Strategically Communicating

“We become, neurologically, what we think.” This sentence, found on page 33 of Nicholas Carr’s ‘The Shallows,’ is the key to understanding how powerful effective communication can be. It also highlights the power effective communicators have at their fingertips.

The ability to craft messages that make people think, or as the Elaboration Likelihood Model states, allows a viewer to process information along a central route which actively re-wires them neurologically. Whether it is relatively innocent, like crafting an advertisement that convinces someone they need that new Honda, or strong arguments that dictators and politicians use to nudge your neurons into falling in line with their beliefs, or to fan the flames of motivation. One of the most famous, inspirational speeches was made by Winston Churchill during World War 2. These words inspired those who lost their lives defending Britain.

It’s important that we, as professional communicators, those who plan and create these messages, realize that we need to craft communication carefully. We must do our best to understand the effects of communication on our audiences. Because, as we’ve read it’s not just simply attitudes that can change..but the physiology of the brain itself.

Effective communication are the hands that mold the clay of our minds.