Influencing Change - The Language of Emotion

The Limits of Logic in Decision Making

If you've been in sales for any length of time, you have probably learned that people make emotional decisions and justify them with logic. Yes, the ROI is critically important as it will be required to justify the spend. I certainly don't want to diminish the value of a strong business case - the spend needs to make business (economic) sense (reduce costs, increase revenue or some element of either). Otherwise, without a strong value proposition, you have really big problems, you have nothing. ROI and all of its variations, however, is the language of "logic".

Just like the world isn't the center of the universe, logic is not the center of our decision-making process. In Dan Ariely's book Predictably Irrational, he discusses several studies in which people behaved in a manner that totally defied any logical construct.

The Problem with Traditional Sales Presentations

When you look at most technology sales presentations, they are linear, logical and boring. I would argue - aside from being boring, the initial reactions to these presentations filled with facts and figures are skepticism and apathy. They don't believe it until they want or need to believe it. Simply put, they don't believe or care until they are emotionally bought in. The language of logic (facts and figures) is not what "moves" people, not even close. It's the vision of what's possible, it's the things that touch us emotionally that move us. The vision that gives us hope because we see the possibilities of a better future. It feels right.

It seems we are not thinking machines that feel, we are, in fact, feeling machines that just happen to think. If connecting and communicating with people on an emotional level is what drives decision making and change, what is the language of "emotion"?

Stories: The Language of Emotion

I've come to believe stories are the language of emotion. We experience stories in sensory terms in our imagination - we see it, we hear it, we smell it, we taste it and we feel it. When someone tells a story, it activates neural pathways in our brain. Metaphorically, we turn on an internal movie projector in our minds as we go through the journey with the storyteller. As we go through this journey, we tap into our own life experiences that can help us relate to the story that's being told. It's an emotional journey in our mind. It's a big reason stories resonate. It's how we, as human beings, are wired to learn.

The Power of Storytelling in Communication

Have you ever noticed that the best presenters and communicators in the world spend the majority of their speaking time telling stories? They do this because it helps them connect with their audience on an emotional level. Stories are about how and why life changes. Stories are about the imbalances in life, the inevitable complications and bad things that happen as we try to survive and thrive. Stories are about how balance is restored and the lessons we've learned in the process. Stories give us hope. Emotionally engaging stories help us connect with each other on a much deeper level. There is no better language for influencing and inspiring change.