Speak to Lead

Persuasive Messages 101 (and 201, 301...): The Key to Creating Messages that Grab the Listener's Attention & Get Results

What is the key to creating messages that grab - and keep - the audience's attention?

Several techniques will get their attention. But one element is key in keeping their attention and getting the result you want.

That key is so crucial, and so often neglected, we need constant reminders. It's a central part of all my training and coaching programs. Those of you who are clients, know how I hammer this home.

But rather than repeat myself, I thought you'd enjoy hearing it from someone else. So here is....

One Secret to Make Your Marketing Message Effective
By Stephen D. Palmer

How To Become the Center of Attention There are millions of people with tons of advice, techniques, and strategies for how to reach your audience and get them to take action. Yet, if we're drowning in such advice, then why are so many marketing campaigns, books, speeches, articles, blogs, and other content painfully ineffective? Why does it seem so hard to get others to take action?

This is a must-read article for you if any of the following are true:

Media Training: Jesse Jackson's Gaffe or No Matter How Experienced You Are, Ignore the Basics & You'll Get Caught

On behalf of myself and all media trainers, I want to thank the Reverend Jesse Jackson for demonstrating what can happen when one ignores a basic Media Training 101 principle:

From the moment you step inside a studio, or the news crew arrives at your door, assume the microphone is on and the camera is recording. Anything you say can be used.

While sitting in a Fox News studio waiting to be interviewed, Jackson made a disparaging and crude comment about presidential candidate Barack Obama to another guest (see interview below).

The microphone was on. The camera was recording. Jackson was quoted.

Sadly, Jackson doesn't get it. In his apology to Obama he said, "...any harm or hurt that this hot mic private conversation may have caused..."

Private conversation?! In a TV news studio, miked up, sitting in a chair waiting to be interviewed?

Reverend Jackson, a suggestion. Instead of a feeble attempt to blame the media, why not try taking personal responsibility for your screw up?

Media Training: Interview Mistakes to Avoid - Lessons from Obama Adviser's 'Off the Record' Comment

Obama adviser Samantha Power, a Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize winner, resigned from the campaign today and apologized for referring to Hillary Clinton as a monster during an interview with a Scottish newspaper.

Where did Power go wrong, and how can you avoid the same fate?

1. Power: "[Clinton] is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is stooping to anything.... " Speaking "off the record" is like playing Russian roulette with bullets in five of the chambers. Trying to make it retroactive is playing with bullets in all six chambers. (Just ask Hillary Clinton. She tried it while first lady during an interview with women reporters, and failed.) Don't play Off the Record.
2. Just because you're intelligent and experienced (Power was a war correspondent for The Boston Globe and The Economist for 3 years.) doesn't relieve you of the need to know the result you want from the interview and know your messages. Then stay on message.
3. Power said she was tired from the red-eye flight. Fatigued persons tend to be more irritable and more likely to go off message and lose control. Don't schedule interviews when you're likely to be tired.

Media Training: 'Off the Record' Warning, Part 2--It's Not Just for Interviews

Having a "There-is-no-off-the-record" (TINOTR) mindset is helpful not just when dealing with the news media. It should also apply to anything you say or write that might be of interest to the media.

Take the case of Michael T. Eckhart, president of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE). Mr. Eckhart sent a letter to Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). Here is part of what he wrote:

Take this warning from me, Marlo. It is my intention to destroy your career as a liar...

If you produce one more editorial against climate change, I will launch a campaign against your professional integrity. I will call you a liar and charlatan to the Harvard community, of which you and I are members. I will call you out as a man who has been bought by Corporate America. Go ahead, guy. Take me on.

As you might infer, Mr. Eckhart

Media Training: Off the Record Warning, Part 1--Just Cuz They Say It Is Don't Mean It's So

From "Inside Politics" in today's Washington Times:

'At a closed-door, off-the-record meeting with media mavens and corporate titans at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan Tuesday evening, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the freshman senator who just three years ago was an Illinois state senator, said he had better judgment about foreign policy than any presidential candidate in either party.' Jack Tapper of ABC News writes at abc.go.com.

Repeat after me, "There is no off the record."

Yes, it does happen at times. But if you give an "off-the-record" interview and aren't quoted, don't credit off the record. It's more likely you didn't say anything worth quoting.

Sound Bite Malpractice: Time to Bury the "H-word"

A sound bite is designed for two main purposes:

1. To convey a message in verbal "shorthand;" and
2. To get quoted by reporters

Unfortunately, as a technique it can, and often is, used inappropriately. The wording is highly quotable, but the distillation of the message is deceptive or the comparison is invalid.

For example, earlier this month Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) equated President Bush's response to the events of 9-11 to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's response to the burning of the German parliament building in 1933. 

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the communists for it and it put the leader of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

After two House Republicans demanded a reprimand of Ellison, and the Anti-Defamation League asked for a retraction, "Mr. Ellison stood by his remarks...but said he did not intend to link the Bush administration to Nazi Germany," wrote Audrey Hudson in the Washington Times. "In an interview with the Associated Press...Mr. Ellison backed down and said, 'In hindsight, I wouldn't have used that reference point.'"

I applaud the congressman for his new awareness. Still, I wonder why this is an issue of hindsight rather than foresight. Using a Hitler comparison does create a sound bite that gets attention. But it's offensive. It trivializes the enormity of Nazi rule. [See a related post when Senator Durban, D-Illinois, invoked a Hitler comparison.]

