The power of persuasion explained by neuroscience

Recent brain research and the rapid development of neuroscience are revealing more and more about how to express oneself persuasively. Applied to leaders and companies, these advances provide keys to effectively convey a message and make a stronger impression!

In an age where we are constantly bombarded by millions of pieces of information and our mobile phones fill every moment of boredom, attention is the grail for anyone who wants to convey a message, whether they are a speaker, novelist or advertiser. Leaders and companies are looking for ways to know how effective their words are and what means can be used to engage their audiences. However, measuring attention is still difficult today. This is why neuroscience, with the birth of new analysis systems and more affordable solutions, both technically and financially, offers the possibility of better understanding our fascination with certain speakers and stories.

And these advances are increasingly finding concrete applications in the business world, as demonstrated by the American start-up SPARK Neuro. The latter measures our attention and engagement using headsets that produce electroencephalograms, i.e. recordings of the brain's electrical activity in real time. Working for brands such as Netflix and Toyota, she determines which advertising campaigns optimise audience engagement and thus the reception of the message transmitted. Her projects are based on scientific knowledge that reveals the power of persuasion behind the scenes.

The change

In his latest book, Robert McKee, one of the leading experts in storytelling, writes in his book Storynomics "And what catches the eye? Change". Neuroscience confirms that change is an effective way to arouse curiosity and engage an audience. When humans first appeared, deep in the animal kingdom, they reacted to changes in their environment to survive and adapt to a hostile environment. This attention to change is a symptom of the persistence of this instinct. This is why stories and words where there are many actions, ruptures or surprises make a stronger impression.

According to the results of SPARK Neuro, simple variations in the voice or in the music that composes an advertisement can increase the degree of attention of the interlocutors. For example, silences set the rhythm of speeches by underlining the importance of what is to follow or of what has just been said. In the same way, variations in tone, volume and speed are all ways of actively engaging an audience. Change highlights what is important.

The importance of emotions

Neuroscience also provides evidence that we do not make decisions solely on rational and analytical grounds. Both Antonio Damasio's and Daniel Goleman's work on emotional intelligence show that emotions play a major role in our decision-making processes. In other words, to persuade an audience, it is necessary to appeal to emotions, which the Greeks already called pathos.

There is also an abundance of literature showing how narratives, storytelling, promote effective message transmission, memorization and learning. Scientists have shown that every strong emotion (what is called a hyper-emotion), whether pleasant or not, makes a stronger and more lasting impression on the mind (hyper-memory phenomenon). And even more powerful, the researcher Raymond Mar shows that the emotions transmitted through fictions are very contagious, they are quickly transmitted from individual to individual, source of federation and unity.

THE 5 SENSES

Finally, neuroscience has shown that engaging multiple senses, such as hearing and sight, maximises attention and engagement. This is why simple visual aids, such as photos (rather than long paragraphs), or the use of metaphors referring to everyday experiences, are excellent ways of making a stronger impression.

Highlighting changes, emotions and appealing to our five senses allows us to speak in a way that maximises our chances of persuading people and making an impression on them. These truths, proven by science, must be at the heart of presentations made by leaders in companies or advertising campaigns.