Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear

by Frank Luntz

What I presented to that glitterati crowd—and what I proffer to my political and corporate clients every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (literally)—are the precise tools and insights of political and commercial wordsmithing. These tools apply broadly to almost any endeavor that involves presenting a message, whether it’s a day-to-day event like talking your way out of a speeding ticket or into a raise, or something more substantial like creating an effective thirty-second commercial, crafting a fifteen-minute speech to your employees, or writing an hour-long State of the Union address.

It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.

Once the words leave your lips, they no longer belong to you. We have a monopoly only on our own thoughts. The act of speaking is not a conquest, but a surrender. When we open our mouths, we are sharing with the world—and the world inevitably interprets, indeed sometimes shifts and distorts, our original meaning.

can achieve better results by narrowing the gap between what you intend to convey and what your audiences actually interpret.

At its best, American English is also the practical language of commerce.

I am pulled to the language of dreamers and pragmatists both.

I am best known for my work in the political sphere, starting with Ross Perot’s half campaign, half rant in 1992, followed by Rudy Giuliani’s upset victory in New York City in 1993, and capped off with the Contract with America in 1994

My personal philosophy may be right-of-center, but my political words are always targeted at those essential, nonaligned voters—the not so silent majority of Americans who reject ideological soundness in favor of the sound center.

My language eschews overt partisanship and aims to find common ground rather than draw lines or sow separation.

I seek only to throw open the doors of the language laboratory and shine a bright light on how words that work are created and used.

Sure, you’ll learn what to say to get a table at a crowded restaurant and how to get airport personnel to let you on a flight that has already closed, but is that really language exploitation?

I help communicate the principles of the side I believe in, using the simplest, most straightforward language available. Sure, I seek to persuade. My goal is to fashion political rhetoric that achieves worthy goals—to level the linguistic playing field and to inform Americans of what is truly at stake in our policy debates.

Just pick up almost any 2007 annual report and leaf through to the standard CEO letter. Circle the words, phrases, and concepts you don’t understand, you don’t like, or you just aren’t quite sure about. You’ll need a lot of ink.

A few—very few—publications have explored the strategic intersection between politics, business, Hollywood, the media, and communication. This book hits at the intersection of all five and introduces a brand-new element: an explanation of how and why the strategic and tactical use of specific words and phrases can change how people think and how they behave.

seven additional words that have particular powers of persuasion in the world of business, politics, and everyday life, starting with the most powerful: “consequences.” Seemingly mundane and neutral in its application (there can be good consequences as well as bad), no other word instantly personalizes and dramatizes the potential result of a particular action. When someone talks about “the consequences,” the listener immediately thinks, “What does this mean for me?” In these uncertain economic, social, and geopolitical times, no other word has such a profound implied impact on the American psyche.

“Impact” has a similar effect on the listener in that the word is ostensibly neutral but remarkably influential. Thanks to my firm’s extensive work in corporate social responsibility, I found this one word—more than any other—caused listeners to assume that they will see and feel a measurable difference.

The next additions—“diplomacy” and “dialogue”—have their origins in the work I have done in two dozen countries and counting over the past decade, though they apply domestically just as much as globally.

“Dialogue” and “diplomacy” represent a deeply desired departure from the policies of the Bush administration—and

Thanks to increasing dependence on technology, coupled with dwindling free time, more and more people have come to conclude that the reliability of a particular product or service is at least as important as its price, and in some circumstances—automobiles, cable television, and personal communication devices to name but three—even more so.

“VALUE” = price + convenience + reliability.

The last two additions apply equally to politics and business: “mission” and “commitment.”

a “commitment” communicates to employees, shareholders, and voters that the speaker is willing to put his or her reputation and credibility on the line to achieve a successful outcome.

Now more than ever, the typical self-described Angry American (half the country these days) wants to know the what, how, and why of business and politics. Whether you’re a CEO or a senator, your mission explains what you do, why you do it, and above all, why you care.

Your mission is like a window into your brain, your heart, and your soul.

In times of economic stress and strain, the American people tend to seek out leaders who appear “authentic” and “genuine.”

“proactive” and “track record” resonate because they indicate good intentions as well as favorable results. Similarly, “cleaner, safer, healthier,” tells listeners that things are going to get better, while “sustainability” receives a more mixed reaction because it only suggests maintaining the status quo.

CEOs who make millions while their employees suffer and politicians who collect the perks of office while the nation slips further into debt are two of the primary reasons why there’s so much anger in America today towards the institutions of power and the people who lead them.

Rule #1 and Rule #2: use small words and short sentences—as well as Rule #7: speak aspirationally.

visualization (Rule #8) of the message of hope and the credibility (Rule #3)

Rule #5: novelty—offer something new.

Rule #6: the sound and texture of the words matter.

Pot shots and snarkiness do not work;

“Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.” —WINSTON CHURCHILL

Rule One Simplicity: Use Small Words

Rule Two Brevity: Use Short Sentences

Rule Three Credibility Is As Important As Philosophy

If your words lack sincerity, if they contradict accepted facts, circumstances, or perceptions, they will lack impact.

Rule Four Consistency Matters

the “We try harder” Avis campaign was launched in 1962—and

“The breakfast of champions” tagline for Wheaties was first launched back in 1935 and is still going strong today. The “M’m! M’m! Good!” campaign for Campbell’s Soup was introduced that same year. Hallmark’s “When you care enough to send the very best” debuted in 1934, and “Say it with flowers” for FTD dates all the way back to 1917.

According to the company, it was President Teddy Roosevelt who coined the phrase “good to the last drop” after drinking a cup of Maxwell House coffee in 1907

Remember, you may be making yourself sick by saying the same exact same thing for the umpteenth time, but many in your audience will be hearing it for the first time. The overwhelming majority of your customers or constituents aren’t paying as much attention as you are.

It needs to sound as fresh and vital to your audiences as it did to your own ears the first time you said it.

Rule Five Novelty: Offer Something

New In plain English, words that work often involve a new definition of an old idea.

Although often executed with humor, what matters most is that the message brings a sense of discovery, a sort of “Wow, I never thought about it that way” reaction.

If it generates an “I didn’t know that” response, you have succeeded.

Rule Six Sound and Texture Matter

A string of words that have the same first letter, the same sound, or the same syllabic cadence is more memorable than a random collection of sounds.

Rule Seven Speak Aspirationally Messages need to say what people want to hear.