Hey guys and welcome back to another episode of ChangeWired Podcast, the show for leaders, makers, everyday transformers and change agents. My name is Angela Sharina, I'm your host, I'm your executive coach. 360, mind, body work systems for meaningful work, change leadership and culture transformation strategist. Consultant and culture transformation strategies consultant and coach all in one package, and I absolutely love doing this podcast where I share my learnings, the books I read, the best practices in the business world of change, transformation, ai readiness and adoption, among other things.
These days, you know AI. Who is not talking about or not thinking about AI these days? I think, like the older generation, are the only people who don't, who really you know out of workforce and don't really care what's happening all that much. So I think those soon become the only people. But anyhow, today's podcast guys, we're going to start with a question Would you read a restaurant menu if you're hungry? What today's podcast is all about and what you're going to get from it. Well, you get to understand why people won't listen to your message, why very few people will read your stuff, how to write better email titles so people actually open what you write. What else, how to make people pay attention and listen to what you have to say, how to design your products and services, and just you pitch to your mom, your kid or your spouse so they listen to what you have to say and, most importantly, take some action based on that. So this is what we are talking about today and, as usual, you're going to learn some fascinating signs, which I try to bring down to the ground level and make it as simple and clear as possible, and by the end of this podcast episode, the hope is you're going to have a mind-transforming idea. So, from now on, you take different action when pitching, writing emails, designing your workshops, classes or anything that you want other people to pay attention to.
Speaker 1And we are starting with this term of cognitive budgeting or cognitive resource allocation. If you didn't know that, guys, but your brain is the hungriest organ, hungriest for energy. It spends more than 20% of your daily energy, like your cells are busy making energy, and more than 20% your brain gets, it being just less than 5% of your body weight. It's a hungry machine and because of that, it's a hack of an economist when it comes to energy budgeting. And your energy is spent by much, by far and much for paying attention, for filtering the reality, reading, learning, you know the different sensory information and then figuring out what to do with that. So you succeed and thrive in life.
Speaker 1And these days we are bombarded with, you know, emails and messages, like so much stuff that we're getting more and more of, but your brain's capacity didn't really change much when it comes to the amount of energy is available for absorbing and digesting and deciding what to do with that information. And so the brain gets more and more stingy and choosy, and you know there is this term picky eater. So your brain becomes more and more like a picky eater that only would pay attention to certain things. So what are those certain things that it's going to pay attention to? Well, it reminds me of this moment in my day after my workout, when I don't care about anything else but the food that I'm about to eat and you can be pitching me the most brilliant idea. Like at that point after my workout, the only thing that I care about that my brain cares about is when am I going to get my food, and that's about it. At that point, you can pitch me some healthy meal and bring it to me and sit me down at the table and then probably I might have some attention for whatever else you have to offer, but don't stand between me and my meal after workout. And if you try to pitch to me some five-course food journey at some Michelin restaurant with these different foods from around the world, guess what? I wouldn't care. I'm like, will I eat my protein and everything to make me full or not? That's pretty much all I care about then.
So how do you make people pay attention to what you have to say, and what does cognitive budgeting and allocation of your cognitive resources has to do with that? Well, as our world gets noisier and noisier, our brain has to really kind of budget the energy to absorb any of that and use any of that, and so the brain your brain, guys becomes very choosy again, like a picker eater. Should I pay attention to this or not? Is it relevant in my life or not? And is it something I, as the person with this identity, care about at all? Like to give you an example when I open my email, I don't really care anymore about what smart thing you have to say. All I care about is A. Is it relevant to what I'm trying to solve right now growing my business, growing my consulting, figuring out how to get better at behavior, change at scale, other things like maybe some updates from Team Ferris or what else, some courses on change leadership, change management.
Speaker 1There are very few things that I truly care about right now. Things that I truly care about right now. And when I see some fluffy email title or you know new thing to I don't know, live better life, you know I don't care, like I don't care who you are, what you have to say about living a better life. My life is pretty awesome right now and all I care about is building my business. So do you have anything smart and exact that I need at that moment to say? If not, get out of my email or out of sight, out of mind, and I believe this is going to be the era of the end of fluffy email titles. Don't be clever, be clear, because if I don't understand it, in marketing and sales they actually say that confused customer always says no. So a lot of people are just confused with all the stuff that's going on. So if you are not clear, you've already lost. But that brings me back to another idea of this cognitive budgeting that I learned in the book by Matt Wallert. I think that's how you pronounce his last name.
