By Kevin Hogan
www.kevinhogan.com
Representation and Exaggeration?
Like everyone else on the planet, you represent the real world in a way that really is a mental interpretation or representation of reality.
Have you ever had this conversation:
"I can't believe you just said that!"
"I didn't say that I said __________."
"No you didn't I heard you say _________"
"I did no such thing. You are dreaming. I clearly said ____________"
And the reality checking pair shall never find the answer... because there really is no answer and the two people will permanently represent the event differently. This causes each person to paint a picture of the other person and who they are instead of taking video tape and storing it in their mind.
What our senses pick up vary from person to person. People see slightly different colors than you do. People hear different sounds than you do. People smell different smells than you do...or not at all. If you go to a foreign country, people say words that you cannot say because you cannot hear all the sounds in the word. You literally have to be trained to hear them!
All of this is just the tip of the "representation" iceberg. It does go much further, and more dramatically. The implications for influence? Very dramatic.
For example, seeing a child starve is a powerful image. Seeing 500 starve should logically give you a much more powerful image...but it doesn't. The difference in empathy or grief is marginal.
Not only do you literally see, hear, feel, taste and smell a different world than the person next to you, you also literally misrepresent the importance of almost everything in the world. (and so do I!)
People misrepresent the scope, the importance, the significance of almost every experience in life. All of this causes persuasion to be much more than a game of logic that has an "obvious solution." Listen carefully: There can be no obvious solution because the other person LITERALLY sees a different world than you do.
What happens when these differences come up in everyday conversation is that one person will attempt to re-present the picture or problem to someone using a technique called exaggeration. Sometimes exaggeration helps someone get the leverage they need to create change. Usually it does not.
People often believe that if you exaggerate your case, you can dramatically improve your sales presentation or your proposal. It often seems that exaggeration in written copy (251 seats have already been sold) will really make a big difference in your success.
But is this the case, and how do we know?!?
There is an interesting phenomenon in human behavior which you can call "scope neglect."
In a nutshell, scope neglect could be described like this: I'm a millionaire. You tell me that if I give you $100 I will really be helping you out. I decide whether or not to give you the $100. However much value I feel you will get in your $100 is just about the same as how I will feel about giving you $1000. Neither amount causes any "money pain" but they are both seen as very similar numbers.
Or...
A fund raiser is taking place. (Actual research study) Some people are told that their donation will immediately help save the lives 2,000 birds. Another group is told their donation will help save 20,000 birds. A final group is told their donation will save 200,000 birds.
It would seem that the latter group should give far more money to the charity than the first group...it would seem....
...what happened? Group one averaged giving $80 per person. Group two averaged $78 per person (!!!!!). Group three average $88 per person.
I was surprised.
I really was! I thought that there would at least be a significant difference between saving 200,000 birds' lives vs. 2000. But there was no significant difference. It just didn't matter to increase the numbers.
What about something other than birds....
Residents in four western states were asked to make donations to save either one or 57 wilderness areas. Theoretically the group asked to donate to save 57 areas should give a LOT (57 times as much?) more money than those asked to save one area. This wasn't the case. In fact, the group asked to donate to save a total of 57 wilderness areas gave only 28% more money than those asked to help save one wilderness area.
Lesson? People neglect the scope of a problem because they develop a representation of it. They don't take the time to put every piece of information up on the board and analyze them all detail by detail. They get a "picture" or representation in their mind, then believe that that is the representation that is reality...and of course...it isn't...the scope of the situation is neglected and usually dramatically so.
Because of this thinking process...there are many ramifications for those who influence others.
Exaggerating benefits or possible results from your program is unnecessary and an ENORMOUS risk when contrasted with relating facts. It doesn't pay off...and if someone were to find out you were exaggerating, it could destroy your business. Never exaggerate.
And there is more...
In an experiment related to scope neglect (this example is called "extension"), people were asked to estimate how many murders took place in Detroit last year. Another group was asked how many murders took place in Michigan last year. The first group offered a median response of 200 people murdered in Detroit. The second group offered a median response of 100 people murdered...in Michigan.
I don't have to tell you that Detroit is one city in Michigan. One city. But Detroit has a reputation of being dangerous and violent. Michigan has a reputation of being a cold state in the Midwest (or East) depending on what part of the United States you are from.
People thought there were twice as many murders in Detroit than in Michigan and Detroit is only a part of Michigan!
But think...about how people think. People don't think in any logical fashion. They think in terms of biases.
What this means is that the painted picture is far more important than any logic when it comes to whether the person will decide on one thing when compared to another. People base their decisions based on the pictures in their mind and not of the real life experiences in the real world. Therefore you need to be able to find out what those pictures are, so you can communicate clearly with your counterpart.
Talking about what "is" or "is not" will not make you more persuasive. Finding out what representations your client has will, and this is where you can make dramatic steps forward in the process of persuasion.
Kevin Hogan
Network 3000 Publishing
3432 Denmark #108
Eagan, MN 55123
(612) 616-0732
www.kevinhogan.com
Power of Persuasion: Persuading the Re-presented Mind