Does what people already believe shape how they listen or what they see?
A new study undertaken by a group of US psychologists in a bid to answer this very question has found people tend to filter out information that contracts what they already believe.
According to management-issues, the research shows people are generally twice as likely to select information that reflects their own point of view as opposed to an opposing idea.
People who were identified as having ‘closed-minded personalities’ chose to absorb information that matched their own views as often as three quarters of the time.
In response to the findings the article highlights the difficultly faced by managers wishing to get their point across to colleagues with differing points of view.
The solution: recognise that sometimes it may be necessary to communicate your message more than once as repetition can counter this filtering process.
As a professional speaker, corporate comedian and speechwriter, I have helped many senior executives to deliver their messages and explain their ideas.
And not only is it important to repeat the message, it's important to express it in different ways. People can turn off if they hear the same old 'broken record' approach.
If you have to repeat the message, drop the jargon and use different words. For exammple, how much punch is carried these days by words like 'empowerment' and 'work-life balance'? None – eyes glaze over at the mere mention of them.
Embed your message in a story ... use humour ... just try something different.
Posted by: Graeme Bowman | 09 July 2009 at 10:58 PM