Why HOW You Say It Is More Important Than Ever

Originally published on Vital Voice Training.

Is anyone else out there feeling a groundswell of big, dark emotion in the world?  It’s not just Twitterville and Facebook-land . . . There’s a lot of fear and anger out there. It's not easy for an effective argument to break through the noise.

Unfortunately, certain people with agendas have figured out that the quickest way to convince someone of the logic of their argument is actually not logic at all.  It’s appealing to their audience’s gut – their “lizard brains” – the fight/flight/freeze instinct that defines our most animal selves.  Activate that part of your listener, and who needs FACTS?  Even when that listener is presented with a perfectly rational counter-argument, it is almost impossible to get through a wall constructed of deeply-held beliefs + fiery emotion.

So is change via rational argument dead?  Are we heading toward a world of “he who is loudest and angriest wins”?

The short answer is: we hope not.

The longer answer is this:

In a world increasingly full of information NOISE, we have to be smarter, more consistent, and more careful in how we frame our fact-based arguments—but we also have to become passionate story-tellers.  We have to use all of the (good, vetted, smartly-sourced) information and data we can get our hands on—but we also have to use all of our emotional intelligence.

If you want your audience to listen, facts need framing.  They need gut context.  They need to be able to connect to the fundamental humanity of your listener—not just their logic brain, or that listener isn’t going to really HEAR them.

So we at VVT will channel our energy into helping people with good ideas get them out into the world – including following this post up with more specific ways how to frame your facts and connect with your audience.  Thanks for listening.