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

by Frank Luntz

people will forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

If the listener can apply the language to a general situation or human condition, you have achieved humanization. But if the listener can relate that language to his or her own life experiences, that’s personalization.

Rule Eight Visualize

the word imagine is perhaps the single most powerful communication tool because it allows individuals to picture whatever personal vision is in their hearts and minds.

Rule Nine Ask a Question

A statement, when put in the form of a rhetorical question, can have much greater impact than a plain assertion.

But making the same statement in the form of a rhetorical question makes the reaction personal—and personalized communication is the best communication.

Schwartz found that people reacted best to language and messages that were participatory—allowing the receiver to interact with the message and the messenger. Rhetorical questions require responses, and responses by definition are interactive.

Rule Ten Provide Context and Explain Relevance

You have to give people the “why” of a message before you tell them the “therefore” and the “so that.”

In corporate advertising, as in politics, the order in which you present information determines context, and it can be as important as the substance of the information itself.

Finding the right “why” to address is thus just as important as the “how” you offer.

These, then, are the ten rules of effective communication, all summarized in single words: simplicity, brevity, credibility, consistency, novelty, sound, aspiration, visualization, questioning, and context.

For example, women generally respond better to stories, anecdotes, and metaphors, while men are more fact-oriented and statistical.

Women react much more negatively to negative messages than do men.

Companies that communicate a listening proposition to their products, services, and how they do business are attuned to what women want.

Several years ago I asked Americans whether they would be willing to pay higher taxes for “further law enforcement,” and 51 percent agreed. But when I asked them if they would pay higher taxes “to halt the rising crime rate,” 68 percent answered in the affirmative. The difference? Law enforcement is the process, and therefore less popular, while reducing crime is the desirable result. The language lesson: Focus on results, not process.

Orwell also lays out a series of language rules.

i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do. iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active. v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.4

John F. Kennedy embraced the “liberal” label. What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label “Liberal”? If by “Liberal” they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of “Liberal.” But if by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a “Liberal,” then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal.”

In polling we did following the 2004 election, a generic Republican beat a generic liberal by 15 points. But a generic progressive beat a generic Republican by two points. Same ideology. Different label. Different result.

A superstar creates a persona in the public mind by conveying certain essential characteristics about himself or herself. Successful leaders establish this persona not by describing their attributes and values to us, but by simply living them.

medications (a far more descriptive term than drugs or medicines)

Language is never the sole determinant in creating a company

persona, but you’ll find words

that work associated with all companies ...

I have found that the best way to communicate authenticity is to trigger personalization: Do audience members see themselves in the slogan…and therefore in the product?

“Accurate” data is more important than honest, credible, or truthful data because it is a statement of fact rather than someone’s explanation. For similar reasons, “facts” and “fact-based” are more powerful descriptors in the legal world than “evidence.” It may seem like a distinction without a difference but it really does matter. Facts are indisputable. Evidence is open to interpretation.

A “back to basics” approach is particularly popular in times of economic instability or personal anxiety.

“Deliverer” is seen by consumers as more active and aggressive than “provider,” enhancing the company’s credibility and differentiating them from their less consumer-friendly competitors.

“Always count on” is the foundation upon which everything else is built

“hassle-free technology”

Therefore, the corporate side needs to be the first to provide employees with answers to their questions—preferably in writing. Employees tend to accept the arguments of the side that made them first,

employees had been convinced by the union that they were losing their free health care when in fact they were only being asked to pay a tiny portion of their premiums.

Never, never, never let any union communication go without an immediate rebuttal. A charge made is a charge believed unless and until refuted.

Management should aim for a twenty-four-hour turnaround on personal, one-on-one questions from employees and a forty-eight-hour turnaround to produce written responses to written union communications.

weekly “Tough Questions: Real Answers”

But written communication is still no substitute for direct dialogue. Some companies call them “roundtables.” We recommend “conversations” because the term suggests a more informal and interactive environment where the “facts” of the dispute can be openly discussed.

When talking about health-care benefits, for example, humanize and personalize what the company proposes to spend on each employee by using real statistics from everyday life (for example, comparing the five dollars a week for health care premiums to the cost of two dozen eggs, two gallons of gas, or a single latte at Starbucks) rather than making abstract economic arguments that are harder for individuals or employees to relate to.

three essential statements

“We’re pro-employee and we’re pro-union.”

“Are you getting value for the dues you’re paying? What do your dues actually pay for? Is your union paying attention to YOUR needs and YOUR priorities?”

“No one wins in a strike…but union leaders continue to get paid. Is that really fair to you?”

To win over your employees, emphasize the need for more information, more facts, and a more honest approach.

“There are great union reps out there who are committed to our employees and have long, successful relationships with them. We don’t always agree on policy, but we will always listen to each other. But union leaders who use confrontational tactics are usually advancing their own standing at the cost of employees suffering. There is a better way.

We respect the union leaders’ desire for tough negotiations. But they should also communicate openly and honestly with us and with their employees. After all, your union leaders are paid to do just that.

“We are ready to sit at the table with our local union partners today to find a solution that is fair to our employees and fair to the company as well. We come to this discussion in good faith. We ask only that the union does the same.”

The smartest strategic communication decision we’ve seen in the recent history of contract negotiations was when several companies linked their own Web sites right to the union’s Web site.

Americans vote for dreamers because they themselves like to dream.

I tested the issue, and sure enough, while only 38 percent of Americans would deny emergency room care to illegal aliens, fully 55 percent would not give it.