Speak To People’s Hearts

Gideon replied, “What have I accomplished compared to you?” . . . When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, their anger subsided. Judges 8:2-3

Daryl Travis is a marketing-science expert at Brand-Trust in Chicago. He studies how our brains process advertising messages and has concluded that emotions play a much greater role in our responses to advertising than we would care to admit.

Gideon had just come back from a decisive victory over the Midianites, and the men of Ephraim were upset because they weren’t invited to participate in the battle.

Instead of running through the logical reasons why he had not chosen them to fight, Gideon calmed their fears and made them feel important. He appealed to their hearts.

Emotion instead of analysis.

We are often tempted to focus on the facts, forgetting how those facts might make someone feel. A more effective approach is to get the facts straight, then look for a way to deliver them that appeals to the heart rather than the head.

How do you make people feel?