Frank Luntz is often credited with playing a key role in developing the language or words that helped the Republicans regain political power in Washington, whether it was working with Newt
Gringrich and his Contract with America in the 1990s or with the election and reelection of George W. Bush. Many members of the opposition party pine for a Democratic version of Luntz to assist them
in winning the hearts and minds of more voters. For instance, Al Franken, now a candidate for governor of Minnesota, asks why the Republicans have Paul McCartney composing their music, while the
Democrats are stuck with Yoko Ono.
Luntz has written Words that Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear (Hyperion) to lift the curtain on how he decides what words work best in crafting effective messages and provides a
handy set of rules as well as a variety of examples, both from the political sphere as well as from his corporate activities.
Luntz is a rhetorician in the best and correct sense of the word. He recognizes that his job is to find the words that connect with an audience, to persuade them to a position. That's the heart
and art of rhetoric as Aristotle described and taught to his fellow Athenians. Or to overcome what the actor George Kennedy said to Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke," "What we have here is a failure to
communicate."
The worlds of politics and business are far more similar than we may imagine and the lessons Luntz outlines overlap. In both cases, a communicator's task is to persuade a voter, customer, elected
official or employee to take one course of action as opposed to another.
In the most useful chapter of his book, Luntz lays out his 10 rules for effective communications. They are:
- Simplicity: Use Small Words
- Brevity: Use Short Sentences
- Credibility is as Important as Philosophy
- Consistency Matters
- Novelty: Offer Something New
- Sound and Texture Matter
- Speak, Aspiration, Ally
- Visualize
- Ask a Question
- Provide Context and Explain Relevance
Luntz doesn't come up with his messages in a vacuum but instead spends much of time testing his words in focus groups. In other words, he listens, a skill that is in short supply. Indeed, he used
a focus group to come up with the book's title. Luntz had his heart set on Killer Words, but that title was a dud with focus groups, while the current title hit the mark.
Simply put, words matter much more than we may think. He says that simply by changing "gambling" to "gaming" and "liquor" to "spirits," two industries successfully repositioned themselves and
buffed their images.
Luntz argues that "too often, corporate chieftains have used language as a weapon to obscure and exclude rather than as a tool to inform and enlighten." He advocates that senior managers use
simple and succinct language and not the laborious terms they may have learned at Harvard Business School. Don't say "capital markets," but instead use the word "investors." Don't use the word
"comprehensive," but the phrase "easy to understand" because it is easier to understand.
He cites Jack Welch as an example of an effective business communicator. The former CEO of General Electric intentionally used language that was transparent and he always sought to simplify his
message. He wanted to be understood, not to impress. Welch and other successful managers spend a good chunk of time listening to their employees, to say nothing of listening to their customers. To
effectively persuade others, you first must know where your audience stands on your issue. Listening provides a map of where they are and where you want to get them. The speaker must build a road
that moves them.
We sometimes forget that a surprising number of Americans have not graduated from college and that to be effective we need to use words that won't leave them scratching their heads. Luntz
contends that elitism creates a barrier between speaker/writer and audience, and can easily cost a candidate an election.
Another book worth adding to your bookshelf is David J. Dempsey's Better to Best: How to speak for Extraordinary Results ... Every Time (Miranada Publishing). This book has less of the
intellectual framework that Luntz outlines, but Dempsey does a solid and practical job of helping a speaker prepare for a speech. He provides tips on overcoming stage fright, boosting confidence,
improving vocal delivery and gesturing as well as how best to use pauses and eye contact.
Contact:
Fred Bratman is the president of Hyde Park Financial Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].