Cognitive Design

Our brains are hardwired to process verbal messages in specific ways. Recent research, suggests that one of those ways has us believe a speaker more when we sense that they have the ability to act on the message they offer.  This is one reason change agents insist that messages about big company transformations come from top leaders. Employees naturally believe top leaders are the only ones capable of producing such change.

It is important to note that this effect is nearly immediate and based in neurophysiology not psychological-level dynamics.  You can count on it every time.

Having the power to act on what you say has an immediate and deep impact on how well you will persuade listeners, especially when you are telling them about something new.The implication is clear – taking the time to make listeners aware of your social status and potency to act as it relates to the matter at hand is essential for influence.  Try this out the next time you are introducing someone to a group or using a story to illustrate a point.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 10th, 2013 at 11:41 am and is filed under Cognitive Bias. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.