the
calendar invite you send out.
00:14:43.180 --> 00:14:44.460
That can be a beginning.
00:14:44.699 --> 00:14:48.069
As you mentioned, in a meeting, you
can have some kind of icebreaker or
00:14:48.069 --> 00:14:52.200
activity to warm people up, as long as
it's somehow connected to what comes.
00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:54.819
What drives me nuts is where you do
some kind of icebreaker, and then
00:14:54.819 --> 00:14:56.230
the next task is totally unrelated.
00:14:56.920 --> 00:14:57.650
It's whiplash almost.
00:14:57.930 --> 00:14:58.760
It, it's, yeah, bad.
00:14:58.770 --> 00:15:02.319
The point of it is we need to activate
the right parts of the brain or the
00:15:02.319 --> 00:15:06.730
right memories for the task at hand,
and that's the point of a start.
00:15:06.869 --> 00:15:07.229
Yeah.
00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:11.069
And I liked, you know, I, I played with,
uh, the three components of what a good
00:15:11.069 --> 00:15:12.860
portal does to, to make it alliterative.
00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:15.009
It's the triple A. It's anticipation.
00:15:15.649 --> 00:15:16.579
It's approach.
00:15:16.719 --> 00:15:19.450
And then I couldn't come up
with anything besides altitude.
00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:21.809
It tells you what, what
level we're coming.
00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:27.430
So, and you can do this not just at the
beginning of, of your communication, but
00:15:27.430 --> 00:15:31.440
often in meetings you might need a portal
to bring you into another topic or area.
00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:36.689
I challenge everybody listening to
think about how can we look at this
00:15:36.689 --> 00:15:42.200
idea of portal, setting people up to be
successful in a way that really helps.
00:15:42.459 --> 00:15:45.309
You know, at the beginning of this
show, I try to do that, where I give
00:15:45.319 --> 00:15:48.669
a little bit of introductory idea
to help people orient to what it is.
00:15:48.969 --> 00:15:50.089
I really appreciate that.
00:15:50.089 --> 00:15:51.689
And, and Troy, I've
appreciated everything.
00:15:51.839 --> 00:15:54.049
We'll be right back to
finish our conversation.
00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:56.539
But first, a quick word
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And now, back to our conversation.
00:17:54.375 --> 00:17:57.355
As you well know, we always
end by asking three questions.
00:17:57.895 --> 00:18:00.895
One I make up just for you, and the
other two I've asked everybody, and I'll
00:18:00.895 --> 00:18:02.245
be curious to get your answers to that.
00:18:02.255 --> 00:18:02.956
Are you up for this?
00:18:02.995 --> 00:18:03.576
Let's do it.
00:18:03.656 --> 00:18:03.975
All right.
00:18:03.976 --> 00:18:07.795
So question number one, What's
the best piece of communication
00:18:07.795 --> 00:18:09.535
advice you've ever received?
00:18:09.855 --> 00:18:15.115
Um, so the best piece of communication
advice for me, it really was tailored
00:18:15.136 --> 00:18:19.565
well to me, uh, came from one of
my advisors in graduate school, Dr.
00:18:19.605 --> 00:18:21.046
Peter Ubel, and let me set this up.
00:18:21.495 --> 00:18:26.226
So I gave my talk on my dissertation,
and I went in and he sat me down and
00:18:26.226 --> 00:18:31.266
he said, "Troy, you're one of the most
joyful people I've ever met. Your name
00:18:31.266 --> 00:18:38.046
even rhymes with joy. Uh, you sign your
emails 'Enthusiastically, Troy,' every
00:18:38.046 --> 00:18:46.573
time, and your dissertation is literally
about why people enjoy things." And for 20
00:18:46.573 --> 00:18:50.214
minutes I never saw you smile once, right?
00:18:50.444 --> 00:18:55.174
And telling somebody to smile is not
always the best advice, but for me it was.
00:18:55.174 --> 00:18:58.863
Like, part of why people like
engaging with me is that I
00:18:58.863 --> 00:19:00.283
really love these things.
00:19:00.283 --> 00:19:03.813
I'm the behavioral scientist who
worked at Disney Imagineering.
00:19:03.833 --> 00:19:06.283
People want that energy and that joy.
