The Mental Movie Challenge

Are you aware of the movie playing in your listeners' heads whenever you communicate?

What does that mean?

Every time we engage with others—whether it's one-on-one or presenting to an audience—their “mental moviemaker” creates a mini-movie based on how they interpret what we’re saying.

One of the biggest challenges we face as speakers or sales professionals is that we don’t know what that movie is unless we ask questions. Here’s a quick example:

A financial advisor sits down with her clients to discuss creating guaranteed income for life. She explains that the best way to do this is by “placing one-fourth of your portfolio into an insurance product.”

She then s moves on to describe the rest of the portfolio.

Here’s the problem:

The clients might still be stuck on the word "insurance"—for good or bad reasons.

If the advisor doesn’t pause to ask, "What’s been your experience with insurance?" she won’t get a clear picture of the movie playing in their heads. Without that understanding, she risks offering solutions that may not fully serve their needs.

So, how do you uncover the movie playing in your listener’s mind?

Stop and ask.

Speakers can do this, too. If you bring up a controversial or sensitive topic, pause and get feedback from the audience. Ask, "What’s been your experience with this?" or "How do you feel about this topic?"

Don’t assume that because you’re clear on the movie in your head, it's clear in theirs. To maximize communication impact, make sure you understand the mental movie playing in your audience members’ mind.

Need help with creating the most impactful movie for your audience?

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