Links for July 30

Peter Sandman on empathy in risk communication. Key quote: “The essence of empathic risk communication is understanding what your stakeholders are feeling, and then finding a way to sort-of acknowledge what they’re feeling – without trespassing on their emotional property.”

Steve Rubel on how social networking is changing public relations. Best quote: “The golden age of transparency in PR is coming.”

I love this Nike Canada ad that has been playing for at least a couple of weeks. It’s another great example of how to tell a story in one minute with nothing but visuals. And before you say it’s all about the editing, take special care to watch the shot selections, framing and even the casting.

Can Lindsay Lohan find a better line?

OK – no pun with that headline – not a reference to celebrity Lindsay Lohan’s use of the Bart “I Didn’t Do It Boy” Simpson’s standard defence on the cocaine found in her pocket.

I just moved to LA, so star culture is my new local news, and it’s keeping up with the local industry, just like watching politics in Victoria or Ottawa or Washington.

Lohan’s defence seems quite weak – just out of rehab and arrested for DUI, found with drugs, and the best anyone advising her can come up with is “I didn’t do it, someone else is to blame.” And the attorney jumped in with the standard “seeking treatment” response.

“Addiction is a terrible and vicious disease. Since Lindsay transitioned to outpatient care, she has been monitored on a SCRAM bracelet and tested daily in order to support her sobriety. Throughout this period, I have received timely and accurate reports from the testing companies. Unfortunately, late yesterday I was informed that Lindsay had relapsed. The bracelet has now been removed. She is safe, out of custody and presently receiving medical care.”

But that commitment to medical care doesn’t seem to be working – on a personal or a communications level. The “seeking rehab” spin is tired (and now the butt of late night jokes which is the surest sign your communications plan isn’t working.)  Also of note that the first thing the statement tries to do is remove personal responsibility – “addiction is a terrible and vicious disease.”

It’s time for celebrities to take a new approach to these kinds of arrests – which is to start with:

“I’m sorry, I screwed up, and made some bad decisions.”

Non-celebrities can identify with that line — we all screw up, and we all feel bad about it. And the thing is — so few of us have the guts to admit it, we admire people who have the courage to take the blame for their actions.

I’d also suggest an inoculation against future failings too:

“Like everyone else, I’m going to try to learn from my mistakes. I may stumble on my way, but I really don’t want to screw up like this again – I’m embarrassed.”

No promises, no blame. Plus embarrassment is something that people can identify with and understand. Also, they won’t laugh if the next round of rehab fails, which for this young celebrity, I hope isn’t the case.

Introducing our Top 5s

Steve came up with an interesting idea – posting Top 5 lists related to the communications field. The idea comes from a short but sweet post on Tyler Cowan’s blog about Top 5 lists.

The real advantage of the Top 5 list is it is a fantastic way to encapsulate and communicate a broad range of information. Steve and I will be batting around this idea, and making a number of posts on it. I will kick off with my Top 5 Political Books with a Communications Twist (and I disqualify Words That Work because I just reviewed it, and because I am cheating to get six titles by mentioning it here).

1. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester. The second volume of the series (it’s worth getting both) covers the greatest comeback in political history – and the foundation of that comeback was one man’s ability to marshal the English language better than anyone. Ever.

2. What I Saw at the Revolution by Peggy Noonan. Worth the price for the story of the Challenger speech she wrote for Reagan. Great insights into speechwriting, and communicating at the highest level.

3. Clinton & Me: A Real Life Political Comedy by Mark Katz. Joke writer to the President of the United States. Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously as communicators – well comedy is serious business too and there just aren’t enough funny people in the businesses. Especially since Steve and I left!

4. In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal by Richard Nixon. Nixon was one of the best, and at times worst, political communicators. He always came back – and this book is autobiography and offer of advice from his elder statesman years.

5. Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government by P. J. O’Rourke. I have yet to meet a political person who didn’t wish they could write like O’Rourke. This is his writing at its peak – every sentence packs a punch.

Want your words to work? Read Luntz.

I haven’t read many books that have made me shout “now I get it” but “Words That Work” by Dr. Frank Luntz is one of them. If you’re one of my colleagues in the communications field, you’ll know I’ve been recommending this book to everyone.

Here’s his description of modern communications:

It’s hard to tell who is in greater demand today: the Madison Avenue branding experts who are brought in to teach political parties how to define themselves, or the political consultants brought into corporate boardrooms to teach businesses how to communicate more effectively. The tools and techniques invented on Madison Avenue firmly took hold in Washington during the Reagan years — and they continue to drive our politics today. Similarly, more and more companies are turning to political professionals for help achieving the speed, agility, and linguistic accuracy that were once the unique province of electoral campaigns.

