One day in high school, I passed out.
During geography, on my school desk.
The lesson was about the Maasai, a nomadic tribe in Eastern Africa. One of the Maasai traditions is bloodletting.
A Maasai selects a cow from his herd. He ties the neck with a belt. Then he shoots the cow in the neck with bow and arrow, causing the cow to bleed. He collects the blood in a gourd.
When the gourd is filled with about half a liter of blood, the Maasai pinches the wound edges together. This stops the bleeding. The Maasai adds milk to the blood and drinks it.
I had a teacher who expressed himself very visually. And I couldn’t stand blood.
Before the milk came in, I was knocked out on the table.
This anecdote shows how strong the effect of a good story can be. You’re drawn into a world and have an emotional reaction on what you’re picturing in your mind. And sometimes even a physical one. 😉
You probably don’t want your audience to faint.
But if you want to get your message across, emotional involvement really helps. You achieve this involvement with a visual description full of sensory details. With blood and milk.
Regards,
Arnaud