As authors and teachers, much of our day-to-day work involves public speaking. There’s a special satisfaction that comes from being in front of a group, but the best part is often after the presentation is over. There is a remarkable rush of satisfaction when we receive feedback from participants telling us how our ideas have helped them. This is a high that we rarely experience at any other time.
Why does this happen? Buried deep in the brain are a bundle of neurons that make up the striatum. The striatum is split into two halves—dorsal and ventral—based on function. The ventral striatum is particularly relevant to this conversation. When we receive praise, our dopaminergic pathways trigger the ventral striatum. This rush of dopamine—combined with ventral striatum activation—creates a powerful sense of reward. But the benefits don’t stop there; it also activates the pathways in our brain that promote learning and engender motivation to do something with what we’ve learned.
That’s the power of praise. It’s not just about feeling good. It’s about activating the learning and motivational pathways in the brain, which are some of the strongest neural tracts we have. By giving praise, we increase both the person’s ability to learn from our feedback and the likelihood that they will be driven to improve further. The effect is so strong that when scanning the ventral striatum, researchers discovered praise activated it just as much as cash rewards did.
There are some things we can do to bolster this activation. Research confirms that the neural activation triggered by praise is strongest when the praise is novel and unexpected. So how do we do that?
1. Make your praise more specific in terms of both
behavior and impact. Since many leaders are in the habit of giving vague praise, your specific praise will stand out and be experienced as both novel and unexpected, thereby boosting its impact.
2 . Don’t be afraid to use superlatives when earned. One sincere “you-hit-it-out-of-the-park” compliment will usually have more impact than a month’s worth of insipid “good-job-keep-it-up” fluff.
3. Start “managing by wandering around.” MBWA opens doors to “catching people doing something right,” which in turn increases the opportunity for you to deliver praise that is unexpected.
4. Don’t keep praise in reserve for the formal performance review. (Because formal reviews are structured to include a statement about what the person did well, praise given during the performance review will often be discounted by the receiver.)
5. Put your praise in writing. (Written praise is relatively uncommon, making it more novel and unexpected.)
6. Praise people “behind their backs” and let it get back to them indirectly.
When individuals are asked what would make them happier at work, often the first thing that comes to mind for them is more money; as far as your brain is concerned, however, praise is just as motivating and drives learning in a way that goes beyond what even money can do.