Comms Lab: Reframing
Comms Lab: Episode 2
Reframing: The Ultimate Cognitive-Emotional Superpower?
Neuroscientists, like Prof Lisa Feldman-Barrett, tell us that the human brain is a prediction machine.
How does it work?
It frames our present experience in terms of our past, and then makes educated guesses about what will happen next.
As an emergency doctor, my ability to recognise patterns and predict outcomes is key to my ability to provide safe, effective care to my patients.
As far as I can tell, the same applies to difficult conversations.
How we perceive and frame the conversation we’re about to walk into will, in large part, determine the results of that conversation.
So what happens when our assumptions are wrong?
What are the implications for the way we communicate and form relationships?
And how do we turn this powerful mechanism to our advantage?
In this video, I discuss the cognitive-emotional skill of reframing, and why I believe it is the unsung hero of communication skills.
0:00 – Reframing: The Cognitive Superpower of Emotional Intelligence
0:31 – A Powerful Example
2:33 – Frames = Assumptions
3:00 – Reframing is a generalisable, high leverage skill
3:41 – Choose your frames carefully
4:48 – Um, Dad? What are we having for dinner?
Further Links
- Feldman Barrett L. Ch 4. The Origin Of Feeling. In: How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. 2017
- Feldman Barrett L. Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain. 2020 [with Extended notes appendix]
- Skipper C. Your Brain Doesn’t Work the Way You Think It Does 2020
- Comms Lab with Hayden Richards on YouTube
- Sunday Synapse Newsletter
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Comms Lab
A path to highly effective communication skills
Hayden is an emergency physician at University Hospital Geelong and a senior lecturer at Deakin University, Geelong. He is somewhat obsessed with the science and art of effective communication, and in particular: difficult conversations. He believes that we can all get better at having difficult conversations, and that the process of learning to do so can be seriously fun.
Hayden is also an avid but terrible surfer, ad hoc gardener, and dad to two awesome kids. | LinkedIn |