Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Same Way 1 Million Times

If I hear one more person say: "Hi, I'm running for office because our country needs jobs!" or "Let's get America back to work!" or "Where are the jobs, Mr. President?!" or "I'm so disappointed - where are the jobs!!" or "I'm running for office and my number one issue is the economy... jobs ... economy... jobs... economy."

Enough already!!! 


The truth is the truth is the truth is the truth. But, how you deliver the truth can differ. I'd love to see our elected leaders try the same message with a different approach.

And we wonder why fellow citizens are disgusted with government? There are many reasons I'm sure but one has to be: They say the same thing all the time with no results. A broken record only keeps your attention for so long before it because a natural part of your environment's background noise.

My parents used to live next to the rail road tracks. The trains would storm through during the night and they grew accustomed and thought nothing of it. The morning after my grandparents' first overnight stay, had Grandpa sleepless and shaken. He was incredulous as to how my parents had not noticed! But if he stayed there all the time, he'd for certain grow accustomed to it too. If something as reverberating as a heavy moving train can roar "through your living room" and you don't notice, how much more do you think it's easy for us to dismiss one another's simple and repeated stump speeches?

When something is repeated over and over, group-think can set in. The item that should be noticed now longer is noteworthy and the group - be it 2 or 2 billion - ignores its poignancy and the consequences.

You can't change the truth. To speak something other than the truth is a lie. But if you want to get the attention of the audience you want to engage, you must change your approach. You must keep things fresh. You must use words that solicit the listeners short attention span, peak our interest enough to listen, and cause passion enough for us to engage. Can it be done? Sure it can. Just think of it, Abraham Lincoln's short speech made many moons ago is still a resounding heartbeat of our nation.

Want to be a more effective communicate and influencer? Take an issue you think needs to be addressed and get creative, think outside the box and make it a message so stunning that people never forget.