Luntz bridges the gap – having worked both sides of the equation. He really brings the art of messaging into a single field. What makes “Words That Work” so strong is how Luntz articulates his subtitle – “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear” throughout the book. Anecdote after anecdote hammers home the point that too often we craft a message because that’s the way we do it, because that’s the way it’s been done since time began, those are the conventions, or because we need to communicate our mantra. They are all wrong – what you need to craft the message is to think hard about how it will be received.

That is the big lesson. The other is Luntz’s 10 Rules of Effective Language – a list you should print out and tack to your computer to measure any key message you craft. The best part of the anecdotes is they are backed up with polling data – gaming not only sounds better than gambling, it has higher public acceptance. Same with “exploring for energy” versus “drilling for oil.”

This book is worth owning for constant reference and refreshers. That’s why I won’t lend my copy to anyone.

The YouTube Candidate: John Edwards’ communications strategy

Last December, John Edwards became the first candidate to launch his campaign on YouTube. He has since been dubbed “the YouTube candidate” and has incorporated the cutting edge of online communications into his strategy.

Fast Company writes that Edwards’ campaign is “arguably the most technologically innovative, experimental, and aggressive.”

The other half of the Edwards’ communications strategy is in carving out a different policy position than his rivals. The Economist has singled him out for his focused campaign message:

Mr Edwards is a man of big plans. No other presidential candidate, of either party, can match the sheer quantity, let alone the ambition, of his policy ideas. He has grand, progressive, goals—to end the war in Iraq (obviously), provide universal health care, address global warming, eliminate poverty in America within 30 years—and detailed blueprints of how to do it all.

All this is a big change from 2004, when he first ran, unsuccessfully, for the Democratic nomination and then (equally unsuccessfully) as John Kerry’s vice-presidential running-mate. Those campaigns were built around his youthful charm, made-for-politics biography (the son of a mill-worker in North Carolina; the first member of his family to go to college) and a rousing stump speech about “two Americas”, one for the rich and one for the rest.

At this point, Edwards is generally seen as sitting in a strong third in the Democratic race with lots of time to go.

Who is the next “Great Communicator”?

John McCain’s campaign appears to be in meltdown mode, Fred Thompson still hasn’t declared, and media coverage seems far more interested in the Democratic side with Hillary and Obama and John Edwards.

So who’s been the best communicator among the US presidential candidates so far?. This obviously doesn’t take into account effective grassroots organizations (which is a significant factor in the early primaries), or fundraising (which is a significant factor in staying in the race long enough to get your voice heard).

Here’s my ranking so far:

1. Barack Obama: Great public speaker and charismatic. The media is talking about him. He is drawing large crowds. That’s the best position any candidate can be in. A recent example of the kind of coverage he is getting can in the form of a Newsweek headline:
“How Obama is Shaking Up Campaign“

2. Hillary Clinton: The “machine” candidate. She offers the complete package for Democratic voters: a known quantity, professional, occasionally inspiring, usually smart enough to sense the drift of public opinion.

3. Fred Thompson: Can image alone carry a candidate? If Thompson runs, we will find that out. He’s best known for his role as the statesman-like District Attorney on Law and Order. He exudes Southern charm and authenticity. But can he inspire people? Or does he become another stereotypical Republican?

4. Rudy Giuliani: Playing the Republican strongman card. Outflanked McCain by being more current and more relevant.

5. John Edwards: Striking out on his own path by making poverty the focal point of his campaign. But everyone wants to talk about his hair.

6. Ron Paul: The “positioning” candidate. He has distinguished himself with a message that is significantly distinct from that of any other – current or recent – Republican presidential candidate. The position – an anti-war, libertarian, small government position – appeals to a segment of the voting population. But is that voter segment big enough, and committed to principle enough, to keep him in the race?

7.Mitt Romney: The John Edwards of the GOP campaign. The guy’s got to be doing something right in order to be mentioned in the same breath as Giuliani, McCain, Thompson as a serious contender.

8. John McCain: A disaster – angry, inconsistent, often irrelevant and increasingly seen as someone well past his due date. Was he ever a great communicator? McCain is the first of the contenders to change his communication strategy.

Final note: based on Google search trends, Hillary Clinton leads Obama and Edwards.
On the Republican side, it’s Romney followed by McCain, Giuliani and Paul.

Today’s Links

Scott Adams (Dilbert’s creator) with some simple advice on writing.

Edward Tufte brings our attention to news graphics.

Marc Andreessen, a new blogger but not new to internet technology, offers up lessons learned from his first few weeks of blogging. A key takeaway is this:

“It is crystal clear to me now that at least in industries where lots of people are online, blogging is the single best way to communicate and interact.”

Snarl before speaking?

Guy Kawasaki offers some advice on public speaking. Now, I don’t recommend all of these techniques – not sure “snarling” before every speech is the way I would recommend you go – but there are some other helpful tips here.

Life as a 24-hour news channel

Jeff Jarvis posts about the coming age of news streamed directly to the internet.