16 Ways to Get Your Message Across
In the early 1980s, an American psychologist, Howard Gardner rocked the psychological world by declaring that there were 16 types of intelligence. Up until this time, the dominant thought was that there was just one type of intelligence.
These 16 types of intelligence included musical/rhythm, visual/spatial, verbal, logical, kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, moral and existential. This in turn, has massive implications for getting your message across to the audience.
While Howard was at pains to state that people should not be labelled as specific types of learners, it is clear that some people have a preference for one over the other.
For me personally, don’t even try to teach me anything musical or mathematical – I won’t remember it once you have gone. However, give me something verbal or interpersonal and I’m all over it.
When you are presenting your ideas, it is important to remember that not everyone thinks in the same way that you do. Some people love detail while others hate it. Some love the bigger picture while it scares others.
This is why a well-formed message encompasses detail as well as the bigger picture. It includes the logical thinking (often called left-brain thinking), and emotional reasoning (right-brain thinking).
When you have both the bigger picture as well as detailed information that is presented with both left- and right-brain thinking, you have a much better chance of engaging your audience and having them understand what you are saying.
As always, would love your thoughts on this. Please leave a comment below in the comment section.
