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The research supporting this paper addresses the problem of educational communication efficacy using a dual methodology strategy. Over 1.200 questionnaires were given out to professionals in four institutions dedicated to persuasive communication; two traditional --the church and schools-- and two more recently created -- journalism and advertising. Probably they are the four groups with more socialising force in the last centuries; For this paper the educators' responses were specifically analysed to determine their conception of the communication process and the requirements for effective communication, and these were compared with those from the other groups, especially from advertising professionals. Lastly, all the responses were compared to contributions from neuroscience that have been made in recent decades about how the human mind functions, particularly with regards to decision-making, to determine which communication proposals provide a greater guarantee of efficacy. The results indicate the need for educators to break away from a strictly cognitive polarized communication that focuses on transmission. They are more related with guaranteeing the supply than creating a demand, and open up to the communicative potential of emotions, interaction and storytelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]