Testimony as Time Travel

The brain is the most energy consumptive organ in the body.. it uses 25% of the body’s energy scanning the environment for change…  difference means danger… Anything NEW is flagged as RISKY and creates uncertainty… unsure of what to do, it is often safer to do nothing…it is not just fight or flight that keeps us alive…it’s fight, flight, or FREEZE…

One of the fastest shortcuts to build engagement when presenting something new is to SHOW evidence of what others in SIMILAR situations have done—research shows a direct correlation… More Proof = More Confidence = More Engagement.

People won’t say “I don’t know“ when provided corroboration that someone has “been there, and done that” … People see proof of what to expect when they see successful outcomes from others similar to them. … Consistency means No Surprises 

Scientists know this “No Surprises Bias” influences many of our daily decisions… and saves us a lot of energy…  we look for choices rated “five star”, or “the most popular”. When faced with two unknown restaurants it is often safer to assume that the one with more people has the better food… a Tip Cup full of money in front of a bartender, seems to be proof of prior good service these are all  Testimonials… the Latin root of the word means “evidence”  and EVIDENCE itself is Latin for what is “obvious, apparent” Testimonials are stories that we tell ourselves ….  They allow humans to time travel     Going back in time with stories of what has happened in the past, allows us to project what will likely happen in the future. Because the past IS a predictor in many cases.    

And people are more likely to engage when they see proof of prior outcomes.

Now take this tip and REMIND yourself to Seed the environment with stories, case studies and demos… the proof of even one person in a group moving forward will give others evidence to do so as well, and NO SURPRISES… the NO SUPRISES effect is amplified when we see LOTS OF OTHERS who are  JUST LIKE us…