Successful communications is holistic.
Successful communications harness the power of the five senses.
A sommelier understands the communications secret of the five senses.
The five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste should be the foundation of your communications.
The five senses send rich information to the brain, so your audience understands and perceives your communications.
Most communications only use sight and hearing, but your communications can be touched, smelled, and tasted through the power of description and memory.
A sommelier understands this communication secret and employs the five senses.
A sommelier, of course, can check off sight and hearing with ease.
Sight is handled by showing a bottle with a descriptive label, distinctive bottle, and appealing packaging.
Hearing is handled by listening to what a client is looking to drink, reading the table's mood, and understanding the situation when and where the wine will be consumed.
But what about touch, smell, and taste?
The sommelier, of course, could pop open a few bottles and do a Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors small spoon taste test, but this isn't going to happen when you visit Chicago's Maple + Ash or Detroit's Selden Standard.
So what is the sommelier to do?
The sommelier will employ memory and association techniques to stimulate your three other sensory receptors.
Touch is handled by describing the texture of the wine.
Words like heavy, silky, sharp, gritty, and smooth.
Smell is handled by describing the scent of the wine.
Words like floral, citrus, fruity, tobacco, and earthy.
Taste is handled by describing the flavor of the wine.
Words like dry, sweet, ripe, oaky, and blackberry.
Successful communications is holistic.
Successful communications harness the power of the five senses.
Push your communications.
Your communications will connect more vividly by employing the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
Successful communications embraces the secret of a sommelier.
-Marc
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Need help with your communications?
Caracal is available for solo executive advisory sessions, leading a team workshop, or conducting a communications strategy audit.
Happy to help, especially if we are meeting at Vins Urbains Bordeaux.
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