The Brain, DNA, Language; Which Words Matter The Most When We talk--Psych of language

BufferApp ^ | 21 MAR 2013/30 SEP 2016 | Leo Widrich; Jocko Manning

[JockoManning]

One of the things I fuss about a lot (especially at Buffer) are words—very simple words, in fact. Should it say “Hi” or “Hey?” Should it be “cheers” or “thanks?” How about “but” or “and?”

There are many occasions when Joel and I sit over one line and change it multiple times, until we feel it really sits right. This is partly to improve our metrics for click rate and others. It is also to simply create the right emotion. The one key question we ask ourselves is:

“How does this make you feel?”

The question might sound very obvious. And yet, it’s a very different question to say for example “Which message do you want to send?” or “What is the content of this announcement?” By always focusing on how it will make someone feel whenever we write even a single line, we immediately improved the amount of responses we got from our users.

Recently we explored how much sleep do we really need to work productively. Let’s do the same with language. We’ll dig in to how our brain works and expose some of the most persuasive words in english:

Bonus tip: Add optimal scheduling to these lessons on language, and watch your social media updates improve immediately!

Our brain while listening to words Recently, a lot of the longstanding paradigms in how our brain processes language were overthrown. New and cutting edge studies that produced quite startling and different results. The one study I found most interesting is UCL’s findings on how we can separate words from intonation. Whenever we listen to words, this is what happens:

“Words are then shunted over to the left temporal lobe [of our brain] for processing, while the melody is channelled to the right side of the brain, a region more stimulated by music.”

. . .

“The human brain can really only hold on to four things at a time, so if you go on and on for five or 10 minutes trying to argue a point, the person will only remember a very small part of that.”

Instead, 30 seconds is the optimal amount for us to speak at any given time says Newberg:

“Speak briefly, meaning that you speak one or two sentences, maybe 30 seconds worth or so, because that’s really what the human brain can take in.”

. . .

Avoid adverbs in speech and writing

Something I struggle the most with is to stop using adverbs. They are, in fact one of the worst elements of speech and even make a listener or reader lose trust.

. . .

The skill of asking questions: “What would you do?”

When I read this, I realized I totally suck at it. Journalist-turned-entrepreneur Evan Ratliff put it like this “all that’s really saved me (so far) from madness is being able to formulate questions that deliver useful answers.”

He points out that any questions that start with “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “how,” or “why” are likely to get great responses. To be avoided are “would,” “should,” “is,” “are,” and “do you think,” as they can limit how people respond to you a lot.

. . .

From:

https://blog.bufferapp.com/which-words-matter-the-most-when-we-talk-the-psychology-of-language

[JockoManning]

I understand you still do not 'get it.'

However, I don't think I can make it any plainer.

[NorthMountain]

I understand

NO, you don't.

I don't think

I believe you.

[gleeaikin]

Eight months before my husband died of Alzheimers, we went to the doctor to get approved to renew his driver’s license. His heart, vision, and general health was good, but when the the doctor showed him a green light and asked him what it was he could not respond. I then asked him, “do you stop or go when you see it?” He answered “go”, but could not respond “green light.” We did not get his license renewed and I had to finally take lessons and get my license. Fortunately, the instructor allowed my husband to ride in the back seat while I had my lessons or I would have had the additional problem of needing to find someone to watch him while I was away taking lessons.