Two video clips recently came in over the transom from readers. Both illustrate the power of storytelling and qualify as good weekend fare for the Storyboard.

The first was forwarded to us by a reader of a post on Gigaom.com that looks at memory and story, with a focus on a career applications. In this first part of a BBC video from 2006, Andi Bell, a world record-holder for memory, uses a story to recall the exact placement of each card in six full decks in 20 minutes.

The second clip was passed along by Tommy Tomlinson of The Charlotte Observer (we’ll be hearing more from Tommy later this month). In it, we see Lucas G., a scriptwriter for the French company Canal+, use a story for what would probably not qualify as narrative nonfiction.

The takeaway for journalism? Storytelling can make your readers hold on to important information about the world that they might not remember from other kinds of reporting. And even at the most difficult times, a well-told story can entertain and distract.