Suggests that speeches containing vivid images are actually less
memorable and less persuasive than their blander counterparts. Research
by Alice Eagly, Ph.D. (Purdue University) and colleague who played one of
two versions of a tape-recorded editorial to 171 subjects; Findings;
Conclusions; Reported in 'Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'
(Vol. 65, No. 1).
By
PT Staff, published on November 01, 1993
VIVID LANGUAGE
You have to give a speech. So you load it with vivid
images--colorful language, picturesque examples, provocative
metaphors--hoping that your resplendent monologue will make a lasting
impression on the audience.
But that may be exactly wrong. Messages containing vivid images are
actually less memorable and less persuasive than their blander
counterparts. This is especially the case when listeners are free to
decide whether to tune in or not.
"People's minds start wandering," says Alice Eagly, Ph.D. "They
just start thinking about the vivid images themselves and miss the larger
points."
Eagly and a Purdue University colleague played one of two versions
of a tape-recorded editorial to 171 subjects. One was an opinion laced
with vivid images, the other a straight version of the same opinion. One
group of subjects was explicitly instructed to listen carefully to the
information in the message. A second group heard the recording in a
seemingly incidental way.
When people were compelled to pay attention, vividness had little
effect on memory of the message, its contents, or persuasiveness. But
when subjects were free to pay attention or not vivid messages placed a
poor second to pallid palaver.
Colorful language and provocative metaphors may keep the brain from
following a line of logic, the team reports in the Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology (Vol. 65, No. 1). Things may be entirely different
with the written word. If while reading your mind takes flight on a vivid
image, you're still free to go back and reread.
An advisory for Bill Clinton: When your political persuasiveness
goes on the blink, ditch the eloquent speeches and play the straight man
for a while.
CARTOON: (KEN BENDIS)
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