How to provoke thoughts and actions

18 hours ago2 min read

In all societies, animal or human, communication is vital. Without communication, they would collapse.

The Ultimate object of all communication is to get others to do something. Why do we witness that so much teaching, preaching and lecturing fails to get through and there is little or no desired action?

Thoughts emanate in the mind. If we want to enhance thinking, we need to tickle the mind.

Actions emanate from the body and are driven by emotion. If we want to see action, we need to stimulate the emotions.

Because they work on our emotions rather than our intelligence and powers of reasoning, politics, religion, and sex have so much power. It is for the same reason that art, music, dance, literature, etc., stimulate our emotions and exert powerful influences upon us.

Mass education in our schools, 'professional' management in our businesses and bureaucracies within organisations and government have so little power to drive real change because they focus on filling the mind rather than firing the spirit.

One of the main reasons for little or no change is that these actions are broadcasts. Most people erroneously believe that a broadcast is a communication.

A broadcast is simply the emission or sending of a message, whereas a communication is a two-step process, where the message is sent by the sender and received and accepted by the receiver.

To make matters more challenging, technology has made it possible to bombard target audiences with messages. Imagine being continuously in the rain exhausting us. We may catch a few useful drops, while the rest creates a deluge through which we must navigate and wade.

Broadcasts are similar to our consuming food. Only that which is useful is accepted by the body. The rest simply passes through and is expelled by the body as waste.

Television, internet, social media, print and voice media now account for an average of 4 hours per day, almost half our working day.

Take the case of elections. We often see that people with a reputable character and a proven track record of achievement struggle to get elected, whereas people with strange or no achievements even pornstars and unlikely candidates get elected.

Ilona Staller - Italian Porn Star and member of parliament

Irrefutable evidence often loses out to deeply embedded emotions. The winners are those who appeal to people's emotions rather than their common sense.

In summary, we do not have to discount intellect by prioritising emotions because both are essential.

Great things happen only when learning is mated with passion.

From my talk on Effective Communication and Conversation

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