The forces behind the style illusion
Seven forces that hold back ordinary communication training
They are documented by Kahneman, Cialdini and Thaler. They apply to your customers, your colleagues and your own executive team. And they are all designable. As long as you leave them untouched, every communication training evaporates at the first difficult message.
01 - The skill illusion
Writing better doesn't make you more persuasive
You now write more clearly and concisely. But your recommendations still aren't followed. Communication training focuses on the skills of the sender, not the psychology of the receiver.
02 - The decision blind spot
People don't decide on arguments
Better arguments, stronger evidence, and still the same rejection. People decide on feeling, context and social norms. Most trainings never mention that.
03 - The receiver mistake
The message isn't the problem, the receiver is
How you phrase the message, you practise that. But which filter your receiver uses to process it stays unaddressed. Communication is behaviour of the receiver, not the sender.
04 - Repetition
New tips don't solve the old problem
Another new tip, another small improvement. But the question that actually matters, how do you move people, is never answered.
05 - Context
Context decides whether a message lands
A clear structure and sharp phrasing are useful. But communication doesn't happen in a vacuum. Timing and framing matter at least as much as the text itself.
06 - Transfer
What worked on training day evaporates by Monday
Inspiring, relatable, good feeling. A week later: the same patterns, the same reactions. Without a method that works on every new situation, no training survives.
07 - System 1
96% of decisions are automatic
People read your text and decide about it through System 1: fast, automatic, on feeling. A training that only strengthens the rational argument targets the wrong 4%.
