The Brain and Persuasion
"The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
You know the feeling, it's frustrating, it's annoying, and maybe it's a little embarrassing. It's that feeling of having something at the tip of your tongue, something you once knew, but no longer do, something, maybe, as simple as the three branches of the United States government or an anniversary (that can put you in the doghouse) or the name of a business associate or client who you've been working with for a while (yikes!).
It happens to the best of us. our cognitive abilities seem to decline as the years march on. But is this something that is a given? Or can we lessen or prevent the 'senior moments? (even if we are not seniors) we experience as a result of us not using our brains and allowing them to be all that they can be?
Some people keep their brains agile with crossword puzzles or Sudoku or ?brain twisters? or play games such as Scrabble if they like the more social aspect. These are all great activities to "aerobically exercise" the mind.
Studies have shown that older adults neither see, hear, taste, nor feel as accurately as younger people do, and this is partially because that once people retire, they tend to do things that they are good at, things that don't challenge them incredibly. So part of the key to keeping your brain agile is giving it new, different activities and problems to challenge it.
There are also biochemical responses that are vital to stimulating the mind and inspiring people to keep learning. When we are young we have the freshness of everything, a novelty in the unexplored that keeps us engaged in the process of learning. The other thing we have going for us, which when you're a kid is a huge motivator, is the concept of being rewarded for what we do.
So how can I apply this to persuasion? Well, when we study persuasion, a fortunate byproduct is that we enhance our brains immeasurably through the challenges of thinking a new way.
In studying things like the 36 Chinese stratagems, or the 24 Doorways of the Magical Objection Mastery, we are flexing, swinging from the macro to micro. It can be thought of as looking at problems with a telescope, a broad overview, and then alternately taking a microscope and really hashing out the details.
What does this do for us, and why do our brains find it so challenging? Well, maybe it's not a part of your brain you use very often. Enhancing our cognitive agility can be hard, but is so worth the effort.
Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of wealthy clients using
persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in
persuasion techniques.
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