Neuroscience has a lot to say about how we should communicate

 

How do you communicate a complex idea without exploding heads?

Many neuroscience studies show we retain a tiny fraction of the communications we encounter. Our brains have less RAM than a 1984 Mac Plus. Our brains summarily dump the vast majority of information coming at us every day in order not to crash. So how do you make sure your message is the tiny fraction that hit’s its mark?

First, realize your customer’s brain will not grow larger because you have a lot to communicate. Next, understand the job of communication is to CONNECT more than it is to be comprehensive. If connecting is your goal, I suggest focusing on what you can remove from the message vs. add.

Building your case around a single big idea is far easier for your audience to internalize than a laundry list of anything.

If you cannot wrap everything you have to say around a big single momentous point, then dumb it down to no more than three big points. Find the topics burning in your audience’s mind, then collapse everything else you want to say as supporting statements to these points.

Great communicators are reductionists. When you perform brutal edits to your message, you increase its digestibility while all the metrics of engagement jump.

Simple is hard, but will always reward those who prioritize simplicity in their communications.