Kahneman was right! (Tips for public speaking from a Nobel Prize winner)

Daniel Kahneman's bookThink fast - think slow' provided me with interesting insights into the art of speech and persuasion. Kahneman showed that our brain works in two 'gears' - slow and fast.

Slow speed of logical, orderly thinking, for example when solving an arithmetic exercise or comparing products before buying.

And our brain also has a fast gear - emotional and impulsive - for example when deciding how much salt to add to the soup, or when to take a detour on the road. These are complex operations that a computer has difficulty performing, and our brain does in fractions of a second, usually with good results.

So here are 5 paragraphs that will help you use the structure of the brain in front of an audience to speak better, more confidently, and with less effort!

Speech skills and confidence in front of an audience (according to Kahneman)

The secret to speaking correctly in front of an audience is to combine both forms of thinking at the same time. Those who use only the 'quick brain' will jump from topic to topic, will not close arguments, and will discover at the end of their words that they forgot the most important thing.

Those who use only the slow and orderly mind will not succeed in creating fluency and interest, will not convey emotion, and will have to work very, very hard even to participate in the yeshiva.

So it turns out that I have been using Kahneman's theories for 15 years -

Because I make the students use the slow brain as well: In preparation, at the beginning of chapters, in search of examples.

And at the same time they use their quick brain: for the actual performance, for the emotion and body language, for the flow and flow.

This combination succeeds in causing orderly learning to produce what appears to be innate talent.

This week I discovered that fear of crowds also has a fast-brain/slow-brain component. Here's why:

Fear of the crowd: why is negative thinking faster than positive?

As you know, fear of the crowd arises from irrational self-criticism, that is, from the fast brain. The negative thoughts that create it pass so quickly that many sufferers are not aware of them at all but think that their reaction is automatic: I have to get up and I get stressed, my voice shakes and I go into a 'black-out'.

Researchers, before and after Kahneman, showed that in the fraction of a second before feelings are created, thoughts pass through the head - very fast, and very negative - that create them. These negative thoughts: 'I will bore them' or 'I blush and see' pass so quickly that they disappear before we are aware of them.
only The emotional impact of which you remain. the damage the fear 

And it is possible to beat the negative thoughts both with the help of a fast mind and with the help of a slow mind.

Negative thoughts: the quick fix and the slow fix

The fast brain method is studied with us in social anxiety workshops. Whereas in the regular courses, the slow brain is used more. Here are examples:

The fastest way to a partial solution

In the anxiety workshops that Yael conducts with us, you learn to intercept negative thoughts with the help of faster positive thoughts. For example: if 'I'm boring' or 'my voice is shaking' cross my mind in a tenth of a second, then I develop a positive counter-thought: "It's a fact that they came. It's a sign that I'm interesting" and practices it. Until it also passes through the brain within a tenth of a second.

This is how you go from thought to thought, develop a reliable and convincing counter-thought, otherwise it doesn't work! Then practice it until it becomes fast and automatic. And gradually the pressure decreases, and the anxiety decreases, sometimes by tens of percent. Learn more

The slow way to a complete solution

In the courses we make sure to give detailed and informed feedback at the end of the practice. The goal is twofold: to get each participant used to giving themselves constructive criticism that focuses on solutions rather than problems and to get used to doing the criticism only at the end. Not in the process.

In this way we force the brain to slow down the deadly self-criticism. To transfer it from the fast and uncontrollable mind to the slow mind that can be monitored.

Here, too, the result is a tens of percent decrease in anxiety and fear, but with a bonus: this decrease can last for a long, long time. Weeks.. months... years... even decades!    Learn more

 Spring semester opens!

So if you want to improve your persuasiveness and overcome your fear of crowds

Courses for beginners

• Debate Club: How to argue and win
  13.5  Discounted morning course - Less mess, for those who are free in the mornings
• 19.5  Extended course - For those who want the best
• 16.3  English course Get the most out of your English in front of an audience

Sunday workshops for advanced students

•  3.5    Alumni and student forum  Practice session open to the public
• 16.3  Fear of the crowd workshop . Breathing and thinking exercises in CBT

077-8200201