Communication models shows us that every moment there are two million bits of information coming at us. Our brains cannot cope with this volume so we filter the information by:
i. Deleting information we don’t need, or don’t think we need
ii. Generalising – you don’t need to relearn how to drive a car when you get into a new one, you generalise based on what you have previously learned
iii. Distort – you fill in the blanks e.g. you see someone drive up in a Jaguar, and you make presumptions about them … e.g. wealthy, business owner, big house etc
In fact there are only about 160 bits of information (out of 2 million) that our conscious and unconscious brain retain from every moment.
This means is that from the 20 plus 60 second’s you hear (early) each BNI morning we are each only going to retain a very small proportion of what has been said.
The other significant learning from communication models is the impact of Distortion filters. People are ‘filling-in the blanks’ based on previous experience rather than the reality of what you are actually saying. For example, if you hear someone start doing a 60 seconds on HR, some people immediately starting thinking about recruitment; others about disciplinary stuff; others about fluffy time wasters. This is all based on their previous experience of HR/accountants/insurance brokers/web developers….
In the context of BNI we need to:
- Actively listen to increase the chances of really understanding what people are all about
- Dance to get a greater focused set of information on which to base our understanding
- Make your key points clear to maximise the chances of them being 1 of the 160 bits of info retained
- Make our 60 seconds as engaging as possible
Remember, this is not only applicable in the BNI situation, but in every situation where you are talking about your business, and making sure you don’t go incognito
Lisa Mackay is Managing Director of HRtoolkit Ltd.
As educational coordinator for her BNI chapter she ran a series of educationals; this is the second of five. Next week... Using words to make you memorable
