Neurologists tell us that the eyes are the externalization of the brain. That is, the way one moves their eyes when accessing information can tell us a great deal about their learning and communication styles. These neurological patterns are set by the age of eight and reflect the internal sensory processing preferences (learning strategies), of the individual. These eye movements cross barriers of culture, gender, and language and are highly observable. Accordingly, you can learn to watch someone’s eye movements to reliably ensure that you are effectively communicating with and persuading them.
You might use this to:
• Detect a Judge’s VAK learning style and persuade them more effectively than your opponent;
• Get a read on how a jury is receiving your message;
• Improve communications with a colleague or spouse;
The eye chart below is an internationally recognized Neurological Eye Chart that lays out the movement patterns of eyes through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (feeling) neural network patterns. Simply stated, visual people tend to look up (for a mental picture); auditory people tend to look to the side (towards the ears); and kinesthetic people tend to look down.
Learning How to Observe Eye Movements by Quizzing Someone Else or Having Someone Quiz You - Questions That Produce Mental Searching
The following 10 questions are designed to create searching (known as transderivational search), through the neural network. Use the eye chart below and record how your subject responds to your questions. Take up to one minute to respond to each question and record whether the dominant eye movement is Kinesthetic, Visual or Auditory.
1. Who are the two most important people in your life; List the characteristics that make them important to you.
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
2. Describe a difficult experience that has changed your way of looking at the world.
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
3. By the end of your career what would you like to say you have accomplished?
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
4. Name the characteristics of your most admired world leader (dead or alive.)
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
5. How do you typically handle a large task. Go through one successful example.
Kinesthetic___
Visual ___
Auditory___
6. In your last major purchase (home, car, etc.,) what steps did you go through to make the decision?
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
7. In your opinion how has Osama Bin Laden changed life in this country?
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
8. What guiding principles shape your decisions?
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
9. Outline the attributes of an excellent attorney.
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
10. When choosing a pet, what are the qualities you find most desirable?
Kinesthetic___
Visual___
Auditory___
Total Results: Kinesthetic___ Visual____ Auditory____
**People will commonly show high movements, i.e. 6/7 out of 10 questions in 2 of the categories and have irregular movements in the 3rd pattern.
A result of greater than 60% (6 out of 10) suggests this is an area of. A result of 40% or below, suggests that this is not a natural learning style for you or your subject. In general, people tend to learn/communicate very well in one area (70%+), well in a second (50-70%,) and poor in third category (40%-).
Kinesthetic People (Feeling People) are characterized by habits like:
• Looking down when responding to a question;
• Focusing on comfort of dress over style;
• Having a visually messy desk that actually has some order to it;
• Making decisions only when they ‘feel right.’
and are proficient in feeling language: For example: connect, in touch, handle, digest, walk through, fit, move through, sleep on, hot, cold,etc.
Visual People (Seeing People) are characterized by habits like:
• Making good eye contact in conversation but often looking up when recalling information;
• Frequently using visual representations to convey information;
• Not standing too closely (because it is important to see the person they are speaking to);
• Making and posting checklists and checking off completed items.
and are proficient in picture language; For example: see, picture, observe, view, panoramic, clear, black and white, look, map, etc.
Auditory People (Hearing/Speaking People) are characterized by habits like:
• Not making eye contact while thinking, generally looking from side to side;
• Frequently correcting grammar, spelling, word choice or pronunciation of others;
• Remembering exactly how a thing was said and reminding others what they said;
• Making use of puns, metaphors and playing word games.
and are proficient in hearing language: For example : listen, talk, sounds, converse, rhythm, tempo, hear, rings true, resonates, etc.
In the legal profession, here is how this information might impact you on a daily basis:
Most lawyers are auditory learners and communicators. In other words, to make a point, most lawyers tend to 'say it' rather than to 'show it.' No surprise, right? Unfortunately, most non-attorneys, the group who attorneys often have to teach and persuade, are visual or kinesthetic.
If your job requires you to communicate to groups of non-lawyers (like a jury or the general public), you can expect that audience to be composed of a majority of visual learners (45%) - a typical sampling in a random population. This means that you need to couple your ability to communicate orally with a visual presentation (using pictures, and picture language to effectively depict your arguments.)
If you find that you have trouble communicating with certain colleagues, friends, and significant others, consider whether they are simply a different type of communicator/learner. Listen for the type of language they use . . . notice their eye movement patterns. Consider incorporating some of their habits/language while talking with them. People are most comfortable with people who communicate like themselves. Most people do not adjust their style of communication to suit their audience. However, the best communicators do this. For example, typically 90% of best selling books use all three styles of language to reach the greatest audience.
Animators at Law routinely helps typically auditory litigators bridge the communication gap between themselves and their visual and kinesthetic jurors. We use highly effective trial exhibits, physical models and animation to help in the communication process.
We are eager to share how we help the nation's top large law firms litigators communicate more effectively.
