Communication is potentially the most valuable trait you can develop in your career, argues communication coach Carmine Gallo. Speaking at the LeWeb 2013 tech conference, Gallo says that it doesn’t matter whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, writer, or an employee at a corporate because, “you’re always communicating.”
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How to persuasively communicate is an imperative in this day and age. Luckily, there is a science to persuasion, which Gallo shared during his enlightening talk. So how do you connect with people? On the surface it’s quite simple, you just need to follow these three unbreakable laws of communication.
1. Emotional
“Touch the heart before the head” says Gallo. If you yourself are not inspired, then how can you expect to inspire others, asks Gallo. He argues that you need to find your passion — that one thing that helps you create your highest aspirations, your greatest love — and share that with people through stories.
Gallo tells that the science of storytelling reveals that the same parts of both the speaker and listener’s brains light up when a story is being shared — you are literally ‘in sync.’ If you can abide to a rule of 65% emotion, 25% evidence, and 10% logic, then your story will reach your audience with aplomb.
2. Novelty
This law can be summed up as such: teach someone something new, or present it in a fresh way. Gallo explains that the ideas that are spread are new and exciting. Why? Because our ‘brains are trained to look for something new and exciting,’ says Gallo.
If you have a new way to solve an old problem, the brains of your audience will not be able to ignore that novelty. For example, when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, he initially masked the reveal of the device by presenting its features as three separate devices — only at the end did he uncover it as a single device. It was a novel way of introducing the idea of the product, and people remember it to this day.
3. Memorable
Gallo says that presenting content in ways that people will never forget can be accomplished by abiding by three techniques.
- Use Pictures. If you add pictures to words, people are likely to remember up to 65% of the content, rather than just 10% if it was just compiled of the written word.
- The rule of three. Don’t present too many ideas in an article, talk, or presentation, because people will be overloaded, and not respond accordingly. Gallo recommends presenting three chunks of information, because ‘three is powerful’ in human nature, and permeates throughout the history of storytelling.
- Keep it short. Brevity is key according to Gallo. If iconic individuals like Steve Jobs, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luthor King could get their ideas across in 15-20 minutes, then so can you, even if you’re pitching your brainchild to investors.
Most importantly though, Gallo says that you need to identify your core purpose, your passion, and follow that relentlessly. If you don’t have the courage to express your ideas, then these laws and techniques will be meaningless.
