Do Want to help your donors really get it?
Tell them stories.
That’s what I get from a brain study reported at Neuromarketing, Stories Synchronize Brains.
The main point is this: “…when one person tells a story and the other actively listens, their brains actually begin to synchronize.”
If one can engage the audience or sales prospects to the point where their brains are mirroring (or even anticipating) one’s own brain activity, they are clearly fully engaged. In this condition, one is far more likely to be successful, whether the objective is to inform or convince.
You’ve had this experience. When you and the another seem fully connected; your thoughts are the same, you finish each other’s sentences.
It’s hard to do with the written word. But it’s possible.
Stories are the best way to get there.
Here’s the original study: Speaker–listener neural coupling underlies successful communication (PDF).
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.
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