The pseudo-neuroscience of surprise
When any of us receive a message, we do a cool little calculation:- We listen to the message
- We bring up our file about the sender of the message
- And we compare the two
Take the obvious and do the opposite.
One technique for exploring surprise is Negation: make a statement that you’d like people to hear. Then say the exact opposite thing and see how it feels and how you might tell a story that leads with it. So: You expect BurgerCo to say, “We’re not just about fat and salt — we do healthy salads too!” What if they said, “We do burgers. They have fat. Fat is the thing that tastes good in burgers. We prefer burgers that taste good. Don’t eat one every day. But when you do eat one, enjoy the hell out of it.” And you expect an energy company to say, “Here’s us in a green, green field helping a farmer and an orphan save the planet for us all.” What if they said, “You got a problem with oil? Don’t use it. But if we stop pumping it, the economy grinds to a halt and your ass is out of a job. Till something better comes along, we’ll do oil.” Now that would be surprising. And refreshing. And effective. Give it a go. ———– Image by Nick Maxwell at www.goodphun.comEnjoyed this article?
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Comments
Ann Handley January 30th, 2014
First, that cat is pretty much me during any given workday.
Second, YES! “Do something unexpected” is a content rule (and the #8 Content Rule, now that I think of it!). Also, funny how the “surprise” approach in both of those examples you cheekily suggest above is actually the truth. Being disarmingly honest can be a surprise, don’t you think?
Third, I used “cheekily” because you live in the UK, and I’m trying to seem familiar to you.
Nice post, my friend!
Doug Kessler January 31st, 2014
Thanks Ann!
Gotta love that cat.
Ann, you spotted the honesty theme — new eBook on this is imminent.
Next week, I hope…