In 2015, a poll by YouGov found that 41% of Americans believed dinosaurs and humans once lived on Earth at the same time. That’s despite over a century of scientific evidence to the contrary.
It’s easy to laugh – until you realise how little impact facts have when people’s beliefs are already fixed.
As Robert Cialdini wrote in classic book Influence, “To change feelings, counteract them with other feelings.” You won’t shift someone’s thinking with stats alone.
If someone didn’t arrive at their view through logic, logic won’t lead them away from it.
That’s why storytelling matters.
Facts and figures help explain scale, timelines and impact. But they rarely change minds. Share a number someone doesn’t trust, and they’ll go searching for one they do.
A story, though, is different. A real, human example is hard to ignore. You can’t debate someone’s lived experience. You can’t refute something they’ve felt.
Stories bypass resistance. They make people care. And once they care, they listen.
So if you want to persuade – don’t lead with data. Anchor it in a story.
Timeless Presenter, my new book on the principles of communication that never expire, will be released soon.
If you’d like to be notified when it’s out, you can join the early access list here.