Lead with a character, not a point

Open with a specific person in a specific situation before you state your argument.

Why it works

Transportation into a narrative requires a perspective to inhabit. A named, specific character gives the listener a protagonist slot to occupy, activating perspective-taking circuits that increase empathy and reduce counter-arguing. Abstract arguments provide no such hook — the listener stays outside the frame and evaluates rather than experiences.

How to do it

1. Open with one specific person: name, role, or a vivid identifying detail — not "a typical employee" but a concrete case.
2. Place them in a specific situation before any claim is made: "On a Tuesday morning in January, Sara was…"
3. Resist the urge to headline your point first; let the character and situation create the need for it.

Evidence

Green & Brock (2000) established that narrative transportation is driven by imagery and engagement with characters; highly transported readers showed greater story-consistent attitude change and less counter-arguing. (observational)

Transportation research is mostly lab-based with fictional narratives; real-world persuasive storytelling has additional complexity (credibility, relationship, stakes).

Sources

• Green & Brock (2000), The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Common mistake

Opening with an anecdote and then immediately summarizing the point it illustrates — which breaks the transportation spell before it forms.