Stop dumping information. Start shaping experience. Influence happens when people feel, connect, struggle, and see themselves in the message.

Key Takeaway

The brain remembers the unexpected.Use novelty, humor, or contrast to grab attention.

Surprise Matters

People only remember what feels relevant to them.Link new ideas to personal goals, emotions, or experiences.

Make it Matter

People only pay attention to what they choose to focus on.Control focus with cues like gestures, pauses, and rhetorical questions.

Use the Spotlight Effect

Challenge improves memory.Don’t make everything easy—well-designed difficulty strengthens learning.

Embrace Struggle

Sleep helps solidify memory.Encourage breaks and reflection rather than info overload.

Let Them Sleep on It

People engage more when challenged intelligently.Speak with clarity, not simplification.

Don’t Dumb it Down

Influence isn’t about being perfect; it’s about being real and relatable.Show vulnerability and passion to inspire trust and connection.

Be Human

Repeating key ideas across time solidifies learning.Spread your message, then revisit it in different ways (e.g., stories, visuals, applications).

Repetition Wins

The brain processes images faster and more effectively than text or speech.Use pictures, diagrams, or metaphors to anchor your message.

Visuals Trump Words

The brain stores knowledge in networks.Show how ideas link together, rather than presenting facts in isolation.

Connect Ideas

Emotional content boosts recall and action.Make your audience feel something—curiosity, urgency, joy, etc.

Engage Emotion

Stories trigger emotional engagement and are easier to recall.Wrap data or ideas in narrative structures.

Tell Stories

Memorized speeches feel fake. The brain prefers natural conversation.Learn your core points, then speak authentically and fluidly.

Ditch the Scripts

To truly influence others, especially in teaching, presenting, or leading, you must communicate in line with how the brain actually learns. Each lesson is based on neuroscience and psychology, focused on how people best receive, retain, and apply information.

Love it or hate it, we are all teachers. Whether walking clients through a new program, guiding an audience through a novel proposition, or helping our children to kick a soccer ball, nearly every day we work to disseminate knowledge and wisdom to others. The problem is that very few of us have ever been taught how to teach! Drawing on Jared Cooney Horvath’s nearly 15 years of experience conducting brain research at prominent universities, teaching students from 10 to 80 years of age, and working closely with organizations and schools across 4 continents, Stop Talking, Start Influencing outlines 12 scientific principles of how people learn. The result is a book that shows readers how to impart their knowledge to others in a manner that sticks with and truly influences them — regardless of the situation or circumstance. For every business leader sick of repeating themselves ad nauseam to colleagues and clients, for every coach tired of endlessly drilling athletes without seeing meaningful improvement, for every entrepreneur who’s had enough of pouring their heart into presentations only to see no lasting impact among the audience … it’s time to stop talking and start influencing!

Don’t Dumb it Down

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