00:19:06.283 --> 00:19:08.063
I'm literally delivering them on science.
00:19:08.063 --> 00:19:12.373
And so it's great advice for me,
but it's also, like, who you are and
00:19:12.373 --> 00:19:16.033
what you are delivering, when you
can match that, it works really well.
00:19:16.303 --> 00:19:20.523
Yeah, so striving for congruence between
how you feel about something and how
00:19:20.524 --> 00:19:22.083
you deliver are really important.
00:19:22.153 --> 00:19:25.613
And, and I'm glad you got that
advice because you do, uh,
00:19:25.634 --> 00:19:27.314
radiate joy and excitement.
00:19:27.754 --> 00:19:31.723
Um, question number two, who's a
communicator that you admire and why?
00:19:31.823 --> 00:19:36.183
So one person who I really, really
like in that space is Bong Joon Ho.
00:19:36.313 --> 00:19:40.423
He is the director of the Oscar-winning
film Parasite, and also other films
00:19:40.423 --> 00:19:46.493
like The Host and Snowpiercer, and
he is so good at using direction.
00:19:46.863 --> 00:19:50.264
So in the movie Parasite, uh, if
you've seen it, the rich people live
00:19:50.264 --> 00:19:54.134
on the hill and the poor people live
literally down the hill and in the
00:19:54.134 --> 00:19:59.563
basement, and he uses that up and down
constantly for storytelling purposes.
00:19:59.843 --> 00:20:04.513
In Snowpiercer, it's a movie that
takes entirely place on a train, and
00:20:04.513 --> 00:20:08.413
so one direction is always the back
of the train, one direction of frame
00:20:08.413 --> 00:20:09.814
is always the front of the train.
00:20:09.854 --> 00:20:13.753
It's a metaphor, but it's also
spatial and it's so wonderful.
00:20:14.093 --> 00:20:19.083
And after watching a video essay by Every
Frame a Painting on the movie Snowpiercer,
00:20:19.323 --> 00:20:24.424
I was just like, "I should just be using
space for everything I do." And so I
00:20:24.424 --> 00:20:27.624
used to be a person who walked around
on stage, but just to bring energy.
00:20:27.753 --> 00:20:32.924
Now I walk, and when I move between parts
of my story I now am in a new position.
00:20:33.174 --> 00:20:35.324
I'll assign different parts of the stage.
00:20:35.324 --> 00:20:38.094
Sometimes when I'm being more
avant-garde, it's like this is, this
00:20:38.094 --> 00:20:41.504
is the scientific mind part, and
this is the artistic heart part, and
00:20:41.504 --> 00:20:45.323
this is just me in the middle, Troy,
telling you how I actually feel, right?
00:20:45.344 --> 00:20:50.974
And just the ability to use space
to tell story is amazing, and it's
00:20:50.974 --> 00:20:53.893
just so wonderful to watch movies
'cause I get new ideas all the time.
00:20:54.583 --> 00:20:58.633
I like that idea of, of observing other
forms of communication to teach you,
00:20:58.684 --> 00:21:02.523
uh, how to be better, but that use of
space is really important because you're
00:21:02.533 --> 00:21:04.533
signaling and sending lots of information.
00:21:04.543 --> 00:21:10.433
Human beings are wired to pay attention
to space, uh, and location, and doing
00:21:10.433 --> 00:21:12.423
that consciously I think adds a lot.
00:21:12.464 --> 00:21:15.263
And, and I really appreciate that
you do a nice job of bringing
00:21:15.264 --> 00:21:16.654
science and art together.
00:21:17.453 --> 00:21:20.643
Final question, what are the first
three ingredients that go into a
00:21:20.644 --> 00:21:22.594
successful communication recipe?
00:21:22.944 --> 00:21:26.164
Yeah, so, uh, since we've been talking
about, a lot about storytelling,
00:21:26.174 --> 00:21:27.553
I'll do mine that's based on that.
00:21:27.573 --> 00:21:30.673
And it's cause, character,
and change, right?
00:21:31.043 --> 00:21:33.263
And just those together is really simple.
00:21:33.264 --> 00:21:37.314
If you're like, "Oh, I need to make
this data presentation more important,"
00:21:37.314 --> 00:21:38.333
okay, what are my characters?
