Speak to Lead

Humor Trivializes Evil - NPR Treats ACORN Child Prostitution as a Joke

First of all, now that I have your attention, I want to make clear this is not an attack on National Public Radio.

But it was an NPR broadcast that sparked my thoughts about the power humor has to trivialize evil. How comedy can move the focus from the heinous to the humorous, and in the process blunt the evil at the core of the issue.

These ideas came about on Saturday as I was listening to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! WWDTM), NPR's "oddly informative news quiz." (Which, BTW, I generally find very entertaining.)

The topic: the ACORN sting, which documented the willingness of ACORN staff members to give advice on running a child prostitution brothel and other illegal activities. One staffer even volunteered to help smuggle the under-age girls into the U.S. from Mexico.

What I find particularly appalling is that none of the ACORN workers in the videos seemed the least bit bothered by helping enslave a dozen 12 to 15 year old girls as prostitutes. 

Unfortunately, the host and panel of WWDTM don't seem too appalled either. Here is the opening to the topic. (To hear this portion of the broadcast CLICK HERE and select "Panel II: ACORN And Fashion Week" in the right column.)

Public Speaking: Mnemonic Devices-Barfing Your Way to Success

Mnemonic devices for public speaking have been used for thousands of years.

The initial application was to help speakers remember what they were going to say as they delivered the speech. (For an overview and history of mnemonic devices used by the ancients--remember, the great Greek orators didn't have teleprompters--CLICK HERE.) 

Some mnemonic devices, however, are also useful to help the listener retain and recall your message.

The acronym is one of those. 

Many Americans learned the names of the Great Lakes with the acronym H-O-M-E-S (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior). K-I-S-S (Keep It Simple Stupid) and A-I-D-A (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) are well-known acronyms applying to persuasive speaking.

Which brings us to barfing your way to success.

Recently I heard William H. Nixon, Chairman and CEO of Policy Impact Communications, speak to a management group about his formula for business success, organized as

Persuasive Messages: Story Power, Greek Tragedies & Post Traumatic Stress Treatment

As those of you who read this regularly know, I'm a strong advocate of the power of stories, the use of narrative, to engage audiences and open them to your messages. 

Today's edition of USA Today contains an interesting article on the use of dramatic narrative, in this case ancient Greek tragedies, to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It's a creative use of narrative to get troops to recognize the issue and be willing to talk about it.

Read it at "Stressed troops  take cues from ancient plays."