The Neuroscience of Rhetoric in Management

Book excerpt: Executives continue to lose their position because of inability to communicate organizational decisions to employees and boards effectively. More than just the words one writes or speaks, communication includes one’s actions and other non-verbal attributes that carry meaning for audiences. Further, decisions may affect these audiences differently emotionally and economically, complicating communication with each group. This book provides case studies to illustrate communication failure that directly resulted in executives' termination. These case studies include the fields of higher education, health care administration, computer technology, medical research, news media, and advertising. Synthesizing scholarship in neuroscience about how the brain processes information from verbal, visual and other stimuli as well as management and communication principles found in books valued in leadership development programs, this book explains why audiences reacted negatively to messages and describes how the messages could have been delivered to get a better response. The book includes rubrics to assist readers develop their own messages. Executives and those in leadership development programs will benefit from this book.