This quick video shows how different areas of the brain light up in response to hearing different kinds of words. Our brains sort words into categories, and words that have various meanings, (like “top”), light up our brains in several relevant areas simultaneously.
It can be tempting to drop numbers and data on our audiences, and those numbers definitely have their place. But it looks like we will engage more of our listeners’ brains when we take the time to tell the story of those numbers. Why are they important? What’s the narrative?
The next time you’ve got a slide with a chart or graph, think about how you might light up more of the audience’s brain. Give them the chart and give them the story.