Recently, the NAACP buried the "n-word." It's time for all, and especially politicians, to bury the "H-word." Limit Hitler to discussions of Nazi Germany and the holocaust. To do otherwise is to engage in sound bite malpractice.

 

Public Speaking: Logistics Matter Part 2--Staff Error Makes Tony Blair's Successor Invisible

Little did I know when I was writing yesterday's post on "Logistics Matter" that "across the pond" the staff of would-be British prime minister Gordon Brown was demonstrating (unintentionally I presume) how poor logistics can sabotage the message.

It seems that Mr. Brown's staff told the broadcast technicians to change the angle of the teleprompter (autocue to the Brits) screens. The result is best seen by clicking here. Mr. Gordon can't be seen by the press! A good clue that your message isn't being heard loud and clear is when the first question is "I can't see you. Can you see me?" (BBC reporter)

Two Lessons:

1. Unless you really know what you're doing, don't override the technicians on matters of prompter placement or lighting. If you think something is not right, mention your concerns to them and let them explain why things are the way they are.*
2. Always check the audience sight line, by sitting in various spots around the room.

*Broadcast technicians at the major networks and stations are professionals. They will do the right thing. This is not always true of a/v technicians you may encounter at a hotel or conference venue. I have found they frequently do a set up that is convenient for them, not necessarily one that is best for the speaker.

Public Speaking: Logistics Matter--How Little Screwups Can Sabotage Results

Public speaking that gets results combines compelling message with convincing delivery and controlled logistics. Sadly, delivery and logistics are often the neglected sides of the triangle. Case in point:

Republican presidential tease Fred Thompson spoke last week to a Republican gathering in California. Because of high interest among many conservatives in his potential run for the nomination, the speech attracted significant media attention. Audience response was underwhelmed.

In an article in today's Washington Times, "Thompson's 'folksy' speaking style brings bad reviews," reporter Stephen Dinan writes, "But it was his delivery, more than the content, that drew criticism..." Dinan continues, "At times, he seemed to stumble over his notes and his place in the speech."

One commentator is quoted as saying by way of excuse that Thompson has been "off the political speech-making circuit for some time." That's nonsense! The skills of political speech making are like the skills of riding a bicycle.  Even after years of non use, they return immediately, especially to an actor. I think Thompson overestimated his skills and didn't see any need to practice. Perhaps scheduling rehearsal time wasn't factored into the logistics of the event.

Dinan also writes, "His backers said Mr. Thompson had a difficult time with the microphone, which...was set too low for the 6-foot-6 actor." Dinan then goes on to point out that the mic problem was evident hours earlier when the emcee was rehearsing. Why wasn't the staff there fixing the problem? This cannot be the first time Thompson's height has been a factor. The answer is probably that neither the ex-senator nor his staff were focused on the logistics of the room. And as a result, instead of newspaper articles discussing Thompson's message and drive, we see the focus on his lackluster performance.

Success in public speaking requires attention to logistical details, including, but not limited to

• room set up
• type of microphone
• type of lectern
• who will do the introduction
• what else is scheduled for the program
• what time are you scheduled to speak
• name and cell phone number or pager of on-site contact

For a more detailed list of speech logistics, email me at l o u at h a m p t o n g r o u p dot c o m Put "logistics" in the subject line.

No Evidence Mind & Mouth Are Connected

Recently a colleague of mine mentioned to the leaders of a local association that we needed to "incentivize our members."  I gagged. Incentivize is an awkward, artificial, self-important word created when highly-paid management consultants (I have no idea where the blame lies, but management consultants seem like a  reasonable guess.) decided to make incentive into a verb.

A few days later, he wrote me, saying my reaction had prompted him to see if incentivize was in the dictionary. He was kind enough to include two results of his search.

The first, from dictionary.com, fully accepts its use. The second, American Heritage Dictionary, agrees.  I am glad the two sources have concretized the correctness of the usage.

Although I find most 'ized" words unpleasant, I will acknowledge that at least they do maintain the meaning of the core word. "Have concretized the correctness of the usage," may be unwieldy prose, but it does convey the sense of solidifying the meaning.

I have greater wrath for times when people speak, but are on poorly programmed autopilot. The mouth never engages the brain in what it's saying. Here is one of the more common examples:

How Bright Do You Have to Be to Turn Your Lights On?

One of the great challenges of communication is being able to see the issue from the other person's perspective. Stephen Covey refers to this as "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Frank Luntz says, "It's not what you say, it's what people hear." I call it the WHAM! Factor.

In lots of cases figuring that out can be difficult. But come on, how bright does someone have to be to turn on their headlights when driving in rain or snow?

This pet peeve of mine surfaced yesterday as Washington DC had heavy snow mid day. Visibility was obscured. After waiting for several cars to pass, I began to pull onto a major roadway ("artery" as the traffic reporters would say), when suddenly a white car appeared out of the snowflakes. I had time to stop and it wasn't a "near miss," but the car had been invisible for at least half a block longer than the cars with headlights on.

Here's The Lesson: If you're so oblivious to how other drivers and pedestrians see (or don't) you, stay off the road--literally! In a more figurative sense, if we as leaders are unaware of how our audiences see us, let's keep quiet--or ask questions--until we learn.