Value Tagging: Unlocking the Psychology of Influence when public speaking

You probably know this feeling. You walk into a meeting or presentation, thinking your decisions are guided purely by logic, facts, and strategy. Yet beneath the surface, your brain is constantly “value tagging” information, deciding what matters and what doesn’t, long before you’re even aware of it. These hidden tags influence your behaviour, often without your conscious control. By understanding this process, you can speak with poise and strengthen your credibility, unlocking the psychology of influence in every conversation.

These tags come in two forms:

1. Cognitive (Logical) Value Tagging

This is when your brain labels something as important because it makes sense rationally. For example: “This data point supports my argument” or “This deadline must be met for the project to succeed.” It’s the sorting system behind your clarity.

2. Emotional Value Tagging

This is subtler, but often more powerful. Here, the brain tags something incredibly important because it touches our core human needs: safety, belonging, relatedness and fairness. For instance, we might ask ourselves: “Will I be accepted by my peers if I speak up?” or “Does this feel fair?” “Will I jeopardise my reputation?” These emotional tags strongly affect your ability to maintain composure in the moment and unconsciously put us into a lockbox that becomes unescapable.

Most of this tagging happens unconsciously. We don’t consciously choose how our brain prioritises; it simply happens, often shaped by past experiences, habits, and confirmation bias.

That’s why you might feel your body tense before speaking in a meeting, or notice yourself holding back and hesitate to speak up; you’re reacting to an unconscious value tag.

One interesting example of this in action is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or frequency illusion. Ever notice that once you learn a new concept or hear a new term, it suddenly seems to appear everywhere, and you don’t know how you ever lived without it? 

That’s your brain tagging it as important and then selectively noticing it, while filtering out what it deems irrelevant. In meetings or presentations, the same happens: your unconscious value tags determine what grabs your attention and often, what you don’t notice.

The judgmental look of someone in the audience is tagged, whereas the approving nod of someone else goes unnoticed. 

The challenge is that if we remain unaware, we keep recycling the same tags from the past. That leaves us repeating the same behaviours and undermining our credibility without realising it.

Here’s where mindful communication makes the difference. When you notice what is alive in you, your thoughts, emotions, and the signals in your body, you begin to see which values are driving your behaviour.

Instead of unconsciously tagging a situation as “unsafe” or “too risky,” you can pause, recognise what’s happening, and make a better choice. You can ask yourself:

• Am I making this decision based on a past fear or a present value?

• What matters most here: logical clarity, or emotional connection?

• How can I speak in a way that honours both?

This awareness gives you freedom. You’re no longer stuck inside the lockbox of old value tags, you can create a new catalogue of opportunities. You can respond with composure, communicate with clarity, and earn credibility by aligning your words with what truly matters in the moment.

How to bring it into presentations and meetings? In practice, mindful communication allows you to:

• Maintain composure under pressure by recognising when your brain is tagging something as a “threat”by becoming aware of it but not swept away by it.

• Build trust and connection with yourself first by tuning into emotional values such as belonging and safety, by reassuring yourself.

• Deliver your message with clarity, ensuring your logic is easy to follow. 

• Strengthen your credibility by aligning your logical points with genuine emotional awareness.

When composure, clarity, and credibility come together, you’re not just sharing information, you’re inspiring confidence, influencing outcomes, and building trust.

Let me share a quick practical reflection for your next meeting. Before your next presentation or meeting, try this short practice:

1. Pause for 30 seconds. Notice your breath and bring your attention to the present moment.

2. Ask yourself: What feels most important to me right now, logical clarity or emotional connection?

3. Notice your body. Is there tension, excitement, or resistance? That’s a sign of what’s being value tagged.

4. Choose with awareness. Decide how you want to show up, with composure, clarity, and credibility guiding your words and presence.

The Takeaway

Value tagging will always happen; it’s part of how our brain makes sense of the world. The real question is: are you letting unconscious tags from the past decide your behaviour, or are you bringing mindful awareness to create new ones?

By practising mindful communication, you step out of the lockbox of unconsciousness. You see what’s alive in you, understand what values you’re drawing choices from, and choose to communicate with more composure, clarity to build your credibility.

Because ultimately, the way you tag value shapes not just your words in a meeting, but the reality you create for yourself and those around you.

If you want to build your composure and increase your credibility and impact in 90 days or less, or have questions, please reach out, and we can talk about it.