How can you tell if a person is excited or bored by a movie trailer, a television ad, or a presentation? You can ask them, but their answers might reflect a host of mental biases, or they may simply tell you what they think you want to hear.
Neuroscientists at SPARK Neuro believe they’ve found a more accurate way to measure attention and engagement. The firm—funded by actor Will Smith, former Disney chief Michael Eisner, investor Peter Thiel, and others—uses an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset to watch brain activity in real time and analyze millions of bits of electrical impulses.
During a fascinating conversation with SPARK Neuro CEO, Spencer Gerrol, I came away with three key findings that any leader can use in their next presentation to gain a persuasive edge.
1. Create emotional intensity. Emotion is everything. It’s well established in the neuroscience literature that people do not make decisions based on rational arguments alone. Notable psychologists like Antonio Damasio have found that emotion plays a prominent role in decision-making. “Emotions are smart,” says Gerrol. Your brain has serious computing power—at an emotional level. Simply put, persuasion cannot occur in the absence of emotion.
I’ve written about the power of storytelling to connect people emotionally. SPARK Neuro tracks brain waves to study exactly when a story hooks people. For example, the company examines movie trailers like Wonder Woman to figure out when audiences are engaged. People pay attention to a trailer when a scene or event evokes a strong emotional response. The Wonder Woman trailer worked across demographics because the scenes elicited strong emotional responses for different audiences. In this brain-wave analysis of the trailer, we can see that some people had a strong emotional response to fight scenes that had cool camera angles and slow-motion photography. Others had a strong emotional response to the action scenes where the young Wonder Woman discovers her strength. The movie was a hit because its story lines had broad appeal.
According to Gerrol, “Whether you’re giving a speech or creating a movie trailer, there’s something we need to understand: There’s power in emotion. Emotion influences every decision we make.”
2. Use your voice to create ‘snapback.’ Television advertisers have a big challenge. Once the ads come on, most people consider it break time. They can go back to their phones or grab a snack. Presenters face this challenge, too. In advertising language, anything that causes you to suddenly pay attention is called ‘snapback.’
SPARK Neuro’s research finds that sound and music are effective methods to cause snapback. Something as simple as pausing the sound or music—a sudden change—causes people to look up and pay attention. “If you had to sum up all findings of neuroscience into one statement. The thing that attracts the human brain most is change,” says Gerrol.
Gerrol explains that in a presentation, your “sound” is your voice. Use your voice as a soundtrack. “In public speaking, use the power of silence,” Gerrol says. “Pause. Leave space to let people focus on what you just said—or to anticipate what you’re about to say next.” Just as music adds emotion to a movie trailer or ad, think of your voice as the instrument. Use it to create spikes in attention. The tone of your voice, speed, pauses and rhythm can create snapback.
3. Use presentation slides to complement the story. Gerrol’s research confirms that visuals are much more powerful than text-heavy presentation slides. Bullet points don’t make people snap to attention. In Gerrol’s own presentation, he avoids words on slides. “The slides are meant to help me create emotion through the visuals I’m presenting.” Think of slides as the visuals in a movie trailer. Your voice conveys the sound and the message. The slides are there to enhance the content—not to replace it.
As a leader, entrepreneur or teacher, your job is to educate, persuade and influence. If you fail to make an emotional connection with your audience, your message won’t stick. Your message is the movie. Use these findings to keep your audiences hooked from beginning to end.