Posts tagged research

As One Door Closes…

Nov 7th

Posted by Judy in Body-Mind

2 comments

Welcome! If you're interested in how people think, click to get The X-Ray Listener's Quick Guide To Metaphor and unlock a new perspective on the mind... for free.

When you go through a doorway, what happens to your memory?

According to new research, the act of walking through a doorway opens a new “episode” of memory, so that information from the previous room becomes harder to recall.

This rings true from everyday experience. When was the last time you went upstairs to fetch something… only to forget what it was?

And it rings true from my coaching and change work. People frequently use “portal” metaphors (doors, gates, French windows etc) to symbolise a transition. As they step through into a new world… everything changes.

The world they’ve left behind (for example, “being unemployed”) will typically become blurred or dim, while the new world (“being my own boss”) takes on bright colours and fascinating movement.

The reported experiment hints at a way that real-life doorways can be very useful in making life changes.

If a friend or client is depressed, I’ll get them to move – ideally, to go outside in the fresh air.

I already knew that the upright body position and increased oxygen flow was helpful in releasing More >

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Why Does Metaphor Matter?

Jun 24th

Posted by Judy in Influence

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I’m a passionate enthusiast for metaphor (as regular readers may have noticed). There’s a reason for that.

Metaphor matters because it’s the native language of the unconscious mind… and it’s the unconscious mind which determines the bulk of human behaviour.

Traditionally the unconscious or subconscious mind has been seen as a dark, mysterious place, scene of all kinds of inexplicable goings-on. It’s like a foreign country.

Imagine what can happen once you understand – and speak – the native language.

The unconscious mind will probably still be a foreign country. The local customs may vary from those you’re used to. The cars might even be on the wrong side of the road!

But now you can read the road signs. You have the ability to know what’s directing people’s behaviour. You can grasp what’s going on, what’s really important to them, and find effective, win-win ways to fit your plans with theirs.

And you can influence their behaviour more directly, more precisely, when you can speak the language.

Instead of doing your best Basil Fawlty impression, shouting more and more loudly in your own words, you can simply ask for what you want and expect to be understood! That doesn’t mean you’ll always get what you want, of course. More >

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Motivating your elephant

Jan 7th

Posted by Judy in Metaphor

4 comments

You possibly already know that we all have an elephant and a rider. The “elephant” is a metaphor for all the parts of your system that lie outside your own conscious awareness, while the “rider” is that small percentage of your being that you’re consciously aware of – probably less than 5 per cent of your thinking.

The metaphor comes from The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.

And there’s another brilliant book which picks up this metaphor and runs with it.

Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath, is subtitled “How to change things when change is hard.” It’s packed with examples of how people around the world have found ways to get elephants and riders working together to make great things happen.

The key elements, as the Heath brothers see them, are:

  • Direct the rider
  • Motivate the elephant
  • Shape the “path” – the route from where we are to where we want to go.

For each of these elements, the brothers have practical approaches to suggest, backed up by solid research and plenty of stories.

It’s an easy read – and it includes plenty of powerful metaphors of its own. One that I particularly like is the idea of a “destination postcard”: that’s a vision of a clear goal, that More >

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The listener’s expression matters

Aug 26th

Posted by Judy in Listening

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Recent research has confirmed what great listeners have always known – the way the a listener behaves makes a huge difference to the quality of information they receive from the speaker.

The British Psychological Society reports on a study which demonstrated this experimentally. A group of students watch a short film and then described it to a listener. Half the listeners had a ‘positive’ attitude – smiling, nodding and maintaining an open body position – while the others frowned and didn’t smile.

Speakers reporting to a positive listener used more abstractions, describing aspects of the film that couldn’t be seen, such as a character’s thoughts and emotions, and also included more of their own opinions. The kind of information, in fact, that brings any piece of research to life!

“Consider what this means,” researcher Camiel Beukeboom said. “By merely smiling or frowning a listener could influence how a speaker reports information and how it is subsequently remembered, and possibly passed on. In, for instance, witness interrogations, job interviews, politics, or psychotherapy, a simple smile or frown could potentially have a large impact.”

  • Beukeboom, C. (2009). ‘When words feel right: How affective expressions of listeners change a speaker’s language use.’ European Journal of Social Psychology, 39 (5), 747-756 More >
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