The Neuroscience of Narrative: How to Make Your Audience Feel

The Neuroscience of Narrative: How to Make Your Audience Feel

Everything was quiet. There was a chill in the air—this always signaled the beginning...

Curious? You’ve probably heard the term "hook." Otherwise known as change. All good stories begin with change—unexpected change, the threat of change—it’s what captures us. Our brains are wired to seek change. A well-told story unfolds as a sequence of cause and effect. Open the nearest book to you. How does it start? What is the opening line? I bet it evokes excitement or intrigue—otherwise known as effectance: the anticipation of what happens next, which incites the pursuit of knowledge. Arguably the most important attribute we are born with. I said arguably, not definitely. Either way, as humans, we have to know what happens next.

We’ve hooked the brain’s attention—but how do we make it care? The answer lies in something humans have done for millennia: storytelling through connection. And one of the most powerful forms of connection? Gossip.

In my previous blog post on the history of storytelling, I wrote about its origins—cavemen sitting around the fire, sharing stories. This ritual was essential to survival. There is another word for this, something that we are probably all very familiar with: gossip.

Anthropologist Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary psychology professor at Oxford, proposed that gossip played a crucial role in human evolution. He defined gossip broadly as discussing social topics and found that roughly 65% of human conversations in public spaces revolved around it. Why? Because gossip functioned as a tool for maintaining social order. As human societies grew, people needed an efficient way to reinforce social norms and call out bad behavior. Without gossip, order within large groups would break down. But gossip isn’t just about entertainment—it’s about enforcing values.

This is due to something called moral outrage—the true lifeblood that guides us through life and, similarly, through storytelling.

We are all born with a moral compass. When we hear about someone doing something awful, it strikes that compass. You hear about a man who hits a puppy—moral outrage. You hear a story about a man who rescues a puppy—positive moral outcome. Selfishness vs. selflessness: the two forces that drive moral judgment. This same dynamic plays out in every great story—villains embody selfishness, while heroes represent selflessness. And our brains are wired to take sides.

It’s simple: selfish and powerful vs. selfless and vulnerable. Who would you root for?

Now, we’re capturing attention with change, cause, and effect. But why do we feel so deeply when a hero triumphs or a villain falls? The answer lies in our biology—specifically, the hormones that shape our emotions.

Enter hormones…

Hormones are chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream and regulate various bodily functions. And in our use case, certain hormones are released into the body through specific stages in stories.

• Oxytocin—the “love hormone”—makes you feel more human. It induces trust, generosity, empathy, and a sense of bonding and belonging, making us more likely to connect with characters and their experiences.

• Dopamine—a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, and motivation. When released, it activates our learning systems, making us feel pleasure, excitement, and motivation. That’s why it’s often called the “reward” chemical. Dopamine makes your audience really feel something. It enhances focus, memory, and motivation. You can trigger dopamine with a hook, a twist—something unexpected that piques interest.

• Endorphins—the brain’s “feel-good” chemicals. They play a crucial role in how we connect with stories. When a story evokes emotions like joy, suspense, or empathy, our brains release endorphins. These chemicals not only make us feel good but also strengthen our emotional connection to the story and its characters. A heartwarming tale of kindness can trigger endorphins, making the audience feel more connected to the message and the storyteller.

And there are so many more; I will explore them in more depth at a later stage.

So let’s put it all together:

Everything was quiet. There was a chill in the air—this always signaled the beginning...

The siren rang out across the once-bustling city, now eerily silent. Jenna pressed her back against the cold brick wall, heart pounding. She wasn’t supposed to be out this late. Her mother had warned her—begged her—not to leave so close to the cutoff. But she had no choice. Her brother wouldn’t survive much longer without his medicine.

Dizzy with fear, she took a deep breath. Then, she ran.

Final thoughts

Perhaps my favorite thing about storytelling is that it reminds me that we are all connected. We share the same fundamental motivations—love, survival, purpose—and through storytelling, we can elicit emotions from total strangers simply through human connection and shared experience. That, to me, is beautiful. I’m deeply fascinated by quantum physics, quantum entanglement, and the laws of energy, and I strongly feel that we are all, indeed, connected. When we watch a hero go through a process, we feel like we become them. We relate, understand, and root for them. We feel a sense of relief when they come out on top. If the story is well told and everyone has done their jobs, we come out at the end of a film or book feeling like we’ve also learned a lesson, grown, or—perhaps—feel like 007, now all we need is that beautiful Cartier watch... Subliminal messaging and product placement—now that’s a topic for another time.

I’ve moved through this subject quickly. With years of study, an entire evolution of humankind, and scientists dedicating decades to understanding this, the complexity of human connection can’t be summed up in a few paragraphs. But I wanted to give a broad overview. Even if you skimmed through this, perhaps you took something away that will help you connect with your audience.

Our focus has always been on providing an experience—using sound, silence, immersive visuals, and powerful storytelling to take them on a journey. Next, I'd like to jump into a topic that’s been at the forefront of my mind: the evolution of XR. So that’s where we’re heading next… see you there.