00:21:38.333 --> 00:21:39.473
What's causing them to act?
00:21:39.473 --> 00:21:40.723
What can we do to then change?
00:21:40.973 --> 00:21:44.643
If you're stumbling on just, like,
a story about your own past, it's
00:21:44.643 --> 00:21:50.383
like, okay, what caused me to change
my mind about something, right?
00:21:50.554 --> 00:21:52.833
And all of a sudden you have a story.
00:21:53.073 --> 00:21:56.503
It's just three little tiny bits
of things that can do so much.
00:21:57.024 --> 00:21:58.273
Cause, character, change.
00:21:58.274 --> 00:22:00.053
You know I'm gonna love it
'cause it's alliterative.
00:22:00.423 --> 00:22:04.435
Interestingly I don't know that the
order of that matters if you're
00:22:04.435 --> 00:22:07.246
trying to get it, uh, to initiate
a story or move a story forward.
00:22:07.246 --> 00:22:08.936
But you need the three
ingredients together.
00:22:08.946 --> 00:22:09.266
Yeah.
00:22:09.446 --> 00:22:15.335
And our, so our brains can, our brains
understand narrative causal structures,
00:22:15.366 --> 00:22:17.696
and they don't need to be told in order.
00:22:18.085 --> 00:22:22.556
And, uh, my friend James Antony does a
lot of neuroscience research, and how
00:22:22.565 --> 00:22:27.196
he, he finds how people connect things
and remember things and pair things in
00:22:27.196 --> 00:22:29.806
the brain based upon causal connections.
00:22:29.815 --> 00:22:34.025
So if you're watching something, you can
watch, you know, a episode of Friends
00:22:34.335 --> 00:22:39.376
and they're, you put all your, "Okay,
this character is in this plot, and I'm
00:22:39.376 --> 00:22:42.945
connecting it here, and I'm connecting
these plots." Or you can watch an
00:22:42.946 --> 00:22:46.225
episode of, like, How I Met Your Mother
that's often told out of order, but
00:22:46.225 --> 00:22:48.295
your brain can put that all together.
00:22:48.615 --> 00:22:54.706
Your brain is obsessed with
understanding characters.
00:22:54.775 --> 00:22:59.956
It's a social, you're a social creature,
and it processes things in logics.
00:23:00.126 --> 00:23:04.376
And so when you have characters
in logical causations, you're just
00:23:04.376 --> 00:23:05.586
gonna reach the brain so well.
00:23:06.356 --> 00:23:08.735
So well put, as was
everything that you shared.
00:23:09.015 --> 00:23:10.396
Troy, thank you for your time.
00:23:10.396 --> 00:23:13.485
Thank you for your insights,
and thank you personally for
00:23:13.506 --> 00:23:15.065
impacting the way I communicate.
00:23:15.665 --> 00:23:15.945
Awesome.
00:23:15.945 --> 00:23:20.215
Well, it has been great to be on this,
and, uh, I love what you do here.
00:23:20.286 --> 00:23:24.475
I love that you also create some
of the best type of content that we
00:23:24.475 --> 00:23:26.165
can deliver to our students, right?
00:23:26.225 --> 00:23:31.065
You can start a class with a clip
from your podcast and really get a ton
00:23:31.065 --> 00:23:34.216
of information and get the students
excited to engage in something.
00:23:34.225 --> 00:23:34.636
Well, thank you.
00:23:34.636 --> 00:23:35.415
I appreciate that.
00:23:35.615 --> 00:23:37.966
Thank you for joining us
for another episode of Think
00:23:37.966 --> 00:23:39.865
Fast, Talk Smart, the Podcast.
00:23:40.205 --> 00:23:42.965
To learn more about creative ways
to communicate, please listen to
00:23:42.966 --> 00:23:45.416
episode 156 with Scott Doorley.
00:23:45.985 --> 00:23:50.505
This episode was produced by Katherine
Reed, Ryan Campos, and me, Matt Abrahams.
00:23:50.716 --> 00:23:52.275
Our music is from Floyd Wonder.
00:23:52.275 --> 00:23:54.875
With special thanks to the
Podium Podcast Company.
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