Speaker 1The book is Start at the End, and he is a behavioral scientist. He does spend a lot of time helping people to change behavior, usually at scale in different organizations, and in the last chapters of his book, start at the End, let me actually read you the full subtitle. Yeah, trying to open up my website right now, which isn't opening up, okay, it's just open. Start at the End how to Build Products that Create Change. So at the end, in the last few chapters, matt talks about cognitive load, cognitive resources and how, if people aren't interested, not ready to spend their brain energy on what you have to offer at that exact moment, because at different moments people are interested in different things, just like me, after my workout, interested in really nutritious, filling meal, and that's pretty much all I care about at that moment. Or when somebody is trying to finish off their weekend, you like bringing them this new idea of the project that you want them to consider taking on. They're like well, maybe next week. You know, hit me up then. Right now I'm focused on getting my weekend ready and going. So Matt in his book Start at the End, introduces this idea that unless people have what you have to say in their cognitive budgeting list, like they are ready and willing to spend their cognitive attention on this at that precise moment. It's like doesn't matter what you have to say. You might have the best meal, the best brand, the best, whatever thing you have to offer, it doesn't matter. So to give you another idea to help you understand, it's more and better.
I don't care about a lot of things in this life, no matter how good they get. I don't care about politics. I don't care about celebrity gossip. I don't care what's the next thing on Netflix or Spotify, unless it's a niche podcast, maybe my favorite, tim Ferriss or Peter Atiyah MD or Andrew Huberman or Finding Mustry. I don't care about much stuff. I don't care about makeup. I don't care about five course dinners. I don't care about nightclubs. I don't care about new shopping mall opening up. I don't care about new shopping mall opening up. I don't care about high fashion and no matter what you offer to me in those categories, I don't care about that any time of the day, and you might be the best copywriter unless you link it to I care about Like if you wear our brand, you're gonna attract the best companies for change leadership and change management. Maybe then I will care. I would care, but until you do that, don't care.
Speaker 1Weirdly enough, I do care a lot about chocolate. I once even tried making it in chocolate business. And did you know, for example, that there is a cocoa bean called Criollo which is considered to be an elite cocoa bean called Criollo, which is considered to be an elite cocoa bean, which means that only 0.01 percentage of all cacao or cocoa made out of this bean the rest is made of? Well, majority of our chocolate is made of another bean, less elite, for a stir. So I know things like that.
Speaker 1So I love reading about chocolate, even if it has nothing to do with change leadership. At some point I'm going to make my chocolate business happen. But the point is, I also love watching Star Trek, and if there is something about Jean-Luc Picard you know the guy who actually played it I might read something about that. The point is, there are things that I'm willing and love spending my attention on, or book launches, like a new book coming out about efficiency, change, personal growth or self-improvement, self-optimization. If it's a good book by the good author, I'll probably read it, but I'll also read some news about what are new books on Harvard Business Review that recently came out right, I'm going to read about that. Or AI adoption and rollout when it comes to human-centric factor, I might read about that also, but that might change, whereas is my love for chocolate? Probably one.
Speaker 1So the point is, guys, ask yourself, just out of curiosity, what are you spending your cognitive energy on? Like you love reading about it, you love geeking out about that. If there is a rabbit hole, you're going to take it. What are those things? And that's where marketers would have the biggest chance with you to send their message, to perk up your curiosity, and you might consider it. But also, there are times when you're more likely to pay attention to something Like if you're planning your vacation, then all the offers about all the beautiful destinations and all the different I don't know trends about travel might reach your cognitive awareness and you might pay attention, pay attention enough to actually explore it. But will you be interested enough to learn about some course on the latest travel trends? Might not be some course on the latest travel trends, might not be.
Speaker 1The point again, is we, whether we are aware or not, have our areas of curiosities where we will spend a lot of our cognitive budget. That brings energy at our attention and we all have different things and again at different times of the day, like my meal after my workout. We might care about different things when it becomes urgent, when it becomes something that we need to solve right, freaking now. Right, I need to have that meal, and so before trying to persuade people, okay, open your email or care about your course, or care about your workshop or this new AI thing you got to ask yourself not if this is the right message, or if this is the right copy, or is your marketing skill level good enough? No, you actually got to ask yourself a few other questions.
Is this the right message for the right audience? Does my audience actually care about this? Or just eating enough veg and protein would be enough, instead of describing me this five-course dinner that I couldn't care less about, even if you said it was free, like, I just don't need it. My time and my cognitive resources are not going to be spent there, right? So is this message right for this type of the audience? Am I clear enough to tell them that this is what I'm delivering? If you are the kind of person who cares about that. Is this the right time? Or am I finding you on Monday morning when people are just trying to get through some stuff to start their week right? Is it the right moment for this kind of person to care about that and am I giving them the right kind of detail?
