Your Brain on Politics: The Neuroscience of Communication in Political Times

Did you know that certain social situations trigger the same threat and reward circuits in our brains as physical situations such as being very hungry? For example, we feel rewarded, therefore more relaxed and open-minded, when people show us respect.
This session will look at how understanding the neurobiology of building trust and navigating conflict can help us persuade and mobilize voters.

This session is intended for grassroots activists who will be engaging in persuasion and GOTV. In engaging terms, it will explain how our brains respond in situations where we are trying to build trust and navigate conflict. Once we go through the neuroscience of how we process information and respond to others, we'll do some exercises to help us think about how we can be speaking to voters -- whether on the phone or on the doorstep -- in the most effective and lasting ways.