We're going to dive into a little bit of how our brain works. Really the key here is how to message to our clients, to our loved ones, to the people that we lead in a way that they'll want to drive and make change. That they actually want to move into the change and make a decision, whether it's buying something, whether it's going in a new direction, or whether it's being inspired.

So let's look at how can we articulate and create a message that will impact people in a way that they'll want to move and make change. Change is always at play, every single day you show up for work, every single day that you lead anyone. You're asking them to do something that they've never done before. And the problem is the second we come out of the womb, we're in protection mode. We're in self-preservation mode. We have to survive. So anything that we don't understand, that we don't know, that we've never experienced, we view as a threat until proven otherwise.

This happens at a root level, instinctual part of our brain, we do not control this. The intensity of which this happens, however, we can control. Every time we're asked to change, we're always in self-preservation mode. We find ourselves in our safety box. When you're asking your clients to do something or you're asking your employees and teams to do something, anxiety and fear always kick in to a different degree. And so to bring people to move, you have to have a couple of key components.

It's the combination of motivation — they want to change — and the ability to change – they know how to change. If you don't know how to change, you're not going to, or if you don't have the motivation, you're not going to. The greatest distance is moving something from here to here, to truly finding the meaning. The emotion is what's going to drive you.

You have to connect, but you also have to be credible. The key about credibility is that we're trained to do it. You're here for it, you're getting more skills, you're getting better at what you do. But most of our sales training we've had in our career really doesn't have a lot of connection training. It has rapport. But connection truly happens at a values level. What do we value in common and how do I articulate that value? And you have to be vulnerable. You cannot truly have honesty, authenticity and humility unless you're willing to be a little vulnerable. We call it professional vulnerability. That doesn't mean you spew everything out about what's going on in our lives. But we all have a story.

Be willing to share a little bit. Be willing to show that you've struggled and you empathize with your client’s struggle. Move from doing it intuitively to being a bit more intentional. Be intentional in how you build your stories, intentional in how you communicate them and when you communicate them. The key is you have to connect before you can be credible because if you don't connect, you're not creating safety.

We're going to go over the brain very quickly. The brain has three big parts: neocortex, limbic system, root-brain. The neocortex is your thinking, high-functioning brain. It's also where skepticism and judgment happens. The limbic system is your feeling brain. It's where emotions, memory, sociability take place. It's also where trust happens and it's also where visualization lives. The root-brain or the R-factor brain is our reptilian lizard instinct brain. It's hunger, thirst, breathing. The root-brain gets activated in as little as 0.085 seconds. That's why we have reflexes, that's why we get triggered.

So any decision to change, to buy something, to buy into the new vision happens in the limbic system. This is where it happens.

The difference between an analytical person and a relational person is the speed at which you move from the limbic system to the neocortex. Some relationals will hang out in emotion for a while because it's where we're comfortable, but eventually we're going to justify it rationally. This is how it works. This is how the brain works. So to make any decision, you have to access the limbic system.

Here's the other critical piece: the limbic system does not judge. The second you talk about features, benefits, components, contracts, it comes in the neocortex. It instantly gets judged, then when it makes it through, if it makes it through, then it's assigned meaning.

Remember this: You communicate effectively inside out, not outside in. The second you bring facts and figures, you're communicating outside in, you're hitting a wall. The second you communicate inside out, you assign the meaning. Then the brain says, “I've got to justify this emotional response I've got.” It's going to come and say, “Rationalize why your decision was correct.” You've heard the phrase, “We buy emotionally, we justify rationally.” That's how the brain works. So if you want people to move, you have to start through the limbic system.

It is crazy how much people remember when you tell them a story, but it sort of makes sense. Before the printing press, before writing, how did we transfer wisdom and knowledge? Oral tradition, stories. Here's the kicker. The neocortex has a limited capacity for facts and figures, but the limbic system has an unlimited capacity to remember stories.

Why? It's right beside the memory system. The hippocampus creates those connections instantly. Jerome Bruner has done the facts on this. A fact is 22 times more likely to remember it anchored in a narrative. You are good storytellers. I'd encourage you to be better and more intentional storytellers. That's how you bypass the neocortex. That's how you move into the meaning, the decision-making part of the brain.

Franc Godri is the founder and chief transformation officer of Cirrus, a firm focused on neuroscience and its application through sales training, leadership development and executive coaching. Through some simple tools and techniques, Godri helps leaders build trust, create consensus and apply the science of action.