Next level communicators use Post-it notes on their audiences' brains.
Next level communicators use Post-it notes on their audiences' brains.
Let me explain…
In February of 2009, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, took to the stage and addressed some of the biggest leaders in the tech industry. Not long into his talk he announced that Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. Hardly new information, right? What he did next would go down in history as one of the most attention grabbing things a speaker has ever done. Gates pulled out a jar filled with mosquitoes, told his listeners he was going to let them loose, because as everyone knows, he said, only poor people get malaria. Seeing he had the auditorium locked in, he said he was just kidding, and besides, the mosquitoes were malaria free. Gates would go on to give an empathetic talk on how millions of people die every year from the disease, and what we could do about it.
This was a moment people would never forget. Communication experts would call this the moment where Bill Gates hooked his audience. Neuroscientist’s refer to what Gates did as an “emotionally charged” event. And if we are trying to persuade our audience to do something, then we as communicators have to figure out ways to create these emotionally charged moments in our talks.
The science behind emotionally charged moments
Meet John Medina, a molecular scientist and an expert on the effects of emotionally charged events on the brain. He says, “An emotionally charged event is the best-processed kind of external stimulus ever measured. Emotionally charged events persist longer in our memories and are recalled with greater accuracy than neutral memories. The amygdala is chock-full of the neurotransmitter dopamine, and it uses dopamine the way an office assistant uses Post-it notes…Because dopamine greatly aids memory and information processing, you could say the Post-it note reads, ‘Remember This!’” (John Medina, Brain Rules, page 80).
Real heady stuff I know (pun intended), so let’s bring it down a notch. Some of us can tell you exactly where we were when the planes hit the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. My parents talk in detail about what they were doing when they heard the news of Dr. King’s assassination. My grandparents could talk vividly about where they were and how they were feeling when they heard Pearl Harbor was bombed. And all of us as parents can remember with great clarity the events of our children being born. Why do we remember these things, and struggle to recall others? Because all of the moments I just shared with you are what John Medina calls “emotionally charged” events; and when they happened a Post-it note was stuck to our brains.
Yeh but how?
I have found the following categories to be helpful in creating emotionally charged moments so that our audiences can connect to our talks:
Sticky statements. President John Kennedy once proclaimed we will put a man on the moon. Stewart Brand made a bold prediction in his talk that, “We will get wooly mammoths back.” And I once said in a message, “The church doesn’t need old people”. I let that hang a bit, created a sense of panic, and then finished by saying, “But we do need patriarch’s and matriarch’s.” Wordsmith the right statement, so that it elicits some kind of feeling, and you’re on your way to slapping a Post-it note on the listener's brains.
Compelling images. In 1996, a black woman by the name of Keshia Thomas used her body to shield a member of the KKK, as a mob was gathering to harm him. I gave a talk on forgiveness, and how the blood of Christ covers us. I then set up the image, and at just the right moment had the audience look at it. “Quiet” doesn’t even begin to describe the room. It was an emotionally charged event, helping to persuade the audience.
Personal stories. In a previous post we talked about the science of stories and their effect on the brain. Nothing like a compelling, well told story.
Props. The right prop can provoke humor, or deep contemplation and most importantly both. Props may not be your thing, but great communicators never forget the various learning styles in the room, and they work hard to connect to as many of them as possible.
What I am reading
Why We Love Football, Joe Posnanski
Help is Here: Finding Fresh Strength and Purpose in the Power of the Holy Spirit, Max Lucado
