Consulting Journal: Methods - The left and right brain

Methods: The left and right brain

by David Blakey

You can write for both the left and right sides of your readers' brain when writing reports.

[Monday 11 February 2002]

Sometimes you will write reports that will present facts. You may have to report on the current status of a situation without making any recommendations about what your client can do about it. You may have to report on similar situations in other sectors or in the same sector in other countries, again without making any recommendations.

At other times, you will write reports that do contain your recommendations. You may have to present options or suggest improvements or advocate change.

You might imagine that your powers of persuasion would be needed more if you are presenting your opinions than if you are presenting facts. It seems to make sense that you would have to ‘sell’ your recommendations while the facts should be supported by proof. In fact, you may need to persuade your readers in both kinds of report.

Each statement in each report you write should be written so that your readers are persuaded that what you are saying is right. You should spend time making sure that each statement has the strongest persuasive power that you can put into it.

Your readers can be either ‘left-brain thinkers’ or ‘right-brain thinkers’.

Left-brain:	Right-brain:
Left-brain thinkers are regarded as ‘analytic’. They examine each item individually as it is presented to them. They accept and remember items in the order in which they are presented.	Right-brain thinkers are regarded as ‘holistic’. They examine several different items and their interdependence simultaneously. They may accept and remember items randomly, from the set of items they are examining.
Left-brain thinkers respond principally to verbal input.	Right-brain thinkers respond better to visual input.
It follows that left-brain thinkers respond to the meaning and context of words.	Right-brain thinkers tend to respond better to the phrasing and tone of sentences.

There are other characteristics of people who are always either left-brain or right-brain thinkers.

Left-brain thinkers tend to plan their work and then work their plan, while right-brain thinkers tend to be more impulsive.
Left-brain thinkers tend to be more punctual than right-brain thinkers.

In order for your reports to convince both kinds of thinker,

you should combine verbal and visual presentation,
you should use both factual and emotive phrases to make a point, and
you should present facts both as ‘stand-alone’ and as part of a set of related facts.

Would you like an example? Look at the table above, which compares the two kinds of thinker. Here are some examples of how it has been geared to both left- and right-brain thinkers.

The table format was deliberately chosen.

Left-brain thinkers will probably have read down the left column, perhaps comparing with the right column, for each item. They will probably have evaluated each point in sequence.

Right-brain thinkers may have moved up and down the lists, comparing vertically and diagonally as well as horizontally.
As reinforcement, the table has no background colours or borders.

Both kinds of thinkers are free to read the table contents in their own style.

This is an important point when placing tables and lists in your reports. Left-brain thinkers will ‘see’ a structure. Right-brain thinkers will not feel constrained by a structure.
Words and phrases have been chosen to appeal appropriately.

Of left-brain thinkers, I wrote: ‘They examine each item individually as it is presented to them. They accept and remember items in the order in which they are presented.’

Of right-brain thinkers: ‘They examine several different items and their interdependence simultaneously. They may accept and remember items randomly, from the set of items they are examining.’

The first phrase is mean to appeal to left-brain thinkers; the second to right-brain thinkers.
Both logic and emotional appeal are included.

Left-brain thinkers respond ‘principally’ to verbal input, while right-brain thinkers respond ‘better’ to visual input. These words were chosen to appeal to logical left-brain thinkers and to emotional right-brain thinkers.

Wherever your reports need to convince your readers, try to convince both sides of their brains.

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