Do you agree that …. The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.
Those were William Jennings Bryant’s words to encourage people to look more at flipsides, as a way to use effective tone.
A view from the other side, rarely comes by accident though – and we can easily miss its magnificence. Did you know that when we become aware that unseen possibilities exist, the human brain spikes for a new adventure. In other words, we see things more clearly by looking for meaning in opposites. 
Take the tree in your backyard for example. In summer the tree offers shade and mine also gives privacy for the patio. In contrast, the winter tree stands as a stark reminder that frost kills and new life takes time to reappear.
In my front foyer, a silk screen my daughter created caught beauty in the backside of a sunflower. I stare at this amazing view often, as a reminder that another side exists and often adds value to the side I saw first.
It’s the same in conversations, relationship, movies, or historic essays. Look again, and you could find the adventure in another side.
So how can we catch the backside of bigger issues, the way my daughter caught the sunflowers opposite view in a silk screen expression? What John described as a magical technique for looking at opposites – takes tone.
Tone creates the mental pathway that enables your brain to see and engage opposite perspectives from viewpoints you see at first glance. Luckily tone can be taught, and it can even be measured.
So, if good tone inspires people to express differences, in ways that we see the opposite side more clearly… how can we tell if tone benefits exist for opposites to arise?
Effective tone is the opposite of arrogance, meta messages, manipulation, or diminishing words. It’s likely there if you…
1. Build respect – which adds the chemical hormone serotonin, and helps people to share ideas, without fear of an attack in response.
2. Look for the best in each person’s offering – even if you disagree.
3. Support key ideas with details from research, experience or personal insights
4. Consider possibilities through another person’s eyes at times, as a way to catch another valid perspective you may have missed
5. Express your curiosity for engaging people of other backgrounds and different cultures
7. Laugh easily at yourself, so that others laugh too … since the brain uses laughter to shake off personal offenses
8. Take the risk to lead in new ideas, and don the humility to be led by others’ different perspectives.
Tone, at its best, is the fuel that human brains use to fire up possibilities beyond problems. It springs life alive in wonderful new ways, when you look for meaning in opposites.
» Tone to Disagree and Keep Your Job from BrainBasedBusiness
Where money is spent … so too are emotions heated … and reputations ruined. With the use of brain based tone tactics – the mind engages both sides before deciding on actions that support either. Poor tone shuts out one... [Read More]
Tracked on: July 26, 2007 6:05 AM | Permalink to Trackback