Your brain on stories

What if I told you that your audience's brain is working against you?

The human brain processes about 11 million bits of information per second, but we can only consciously handle about 40. It's wired for survival, not for consuming LinkedIn thought leadership. It's filtering out 99% of what it encounters because it has to.

So when you're crafting a story, remember that you're not just competing for attention, you're competing with every other stimulus fighting for those 40 precious bits of conscious processing.

The voices that get the most attention will be better at triggering the right neurochemical responses (read: authenticity, understanding, vulnerability, meaning). And once you understand how dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin work, you can't unsee it in every piece of effective communication you encounter.

Dopamine: The "What's In It For Me" Chemical

Dopamine is your brain's reward system. It fires when you anticipate something good is about to happen (not when you get it, but when you expect it).

This is why clickbait works and YouTube cover images matter. When you lead with curiosity, tension, or an unexpected insight, you're triggering dopamine. Your reader's brain thinks, "something valuable might be coming. Stay tuned."

One warning: a good hook can also work against you if you forget to close the reward loop. If you trigger dopamine with a hook and then deliver generic advice, it can train readers’ brains to not trust your hooks in the future. In order to train the brain to want to come back, you need to give it a reward by closing the loop with some of the juicy details promised up-front (read: shit-posting breaks trust).

Serotonin: The Status Chemical

Serotonin gets released when we feel respected, valued, or recognized. It's the chemical behind why we care about titles, awards, and social proof.

In storytelling terms, this is why name-dropping works (when done right). When you reference respected figures, successful frameworks, or prestigious affiliations, you're triggering the reader's serotonin. They think: "This person moves in circles I respect. Their insights might elevate my status too."

You can also trigger serotonin by making your audience feel smart.

When you explain a complex concept in a way that makes someone think "Oh, I get it now!", that releases serotonin. They feel competent, elevated, and like they're part of an in-group that understands things others don't.

This is why simple language is better. Don’t think of simple language as dumbing things down, think of it as making people feel intelligent by helping them grasp something quickly. The founder who explains their complex AI infrastructure in terms any investor can understand isn't being simplistic. It means they're giving their audience a serotonin hit by making them feel capable of understanding sophisticated concepts.

So strip the jargon and make complex ideas feel accessible. Every time someone thinks "I'm smart enough to understand this," you're building loyalty.

Endorphins: The Laughter Chemical

Endorphins are your brain's natural painkillers. We all know they get released during exercise, but did you know they also get released during laughter?

This is why humor is such an underrated tool in professional communication. It's not about being funny for funny's sake. It's about creating a moment of relief, of connection, of "this person gets it."

When you make someone laugh, even just a small exhale-through-the-nose laugh, you're chemically associating your message with reduced stress. Their brain starts to think that "reading this person's content feels good."

The trick to this is that the humor has to be inclusive, not exclusive. The best professional humor targets shared frustrations, universal truths, or gently pokes at the absurdity of common situations. It makes people feel like they're in on the joke, and not the butt of it.

So go on, find the absurdity in your industry's sacred cows and don't be afraid to laugh things off every now and then.

Oxytocin: The Trust Chemical

Oxytocin is released during human bonding. So, it shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that your brain can release oxytocin from hearing a story.

When you share personal experiences, especially vulnerable ones, the listener's brain mirrors your emotional state. This is why founder origin stories can be so powerful when done right. But – and this is crucial – the story has to be real because your brain can detect inauthenticity. We've evolved to spot fake emotional signals because our survival depended on knowing who to trust.

This is why AI-generated founder stories always feel hollow. They hit the narrative messages, but they lack the messy, specific details that trigger oxytocin. The brain knows something's off.

Oxytocin is also released when you feel understood. When someone articulates exactly what you've been thinking but couldn't quite express, that's an oxytocin moment: "finally, someone gets it."

So share specific, vulnerable, real moments and articulate the unspoken frustrations your audience feels. Always remember that you need to make them feel understood before you try to teach them anything.

Most personal branding advice focuses on what to say, the story to tell, framework to share, and content to create. But if you understand neurochemistry, you realize the real question is: how do I want people's brains to feel when they encounter my work?

Here's how the most effective storytellers trigger all four chemicals consistently:

1. Start with tension or curiosity (dopamine) Your opening should make people's brains perk up. Use a contrarian statement, an unexpected statistic, or a provocative question. Train their brains to anticipate value from your content.

2. Make them feel smart (serotonin) Break down complex concepts. Strip the jargon. Give them frameworks they can immediately use. Every time they think "I get it now," you're building loyalty.

3. Make them feel good (endorphins) Find moments of levity. Acknowledge the absurd. Be willing to laugh at yourself. You're not a comedian – you're just a human having a conversation with other humans.

4. Make them feel understood (oxytocin) Share real stories. Articulate their frustrations before they can. Show vulnerability. Let them see the messy middle of how you arrived at the polished outcome.

When you consistently hit these four chemical triggers, people start to feel something when they see your name. Before they've even read your post, their brain is already releasing a small dose of anticipation chemicals because you've trained it to associate your content with good feelings.

Here's a few thought-starters on how to communicate with customers, investors, and employees to drive deeper connections through what you can teach.

For LinkedIn posts:

For longer content:

For founder storytelling:

You can become a more effective storyteller just by focusing on how the brain digests, interprets, and reacts to information.

Remember that your audience's brains are just trying to survive in an environment of infinite inputs. Your best chance for connection is to make brains feel something: anticipated value, elevated status, momentary relief, genuine understanding.