Considering we’re professional communicators, marketing pros have a lot to learn about communication. Especially when it comes to effective communication between you, your boss/client and your team.
To shed some light on what influences communication from a neuroscience perspective, Jacy Imilkowski will show us how to engage in conversation both with grace and impact in her presentation, “Marketing Mind Reading 101: How to Tell What Your Boss, Clients and Customers Really Want.”
Jacy Imilkowski
Jacy will present at our Craft Marketing series on August 28 at One Barrel Brewing on Atwood Avenue. (Sign up here!)
Jacy is “an energetic speaker, born storyteller, and self-admitted communication nerd.” She has over 20 years of experience coaching, speaking, and managing projects, and specializes in team communication dynamics. We asked her a few questions about her upcoming presentation.
Your presentation is entitled “Marketing Mind Reading.” Is this really mind reading you’ll be talking about?
Ha ha ha! No, it’s not exactly mind reading. It would be more accurate to call it “brain reading.” We will discuss the neuroscience of conversation.
When we’re interacting with people our brains are constantly releasing neurochemicals. The different chemicals have different impacts on what we think, how we think it, and how our physical body responds to the interaction.
When you understand those impacts you can choose to communicate in a way that supports trust and connection for everyone.
Can you describe some of the neurochemical impacts you’ll discuss?
There are a ton of neurotransmitters, and for the sake of ease, we’ll be talking about them in general categories: Connection and Stress.
On the connection side, we have oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin that are “tend and befriend” neurotransmitters. These have big impacts on the rational, proactive, thinking part of the brain, and promote connection, relationship and trust.
When these are present we typically feel calm, happy, at ease, and are more likely to trust others. Physically, they lower heart rate and blood pressure, and cause muscles to relax.
On the stressor side, there are cortisol, adrenaline, noradrenaline, the “fight or flight” neurotransmitters. These impact the primitive, reactive part of the brain and promote stress, withdrawal from others and distrust. They make us feel anxious (or excited), angry and self-protective. Physically, they raise blood pressure and heart rate, and cause muscle tension.
Can you give us an example of a different conversational approach someone might take?
It’s crucial to be able to understand where someone else is at and meet them there. A prime example: Say you’re talking to a client, sharing all these great ideas and concepts you have for their campaign.
The client, however, keeps asking for details about the execution and “how” it’s all going to be done. You’re in a co-creative or building conversation, and they’re in a transactional information exchange conversation.
Those are completely different kinds of communication. You need to come down and meet them in the transactional space, or else they’re going to get frustrated and start experiencing impacts of stressor neurotransmitters.
How will this help a marketing person in their day-to-day work?
When you’re able to communicate with a client on their level it creates trust and builds super-strong relationships. It tells them, “I see you. I understand you. When we’re not in the same place I can tell, and I’ll meet you there in order to guide you to where we need to be.”
How will that client feel when you always seem to know where they’re at and can tell, sometimes before they do, when they’re getting frustrated? Answer: Like you’re a mind reader.
Click here to sign up for AMA Madison’s August Craft Marketing event!
Greg Mischio is the Owner and Strategic Director of Winbound. Winbound is a content marketing firm that provides an all-in-one content marketing and conversion optimization package specifically designed for small marketing departments. Read his post on how to start content marketing. Twitter: @gregmischio