Don’t be a victim of verbal clumsiness. Until Thursday and Friday, only three women and six men knew how the U.S. Supreme Court was going to rule on Obamacare and same-sex marriage.…
Category: Strategic Communications (page 4)
The Breakup Letters
We didn’t sign on to be liked. We signed on to do a job. “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.” ~ Sophocles, Antigone Breakup letters are a…
Telephone, Telegraph…
The ultimate test: What will let you control the conversation? No. This isn’t a sexist commentary on the alleged inability of women to keep secrets. It is about thinking before you…
Belief & “Truth”
Forget about the extremes. Focus your effort on the middle. Is “truth” really knowable? Or is it a fiction we create to reaffirm our beliefs? Did Bill Cosby repeatedly have non-consensual sex…
Be Careful What You Ask
No rule book in Crisis PR. Trust your gut. Make no errors. Always a good rule. For everyone. Comparable to the caveat that a lawyer never asks a witness a question unless…
Gerrymandering the Mind
Defining your message is easy. Being convincing is the challenge. “I don’t judge wine from a technical point of view, but from the pleasure it gives me,” Italian connoisseur Luca Maroni wrote…
Two Ears, One Mouth
In a dispute, success or failure is a measure of perception. There are reasons, the old saying goes, why you have two ears and one mouth. First: You learn more by listening…
It’s Not How Much You Say. It’s How Well.
If you do your job well, no one sees all the work behind the words. One hundred and fifty years ago in the midst of our nation’s Civil War, prominent politician, diplomat,…
No Wasted Words
Choose your words wisely and make each count. In a recent interview, a popular nonfiction author was asked if his daily output of polished writing was 1,000 words — a respectable number.…
Who You Really Talking To?
Sometimes it’s clear who words are aimed at, and why. Most people are rather straightforward. Others less so. Politicians, in particular, are masters of ambiguity, posturing, and misdirection. The same is true…