Speak to Lead

Media Interviews: Sometimes a Simple Question Deserves a Simple Answer

Question: Yes or No, most politicians are unable to answer simple questions with yes or no?

During the recent Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, Barack Obama and John Edwards proved incapable of simple yes or no answers. Click here for their answers to "Do you support driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, yes or no?" (BTW, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden did limit their answers to "no.")

Tonight the Republicans debate in St. Petersburg, Florida. Will their front runners do any better?

But the all-time record for not answering the same question with a simple "yes or no" goes to Michael Howard, former Conservative party leader in the UK, in this BBC2 Newsnight interview.

 

Memorable Quotes: One Key to Creating Quotes that Engage the Listener's Mind & Emotion

In an article titled, "Your Quotes Could Have Gas," Steve Crescenzo of Crescenzo Communications, divides quotes (and sound bites) into three categories: C.R.A.P., G.A.S., and P.A.R.C. Or--my translation--Boo, Yawn, Bravo!

What's particularly interesting are the examples, one for each category, Crescenzo cites. Note what differentiates the P.A.R.C. example from the others. This is what makes messages memorable.

Political Sound Bites--What the Candidates Say & What We Hear

Regardless of what we say, the ultimate communication is what our listeners hear.

This is a particular problem for political candidates when listeners aren't buying their spin.

Walt Handelsman, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist for Newsday, lets us in on what potential voters are really hearing from current Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.

Enjoy a refreshing look at political sound bites in Walt's animated cartoon, What they say, what we hear.

Lou Hampton-M.I.A.? Why No Posts in 6 Weeks-A Tale of Adventure, Recuperation & No Net Access

I'm back! Yes, Lou Hampton is ready to blog again. (I threw that third-person reference in for the sake of the search engines; the only internet references I've seen recently to Lou Hampton refer to a blues musician.)

I know some of you regular readers have been wondering if I'm Missing In Action. A few of you have even emailed me to see if I'm all right.

So here's what happened.

The first two weeks of October were incredibly busy with clients and making final plans for a tour of pre-Columbian sites in Mexico.

The beginning of the third week, when I had planned to write several posts and schedule them for automatic posting while on the trip, I had a bicycle accident, fracturing my clavicle, damaging my shoulder, chest, hip and thigh, and leaving me unable and too sore to do much of anything other than