The Power of Perception

I love hearing about the latest scientific research on how we think, behave and communicate. And a quick thanks to http://www.esciencenews.com/ for their daily dose of eureka! This week's favourite came from the U.S. and Purdue University's study of perceptions and performance. In one experiment they looked at goal kickers...the Rugby or US Football variety. It seemed that successful goal kickers perceived the goal uprights to be wider apart and the crossbar to be lower than was the case for unsuccessful goal kickers.
The conclusion being that performance will influence perceptions. I guess this could explain why that worst ever presentation we made was due to a really tough audience!!
The goal size experiment also struck a chord with me. As a "llttle nipper" my dad would play football with me and I would be goalkeeper. The goal posts were towering oaks...driving distance apart. The "goal net" was the perimeter wall of Wormwood Scrubs.....pretty high!  The goal mouth surface was bone hard clay and gnarled tree roots....totally uninviting. The ball was a sodden cannonball...to be avoided at all cost!
These perceptions persuaded me that nothing that I might try to do would stop my dad from belting that ball "into the net!" And that my role was to retrieve the ball from the below the prison wall.
So performance may influence perception but perception most certainly influences performance. Which is why we have always found that the surest preparation for a great presentation or sales pitch is to picture success and see yourself winning.

Bob Howard-Spink is a partner in Persuadability. For tips and advice on improving your persuadability visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/