Forming an attention-grabbing slogan or pitch can be difficult. Just like brain lateralization — the right hemisphere controls imagination and feelings while the left side manages facts and details – it requires the perfect balance of emotion and logic. To accurately identify this specific combination and maximize your pitch’s impact, Thomas J. Buckholtz has created 2-Brains: Tell It & Sell It. In this activity, you will include a left-brain fact (tell it) and a right-brain emotional idea (sell it) to connect the two aspects of persuasion and create a 2-brain message.

Number of Players

5 – 8

Duration of Play

30 min – 1 hour

(The game works most effectively if it is repeated multiple times over the course of a few days.)

How to Play

1. Before your meeting, draw a 4×4 graph on a large white space (poster, white board, etc.). Label the vertical axis “Emotional (right brain).” Higher on the chart is for “sizzles” (great emotional ideas) and lower on the graph is for “fizzles” (negative emotional appeal). Mark the horizontal axis “Practical (left brain).” Further to the left is for negative practical uses while further to the right is for very positive practical uses. The third row on the graph represents emotionally neutral. The second column represents neutral practical appeal.

2. Provide your players with post-its and markers. We recommend using four different colors for the four thought topics:

• Right-brain post-its are for purely emotional.
• Left-brain post-its are for purely practical.
• 2-brain post-its are for emotional and practical.
• Other post-its are for other types of ideas.

3. Have your players write right- and left-brain ideas on the sticky notes. These can be themes (phrases) or messages (sentences). When all ideas have been written, ask the participants to stick them on the chart. Right-brain (emotional) ideas likely should be placed close to practical-neutral while left-brain ideas (logical) likely should go near emotional-neutral.

4. Collaborate to form as many 2-brain messages as you can by combining the right- and left-brain messages. Write these new messages on sticky notes and place them in appropriate (likely upper-right) squares.

Strategy

Maintain a fun, positive environment so players will feel comfortable sharing their ideas. Encourage random creativity and give players breaks to keep them from burning out. Motivate people to build from each other’s ideas to create a perfect slogan or pitch.

As you play the game, continue to modify the sticky notes to reflect improved ideas. You can also add post-its to show new concepts or major breakthroughs. Organize the notes to portray the relative ranking of the ideas. Remember to document or take a picture of your chart at the end so you can refer back to the notes.

It is important to play this game multiple times over the course of a few days so players can improve on ideas. Keep the chart up so participants can consider how to combine the right- and left- brain ideas to make the most effective pitch.

Play Online

You can play 2-Brains: Tell It & Sell It instantly online! Clicking on the image to the right will bring you to an “instant play” game at innovationgames.com. The image will be used as the “game board,” which organizes the level of emotion and practicality of players’ thoughts. You will find a yellow sticky note icon at the upper left corner of the chart. Participants drag the sticky notes onto the board and describe what they represent. The layers and regions in the game will keep track of where the notes are placed.

Players can edit the placement and description of each sticky note, which everyone can view in real time. Use the integrated chat facility and communicate with your players throughout the game to get a better understanding of each move.

Key Points

The purpose of a slogan or pitch is to catch the attention of your audience, which is easier said than done. The visual organization in 2-Brains: Tell It & Sell It perfectly reflects the balance of the right- and left- brain ideas needed to capture your listener’s interest, and the extensive collaboration involved introduces multiple perspectives and ideas. By combining emotional and factual ideas, you can form a “sizzling” pitch that radiates compelling practicality.