Speaker 1Like, again, I can read a lot of detail about chocolate. I cannot read a lot of detail about, I don't know, my wardrobe. I don't really care about brands, I just like to look pretty well and you know when I go out and do my workshops or classes or just meet people that I have pretty good impression, like approachable impression. That's all I care about. I don't really need to know all the latest brands and fashions and I don't care, and that's why I don't read fashion magazines. No matter what great, amazing stuff is there, like I don't care. And so for me, little detail in fashion is better than a lot of detail.
Speaker 1So does your audience. Is your audience obsessed with that? Give them all the detail, all the right detail. They care about that, and if your person just wants good enough to solve a problem, then give them the cheapest version. That's good enough, and the speed becomes the differentiator. Like if I need an adapter for electric stuff in South Africa and that's all I care about. I'm going to get the first thing that I find not like the best thing. I just don't care. If I don't care much about, let's say, cars and I need a vehicle, so what I'm going to do is going to get just good enough stuff. I don't need all the whistles and stuff and how the engine works. I'm just not that kind of person. So figure out who your person is, what they really care about, that and give them detail according to the amount of care and interest that they have. For obsessed people, give a lot of detail, but also the right kind of detail. Talk to those people. For people who just want you know good enough option, just give them a little detail and make shipping it to them as fast and easy and frictionless as possible. And so the same with you know your blogs, your workshops and I'm learning as a speaker as well.
Speaker 1Sometimes I look in my email or articles that people post and try to promote and I'm like I don't really care about all this fluff. I care about my thing, and unless you tell me why I should care about that, how this solves my problem, I don't really care how smart you are about delivering I don't know five course dinner If all I care is to not be hungry. The point is what's in it for them? Ask this question often, guys, and lead with that. Whether you're trying to write a blog, an email, do workshop, do class, do podcast, always ask yourself and this is the question I'm asking myself, not necessarily that I'm like super masterful about that, but at least I'm asking and getting better, and I asked ChatGPT about that as well Lead with what's in it for them. But obviously, to be effective with that, you need to understand who they are and what time of the day they are opening this thing. Maybe they love reading in the morning or at night. So your message also has to be slightly different.
And again, know your audience. Are they obsessed with that? Or are they using it to just satisfy the need, the thing that they gotta do, like get a blog. I don't need all the detail about that blog, right? Or are they obsessed, like me and my chocolate, and you give them all the detail? Know your audience and understand what's in it for them. Or are they obsessed, like me and my chocolate, and you give them all the detail like know your audience and understand what's in it for them. What are they trying to get or solve with this thing? And then deliver that message. Be clear, not clever. Confused customer always says no, and that's about it.
Speaker 1Guys, when you're trying to pitch something to your family member, your kid, your spouse, what's in it for them? Ask this question first. Lead with that, hear them out before you try to quote-unquote, sell them anything. Understand them and once you get their attention, that's where you get to sparkle up your offer and have a chance to actually get the outcome you want as well. So what's in it for them? Understand who you're writing and why, and whether your people are willing to spend their cognitive resource on what do you have to say in the first place? Because if not, it's like never happened. You might as well say nothing. Probably would be in a better position. So cognitive budget Guys, people are.
Speaker 1Our brains are stingier than ever. With that budget, there are too many things to pay attention to. So what's in it for them is the key question. And also understand that what people are willing to pay attention to A it's going to change at different times of their day and life cycle. So try to understand the context and then B understand whether you're speaking to obsessed people or people who just need to get the thing done and speak to them in that amount of detail. Obsessed people love a lot of detail. People who just want to get the thing out of the gate, just want a little detail. Does it do the thing? Yes, fine, can you ship it faster? That's amazing. So I'm in and speak in that exact order and speak in that exact language and with that exact detail at that exact time. So contacts is everything. Our cognitive budgets are tighter than ever, so what's in it for them?
Speaker 1And guys, if you got the value from this podcast, please let me know. Rate, review, deliver, help me to deliver this podcast to more ears. Let's grow, let's improve together. Let's make our world better together. Share, if you care. Share with at least one person to have an amazing, insightful chat about. Maybe your team, so your whole marketing, your whole company especially if you have a small company understands how important it is to speak to the right person with the right language and lead with the right kind of sentence or set of words. Right. So share, if you care. Thank you for your attention, now more than ever, and I'll do even better to deliver you more value, practical, applicable. So it also changes your life, your business and accelerates your personal and professional growth. So stay tuned for more. On Wednesday, we're going to talk about how to achieve multiple goals when you're super busy already. We're going to talk about the brain and its ability to automate things and some hacks to do it faster and better. So stay tuned, share if you care, and until next time, keep growing.