I Am Change and Sense of Urgency

Insightful. If I could choose one word to sum up the impact this week’s videos and reading had on my overall understanding of how to convey my message for change, this would be it. Although the contents presented were very short in length, the information they each provided is invaluable.

In his blog post The Head Won’t Go Where the Heart Hasn’t Been, Dr. Harapnuik argues that simply sharing information or engaging in more rational discourse on its own doesn’t appear to help people to make significant changes but an appeal to values, attitudes, and feelings first can motivate people toward making changes (Harapnuik, 2015). Although most of us have been taught that the best way to solve problems is through logical thinking, when dealing with humans this is not always the best route to take. This is because the human brain is not simply a computer-like, lifeless form with no emotions that makes decisions based purely on facts (TEDx Talks, 2014). Rather, it is a dynamic system that is influenced and moved by our changing perceptions and desires, not information (TEDx Talks, 2014). This argument is further supported and exemplified in the videos How to Change People Who Don't Want to Change and The Power of Words respectively.

In the How to Change People Who Don't Want to Change video, behavioral scientists David Maxfield and Joseph Grenn explain how, when it comes to moving people to action, using influential questions rather than facts is more powerful. Lecturing others with information and reminding them of facts they already know only causes reactance (VitalSmarts Video, 2015) and does not motivate them to change their behaviors. Using influential questions, however, causes others to be more open and motivated instead of defensive because they are given an emotionally safe environment in which to explore motivations they already have and believe in at their own pace (VitalSmarts Video, 2015). To show this in action, Maxfield and Grenn conducted an experiment in which two children tried to convince adults to quit smoking. When the kids tried to lecture the smokers about the effects of smoking on their health, the smokers were not receptive. However, when they approached the smokers for cigarettes, the smokers began to lecture them about how smoking is bad. The kids then used the influential questions “So if you care about us, what about you?” to get the smokers to think about their true feelings regarding smoking which caused the smokers to commit to trying to quit.

In the Power of Words video, we see another great example of how using the right words can move people. The video shows a man sitting on the sidewalk with a sign reading “I’m blind. Please help”. With this sign, he received some money from a few people passing by. However, as a woman passes by and reads his message, she changes it to read “It’s a beautiful day and I can’t see it”. This causes the man to receive much more money from the people passing by. Why? Because the message the woman wrote was relatable and appealed to people’s emotions. Those passing by could see how beautiful of a day it was for themselves and the fact that the man could not witness such a sight made them feel empathy for him which made them want to help him in any way they could.

As I begin creating my video message, I will take into account the information I have learned from the videos and reading for this week. First, and most important, I will need to appeal to the hearts of my audience to motivate them to change. Like the Power of Words video, I will make sure to use language that is relatable and appeals to the emotional side of my audience rather than presenting them with a fact-driven lecture filled with information they already know. Also, like the experiment conducted in the How to Change People Who Don't Want to Change video, I will get my audience to tap into their authentic feelings about educational change in an emotionally safe environment by posing an influential question at the end of the video for them to ponder. Because my audience will be administrators and teachers, I think the best language and influential questions to use are those that speaks to their desire to want to help students in the best way possible, see improvement in student performance, and not feel overwhelmed while doing it. Once I have gotten them engaged and motivated to change by appealing to their emotions, I can then provide them with factual information that will appeal to their heads.

I will also be very particular and strategic about the type of language and images I use in my video. A great example of this is in the Power of Words video clip. It had very little dialogue and even fewer written words but, for me, conveyed the strongest message out of all the content this week. This was because of how the director used words and images to tell a story. Although the video did not include very many words, every word that was included had strong meaning in regard to the overall message. The images told most of the story and made me as a viewer become emotionally connected to what was happening. This is the type of impact I want to have in my message video. I want my audience to view it and feel an emotional connection that will motivate them to change. Therefore, when developing my video, I will try to tell an emotional story through images and use my words to emphasize the impact of my message.

SOURCES:

Harapnuik, D. (2015, January 9). Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?p=5461

TEDx Talks. (2014, June 30). Why TED Talks Don't Change People's Behaviors. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0jTZ-GP0N4&t=5s.

VitalSmarts Video. (2015, January 5). How to Change People Who Don't Want to Change. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACi-D5DI6A&feature=youtu.be.