"Listen Instead of Talk" Drives Audience Wild

I'm used to speaking in front of audiences, but this was the first time I got a standing ovation for sitting with my mouth closed.

To be technically correct, the ovation was really for world-class pianist, Frederic Chiu, who had invited me to be one of four volunteers to have our brains and heart rates monitored while he performed on Sunday.

Frederic and his wife, Jeanine Esposito, organize wonderfully diverse salons that combine music, art, video, gourmet chefs and technology. That's me in the picture above, getting ready for the concert. The woman standing behind me is putting brain sensors on my head and heart monitors on my ears.

This event was Vibrations: Body, Mind, Heart. The idea was that while Frederic performed Hymns and Dervishes, the audience would also see how our brains and hearts were reacting. To make this possible, the sensor data was manipulated into highly visual formats and projected onto a screen just behind Frederic's piano.

At times, you could see the rhythm of the music reflected in our brainwaves. I could look at Frederic's hands on the keyboard, then look at the patterns reflected in our brains, and looking at our brains was almost like looking at the keyboard.

I had no idea this was possible, nor did Tom Collura of Brainmaster, whose neurofeedback equipment made this unique event possible.

Without intending to do so, Frederic and Tom essentially conspired to make me spend an hour silently watching how my brain reacts to events that occur around me; my brainwaves were literally on the screen in front of me.

The experience made me realize we all should have such an experience. Listening is one of the rarest - and most valuable - skills. For me at least, it is a constant battle to listen to others without becoming wrapped up in what I want to say in response.

Confronted with evidence that my brain can fall into synch with a spectacular pianist, I also realized how little we know about what's between our ears.

Every day, you and I make decisions, using our brain. We decide how to spend our time. We decide whether to hire a vendor or to pursue a certain strategy. We decide whether today might be the right day to ask for a raise.

But we have no idea how our brains work.

If I put a black box on your desk and told you to do whatever the box said, you would likely be uncomfortable; you have no idea how the box works. But you have no idea how your brain works either.

The lesson I took away was to listen more and be more open to what we hear. Many of us go through life with a set of beliefs about how the world works, and about what the right – and wrong – things to do are. But when a roomful of people came face to face with how my brain works, it became obvious that no one has a clue, myself included.

Thanks for reading this. This short video clip shows the music impacting our brainwaves.

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More from Bruce Kasanoff: A limited number of seats are still available for Bruce's June 6 free webinar about the struggle of large banks to deliver personal service, Digital vs. Human Banking Experiences. Can This Be a Happy Marriage? Bruce is the co-author with Michael Hinshaw of Smart Customers, Stupid Companies; you can download a free excerpt.

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