How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 63

information into a pattern or a picture that it can make sense of. If it sees a
pattern that it recognizes, it will automatically apply meaning to the input
based on that existing pattern. If it doesn't recognize the input or the
pattern, it will create a new map and apply the most likely meaning based
on past experience of similar input. Of course, this all happens in a
fraction of a second.

Whatever meaning the brain maps out for the input, it creates an internal
state of being. You can imagine this very easily if you think about the last
time you heard some bad news. You processed the input in a way that you
understood that the meaning was negative, which led to an internal state
of being such that you might have started to feel angry or sad or
displeased. You might have even physically felt a response to the
meaning, such as a tightening of the chest or a quickening of the pulse.
Finally, this leads to your behaviour or response to the input. In our
example of hearing bad news, you would respond with sympathy,
empathy, fear, or anger. You might cry or yell. Your brain searches for
the words to describe what you want to say in return. Whatever that
internal state is that is created will determine how you behave and respond
to the input you receive. In other words, the input you received, filtered,
and interpreted will determine what and how you give back in response.
Understanding this process - and learning how to affect it - is the key to
being able to influence or persuade another!

How can you determine a person's preferred sensory
channel for receiving input?
If you are paying attention, the person will give you clues through their
language and through their behaviour. We'11 look at both verbal and
nonverbal clues.

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