MichaelSullivan
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Apr 25, 2008, 9:53 AM
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Baby Boomers Process Information Differently as They Age
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By Michael P. Sullivan - 50-Plus Communications Consulting - www.graymoney.biz
Several decades of research into the two hemispheres of the brain has yielded hard facts about how we process information. The left brain is associated with reasoning function and the right brain with creative functions. While the left brain plays the primary role in processing visual image. As we grow older, we tend to move from a left brain to a right brain orientation.
A 30-year-old processes information differently than a 55-year-old, or an 80-year-old. With age, we no longer can process information as accurately or completely as we used to. Along with the decline, Boomers tend to become more right-brain oriented. It is more effective to explain sales concepts using pictures, story-telling, and emotionally-enriched words.
Substitute Right-Brain for Left-Brain Communications
Semantic processing -- the processing of words and numbers -- and fluid intelligence are required to comprehend complex issues and concepts. However, comprehension can be made easier, faster, and less fatiguing by facilitating the use of sensory processing which occurs in the right brain.
Memory is sensory, not analytical. It occurs in the right brain in the form of images, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. It does not occur in the left brain as whole thoughts. By communicating with the right brain, the speaker can directly tap the listener’s memory.
Communications about retirement topics generally require the use of images as opposed to the other four senses. Images may be visual in the form of illustrations, graphs, and so forth. More often they are “word images” – words that substitute for pictures. At the most basic level these are phrases like “cloudy day” and “green hills.” We can “see” the picture in our mind’s eye. More generally, they are literary devices, including similes, metaphors, analogies, word-pictures, and story telling.
Those devices are used to describe and explain unfamiliar concepts in ways that make them part of the listener’s prior life experience. For example, in the financial services industry, the term “asset allocation” is an abstract, difficult concept for many people to grasp. But consider the analogy to a multi-colored flower garden. “If you plant individual flowers they bloom and die. If you plant a variety of flowers in different cycles, the garden always looks good. Your garden will look the best if you have the right mix of flowers.” The client’s life-knowledge of flower gardens helps make asset allocation understandable. The information is stored on the right side of the brain for easy recall through sensory processing.
By using literary devices as an integral part of conversations with Boomers, three important goals are accomplished simultaneously:
- Comprehension is increased
- Fatigue is reduced
- More energy is kept available for use in processing complex information
There are basic steps you can take to substitute right brain for left brain communications:
- Build a library of visual images that express concepts you need to communicate to older adults. For example, if you need to explain a technical concept, use the factoids in the lower left-hand pages of the sections of the USA Today. They are a great guide for you because of their visual nature.
- "Do I have to draw you a picture?" You do. Boomers recall previous events, happenings and objects more easily by visual recall. Draw a picture for them. Use imagery relating to things they know.
- Display pictures of your children or grandchildren in your office. Family values are important to older Boomers. Ask about their family. Talk about their family. Send birthday, get-well and congratulations card to strengthen the relationship.
- Describe your product recommendation using metaphors, similes and analogies. For example, in discussing inflation’s effect on our retirement budget, you might use a shopping analogy: “What if you went to the grocery store to buy a dozen eggs and stayed there for a year. You’d only come out with 11 eggs. That’s the effect of inflation!” It clearly a visual way to remember a key concept.
- Develop a body of word-images you can employ as needed. These can be analogies like the garden asset allocation description; word-pictures that recall the past or stories about how someone benefited from a product.
- Explain things by telling stories, relevant ones that touch emotion. Modern brain research shows that story telling increases the flow of adrenaline in the brain and helps us store and recall information more easily.
By Michael P. Sullivan, President, 50-Plus Communications Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina, (704) 554-7863. Mike consults and trains staff at active retirement facilities, financial services and health care facilities. The following is a look at some of the basis for his training focus. His book, “101 Easy Ways to Increase Business with Boomerplus Clients” is available on his website, www.graymoney.biz. Contact him at mps50plus@aol.com.
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(This post was edited by MichaelSullivan on May 6, 2009, 9:30 AM)
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