Neuroscience
Over the past five years, I have spent an increasing amount of my time talking to the general public. In doing so, I have learned to change the way I communicate by relying much more on the presentation of ideas, the audience reaction, timing and context. Content is vital but it is the way that you say things that makes all the difference. As a social animal, we are highly attuned to each other and I find audiences respond better when you think beyond the content of what you are saying and think about it as telling a story. The human brain is always seeking structure and meaning. Psychology reminds us that it is the ultimate storyteller. Professional speakers have known this for years and the best ones are naturally and often intuitively skilled. Whether they are aware of exactly what they are doing or not, the best practices tap into well established principles of social psychology that I now recognize when I get up and talk to a room full of strangers. People want to like you. People want to believe what you are saying. People want that emotional experience. Even when you have read the book or know the story well, audiences still want to hear it said. That’s why there will always be the live performance and public lecture.
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Bruce Hood is Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre in the Experimental Psychology Department at the University of Bristol. He is giving this year's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on the topic of Meet Your Brain.
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Neuroscience
Bruce Hood: Storytelling
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Bruce Hood is Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre in the Experimental Psychology Department at the University of Bristol. He is giving this year's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on the topic of Meet Your Brain.
Return to the menu for Psychology to the Rescue
- Susan Fiske: Nerdy But Nice
I was a high-school nerd. Worse yet, a girl nerd. I did learn quickly to hide my A grades and not talk too much in class. At the high-school reunion, my classmates thought it was obvious I would become a professor (they could have saved me much agony,...
- Feast
Introducing a new Digest feature: "Feast", our occasional round-up of links to recent psychology news, gossip, podcasts, blog-posts and radio/tv shows: BBC 2's Newsnight had a featurette on memory on Wednesday evening (from 30 minutes, 40 seconds...
- Upcoming Event: Tbi Conference (bristol, 21-22 Sept 2011)
From the conference webpage: Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) Brain Injury Conference 2011 Inspiring learning and innovation in brain injury rehabilitation 21-22 September 2011, The Bristol Marriott Hotel, Old Market, Bristol "The 2011 conference...
- Engaging Audiences Via Social Media (shoutout To #scio12)
teamwork 1, from stock.xchngI'm facilitating a class tonight on how to increase visibility and evaluating response to a blog. The class is a group of students in the Interdisciplinary Health Communication program at the University of North Carolina...
- How To Gain Professional Skills: "don't Put Descartes Before The Horse"
As you grow as a professional, you find yourself more and more conscious about your image and the way others perceive you. Not as superficial as the suit you wear or the lines on your resume, but, in a world in which we only interact with one another...