TRAPPSTR

Random post explained! (pt 3 of 3)

Posted on 17. Sep, 2009 by Brett in Creative Communication

Earlier this week, I posted a list of 30 random words. They were…

Dinosaur   Snowman   Faithfulness   Etch-a-sketch   Integrity   Air   Engineering   Ketchup   Reproduction   King Kong   Cobra   Email   Recliner   Safety   Nipple   Taj Mahal   General   Strait   Grid   Religion   White House   Apple   Simplicity   Palm Tree   Guillotine   Atmosphere   Moon   Accuracy   Rodeo   Atonement

The day after I posted the list, I removed it and asked people to send me an email and recall as many words as they could remember from the list. I also offered $30 cash to whoever could remember the most words from the list. The responses were interesting. Most people could only remember a few words. One person didn’t see the first post, so he made up his own list of 30 words (thanks CG). One person (who shall remain unnamed) could only remember one word, nipple (haha). We did have a winner however! Huge congrats to Emily Lacy in Dallas, Texas, who remembered the most words and won the first ever TRAPPSTR.com contest! Her check is in the mail!

NOW, on to the point of this whole fiasco….

Look back at the list, and you’ll notice that every word is a noun. You’ll also notice that there are two types of words on the list–vivid images and abstract concepts–and there are 15 of each. I went ahead and bolded all the vivid images on the list above so you can quickly see the difference.

This whole thing was designed as an experiment to prove a point. I was interested to see which words “stuck” in people’s minds 24 hours after the list was pulled down. I had a feeling that the vivid image words would be remembered and the abstract words would not.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Of the people who emailed in, not one person remembered one of the abstract words. Every single recalled word was from the vivid image list. Why? When you read the list, your mind instantly paints a picture of the vivid images. With the abstract concepts, not so much. Our minds crave vivid images and have a tough time digesting abstract concepts. A message embedded with an image comes alive and stakes a bright red flag in the soil of our memory. A message heavy with abstractions gets lost in the dusty basement of our minds.

Why the heck does this matter?

This matters because it’s a key principle of communication that everyone ignores!  I hate hearing someone behind a pulpit or a lectern or at a conference spewing abstractions like Niagra Falls! Eyes begin to glaze over in the audience and people start looking at their watches. Our brains aren’t built for that! It’s like pumping Kool-aid into the engine of a Corvette! It doesn’t work! In fact, we learned at an early age to completely ignore people who speak abstractly (cough cough boring teachers cough cough). That’s how daydreaming came about. Our brain got bored so it started “dreaming” up images and stories to stay awake. Whether you’re a business owner communicating to your customers, a preacher communicating spiritual truths, or a mom communicating to a four year old, it matters.

There is a reason Jesus often resorted to parables to explain a tough truth. “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…” (Matt 17:20)

If you want to instantly be a better communicator, do NOT start with great content. Start with a bright, vivid, eye-popping image. Wrap your message around that, and watch your words burst into flames, lighting up your audience with the message you want them to hear.