Unscrambling the brain: the science behind communication

Strong communication is a key part of every PR campaign. SuzanneEllis, director at reputation management consultancy Lansons was a speaker at last month’s PROIseminar and said, “At a time when we are constantly bombarded with information,it is more important than ever that communications cuts through the noise.”

Honest and powerful communication connects directly with anaudience, but how best can we deliver this communication to provide the bestexperience for our customers?

The answer — neurocomms.

The science behindcommunication

Neurocomms is the application of neuroscience in communications,a concept founded by Dr Helena Boschi, a psychologist who focuses on appliedneuroscience in the workplace and author of Why We Do What WeDo, an introduction to neuroscience and the first book published by Lansons.Explaining how our brains resist change because change represents uncertainty, shesays, “Although many of today’s threats are no longer life-or-death situations,our brain still protects us as if they were just that.”

Ellis, who contributed to Why We Do What We Do, further comments in CommunicateMagazine on the importance of neurocomms and how understanding the way wecommunicate can add value to businesses and their campaigns. “Understanding howthe brain works provides communicators with a powerful tool to engage audiencesand change behaviours. With ongoing economic and political forces shaping ourlives we all have to learn to cope with the unpredictable and unplanned.Learning how the brain works is the first step towards understanding how to getthe best out of ourselves in the modern world.”

By understanding our neuro processes in the context ofbusiness campaigns, we gain unlimited access to the secrets of persuasivecommunications.

The comprehensive guideto human behaviour

Dr Robert Cialdini, social psychologist and author ofacclaimed New York Times bestseller Influenceand Pre-Suasion describes the science ofpersuasion and examines the techniques that help decode our brain and theway we respond to communication. He argues that the secret doesn’t lie in themessage itself, but rather in the key moment before that message is delivered.

In Matthew Loop’s book SocialMedia Made Me Rich Cialdini says: “When makinga decision, it would be nice to think that people consider all the availableinformation to guide their thinking. But the reality is very often different.In the increasingly overloaded lives we lead, more than ever we need shortcutsor rules of thumb to guide our decision-making.”

Cialdini has condensed the principals of persuasion into sixof universal shortcuts that guide human behaviour. They are:

• Reciprocity:People are obliged to give back to others the form of a behaviour, gift orservice that they have received first
• Scarcity:People want more of those things they have less of
• Authority:People follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts
• Consistency:People like to be consistent with the things they have previously said or done.When seeking to influence using the consistency principle, the detective ofinfluence looks for voluntary, active, and public commitments
• Liking:People prefer to say yes to those that they like
• Consensus:People will look to the actions and behaviours of others to determine theirown, especially when they are uncertain

Cut through the noise

Byunderstanding these basic six principles in the application of neurosciencein communications, you can design your campaigns to be three-dimensional,persuasive and stimulating enough for people to stay engaged and through doingso, become the eye at the centre of a consumer storm.