Is your message compelling? Would you be granted an audience? Or would you be executed in the Game of Thrones? In the Game of Communication, here are some things you must know to succeed. Excerpt from Thought Leader Launch by Aurora Winter. Get your gift book here today.)
The wrong message can make you lose a sale, lose opportunities, or lose your head. The right message delivered the right way by the right messenger can trigger an avalanche of benefits—fame, fortune, income, investment, market share, growth, and more.
People make a big mistake when they believe the message they send is the message that is received. Smart people think if they send the equivalent of a verbal “Excel spreadsheet” to another intelligent person, that their message is going to be opened with Excel. That is not what happens.
Ideas are viruses. So the listener needs to do a “virus scan.” But doing a virus scan is a bother, so first, the listener has to decide if your message is worth the effort—if the juice is worth the squeeze.
All this happens subconsciously in the flash of a few seconds, and it is based upon the way our brains evolved.
Croc Brain
Our reptilian brain, or “croc brain,” evolved first. It is responsible for the initial filtering of messages. It has strong, primal emotions and is responsible for keeping us safe and alive. (The reptilian brain includes the brainstem and cerebellum, and is reliable but somewhat rigid and compulsive. It evolved 250 million years ago in reptiles.) You need to get past this ancient gatekeeper.
An easy way to remember this is to picture a castle with a moat around it. The moat is teeming with crocodiles. You’re like a knight riding upon a snow-white horse with an urgent letter to deliver to the King and Queen residing inside this castle.
You need to get past this crocodile and get the drawbridge to come down, granting you access. First, you need to get attention. The croc brain is alert for danger. If you’re too dangerous, the drawbridge will not come down. If you’re too boring, obvious, or predictable, the drawbridge will not come down. You cannot be like every other messenger who has come by this week.
You need to trigger enough tension to attract attention. But not so much tension as to trigger fear. You need to entice the drawbridge to come down by showing that you have something interesting, new, worthwhile, valuable. The croc brain responds to primal messages: food, sex, danger. Like a crow, it likes shiny objects and baubles.
If you succeed, the drawbridge comes down, and you can prompt your horse to trot over it. You’re now past the fortified outer walls. But you do not yet have an audience with the King and Queen. You have to face the next challenge: the mid-brain.
Mid-Brain
In human evolution, the mid-brain was next to appear. Humans are not strong or fast. We do not have sharp claws or teeth. To survive as a species, we needed to band together. Alone, we perished. Together, we thrived.
The mid-brain remembers agreeable and disagreeable experiences from the past and makes value judgments about the meaning of social situations. (It evolved 150 million years ago in mammals, and includes the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus.)
Mounted on your horse, you trot into the courtyard, bearing your important message for the King and Queen. Inside the courtyard are the garrison, stables, workshops, and homes of knights and nobility. You need to pass the social “sniff test” here before you are allowed to go to meet the King and Queen in the inner sanctum.
The social mid-brain is alert to status, power, and influence. It checks if you, as a knight, have enough status to see the King and Queen. Does your message have status—is it from another King or Queen? Who else thinks this message is important? Is this a Trojan horse—or can this message be trusted?
The social mid-brain rapidly assesses status, authority, trust. Gatekeepers have been specifically instructed not to send any message up to the King and Queen unless it is important, new, and exciting. If you fail this test, you will be ousted from the castle (and fed to the crocodiles). In ancient times, being outcast meant certain death.
If you pass this test, you will be granted a brief audience with the King and Queen.
Luckily, you succeed, so a stable boy takes your horse, and you mount the stairs to the castle keep, flanked by knights who remain alert to your every move.
Neocortex
The palace doors swing open, and you’re ushered into the throne room. The King and Queen have deigned to hear your message. But if you’ve watched Game of Thrones, you know that you cannot assume this audience will last long—or that it is without danger.
Finally, you can deliver your message to the King and Queen: the neocortex. This is the part of the brain that can understand your message and take action on it. The neocortex is where we process language, ideas, abstract thought, imagination, and innovation. (Our sophisticated problem-solving neocortex appeared about three million years ago in primates.)
If you maintain interest, you will be granted a more extended audience. If you drone on, you will be abruptly cut off (and fed to the crocodiles).
The neocortex is divided into a left brain and right brain, the King and Queen in this metaphor, which processes information differently. One side of the brain tends to be more linear and logical, the other side more holistic and creative. Every person, regardless of sex, has both hemispheres. When you’re delivering your message, you’ll have the most success by addressing both hemispheres and maintaining the interest of both the King and the Queen.
Communication is a core skill for success today. As Chris Anderson, Head of TED wrote in TED Talks: “Presentation literacy isn’t an optional extra for the few. It’s a core skill for the twenty-first century. It’s the most impactful way to share who you are and what you care about. If you can learn to do it, your self-confidence will flourish, and you may be amazed at the beneficial impact it can have on your life, however you might choose to define that.”
People have been telling stories around the campfire for years. Today, show business, public speaking, and pitching capture our attention using story-telling, intrigue, prizing, revelation, human interest, surprise, reversals, and more.
A movie is an idea wrapped in emotion, and so is an excellent talk or pitch. People don’t buy with logic. They buy with emotion. They buy stories. But first—they have to buy you, your team, and your vision.
Once you have your message, it is vital to practice under pressure. This produces a great message and a confident, polished messenger.
People don’t buy with logic. They buy with emotion. They buy stories. But first—they have to buy you, your vision, and your team.
My newest book “Thought Leader Launch: 7 Ways to Make 7 Figures With Your Million-Dollar Message” shares ways that you can develop and monetize your message. Get your FREE softcover book here for a limited time: https://www.thoughtleaderlaunch.com
Aurora Winter, MBA, Trainer, TV writer-producer, Author “Thought Leader Launch” and 5 other books. www.AuroraWinter.com
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