Communication Illusion and Brain-Based Solution |

Nikolaos Dimitriadis | TEDxUniversity of Strathclyde

Our communication model is outdated. It is based on 18th century model of human nature called
homoeconomicus. Homoeconomicus always makes rational decisions, based on cost/benefit
analysis of a situation. It was a common fallacy that it was our reason that made decisions, but
now we know that when the mind starts to explain things rationally to itself, decision has
already been taken, some seven seconds before. It is also our illusion of thinking that if there
was exchange of understanding in communication, that the communication was actually taking
place. This is just not true as communication lies in behavior and the behavioural part of the
brain is situated below neocortex (the executive part of the brain where thinking takes place).
Behaviour does not understand words, but actions. We may understand perfectly that a new
behavior is needed with our rational part of the brain, but if our habits (behaviours) are largely
different, the desired behaviour will rarely happen. That is why we need to dethrone thinking
and to focus on emotional exchange during communication process. If we manage to share
emotions to others, we will manage to share the understanding as well, our primary goal,
especially because memory is reinforced by strong emotion. Without transmission of emotions,
information will not be transmitted. For example, if the lecturer does not succeed in transposing
his own enthusiasm for the subject to listeners, chances are very strong that the listeners will
not take in the key messages that she or he was willing to point out. If he shows no enthusiasm,
but rather recites in a dull, monotonous voice key facts, there will be no exchange of
communication, listeners will not hear most of his lecture and therefore they will not remember
the key points he made during the lecture. Engage your listeners and they will rememeber.

George Bernard Shaw – “The single most important problem with the communication is the
illusion that it has taken place.”

“When we communicate we target the thinking of the person we talk to.”

“Every human being is capable or should be capable of reaching the right decision by making the
cost/benefit analysis and optimize the choices that he makes. If we are not performing this
rational thinking and optimizing our decisionmaking, then we are considered a kind of stupid.”

As human beings we have gut feelings, emotions, impulses and thinking.

Communication is about behavior and not about understanding. Thinking is not necessary for
behavior. Thinking does not drive behavior.
Purpose of communication

1. dethrone thinking

2. share emotions*

3. consider people’s habits

4. consider your biases

5. scan and use environment

6. make it easy

7. abandon common sense

8. speak with actions

*it will make conversation more memorable and it will drive behaviour faster

Have you ever felt that something is missing in the way we communicate? Have you noticed that
even when we fully understand each other we often don't act as agreed? This is because our
current communication is based on an outdated model of human nature. We now know that the
brain, our communication center, is not driven by rationality and does not feed on logic. It makes
decisions using a richer infrastructure deeper inside our skulls and adjusts behavior accordingly.
The time has come to change our communication model and start talking to the brain as a
whole. Dr Dimitriadis argues that governments, companies, parents and individuals alike need to
change their communication model if we are to experience a more positive future, as people and
as societies.

Dr Nikolaos Dimitriadis is an award-winning marketer and educator, helping top international

brands with strategy and communications. He is a certified neuromarketer and the co-author of
“Neuroscience for Leaders: A Brain Adaptive Leadership Approach”. He is the Development
Director at the Executive Development Center of the University of Sheffield International Faculty.

Dragan Djordjevic Skills –

Training should be edutainment, blend between education and entertainment. Engage your
listeners and they will rememeber. (4Es – engagement, education, entertainment, experience).
For generation Y (born between 1980 and 1900) and Z (after 1990), inclusion of digital content
and games is vital in keeping them engaged (gamification of education). How they use digital
content in Skills’ training? All trainees have tablets with them. They use tablets for surveys,.
They first choose avatar names for themselves, so all surveys are anonymous, which eliviate
burden of humiliation away from trainees. For trainers it is not important who raised a certain
question, but which question was raised. Also, they noticed that in our culture, people are afraid
to ask questions openly when prompted by trainers. If they can post them anonymously,
chances are that they will ask them. Skills’ application also has the option for voting questions of
others. By voting, trainers can single out the most common questions. This is especially
important if there is no time to answer all questions and the time is not lost on answering some
long and irrelevant questions. In our culture, either people are afraid to ask questions, or an
individual abuses the time for posing questions to give vent to his own musing on the subject.
And it is vital for trainers to get the right feedback. When being asked how they understood the
lecture, trainees will invariably be inclined to answer that they understood everything that was
being said up to that time in the lecture. Anonymous voting will give more accurate picture, as
well as tests of understanding which are interspersed within the lecture. These tests also serve
reinforcement of learning during the lecture.

Draganov nacin predavanja – neposredno, uz sale, koriscenja mnogo izreka, poslovica, poznatih
refrena iz pesama i pojmova iz popularne kulture, zargonskih izreka. Trebalo je da proverim da li
se snimaju sve sale i da snimim njegovo predavanje.

“Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in a face” – Michael Tyson