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Successful communication by definition is where information is taken in and understood by the recipient. So in order to get your message across in a way that is readily understood, it is useful to have an understanding of thinking patterns.

The connections that a person makes when they receive information, and the way they represent ideas, memories and information is unique to each individual.  It is important to remember this in our communication.  We take in information through all our senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell and this is represented in our minds as a combination of sensory systems.  These thinking patterns are how we ‘code’ our experiences.

The three predominant thinking patterns are:

• Visual – these people think in pictures. They represent ideas and information as mental images.
• Auditory – these people think in sounds.  They hear sounds, voices or noises.
• Feelings – these people represent thoughts and ideas as feelings, either internal emotions or the thought of touch.

We generally have a preference for some systems over others, both in the way we think and in the way we communicate.  In order to engage all of the thinking systems of our diverse audiences, to become powerful communicators we need to use tools that engage all of the senses. This not only ensures that your message gets heard loud and clear but your audience will be keen to hear more from you.

So how do we do this? Here are some of the things that we do at Changeworks Communications to engage and excite our audiences:

• Print – use language that is purposefully rich in all of the senses.  Capture and hold the audience’s attention by using language that taps into visual, auditory and feeling representational systems.
• Press releases - use html so that editors can read your sensory rich language in their web browser and then you can link to other integrated channels to help bring the story to life for them.  We use podcasts and videocasts as well as photography in tandem with the written word.  This ensures that all thinking systems are engaged and the editors love it because they can bring the story to life in their own thinking system.
• Internal communications – the use of web 2.0 tools and social media is fantastic to engage all senses.  The feeling based thinking styles love to interact and click and collaborate – blogs, networking sites, twitter based short messaging services, video and podcasting channels are fantastic tools, and very cost effective.  Get your people to engage with them directly and you have a powerful collaboration platform that brings everyone along with it.
• Telling stories – this is something that we love to use because it engages the auditory (sharing and passing on stories), the visual (good stories paint pictures in people’s minds), and the feeling mind (metaphor and emotion are interlinked – stories engage the heart as well as the mind).  Build storytelling into your communication and you cannot fail to engage.

We hope you enjoyed reading just some of the many ways to engage the full representational systems of the senses in your communication.  This is a powerful way to increase the effectiveness of your communications.  Contact Sue Tupling at Changeworks Communications to discuss more ideas for your organisation: sue@changeworkscom.co.uk.