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

by Frank Luntz

The language lesson: A+B+C does not necessarily equal C+B+A. The order of presentation determines the reaction. The right order equals the right context.

The more personal the context, the greater the interest. By and large, we’re concerned about the realm of our jobs and our families, not the larger unfolding of History with a capital H.

And the most effective, least divisive language for both men and women is the language of everyday life.

There are definitely differences in outlook and perspective between men and women that require a higher level of communication sophistication. For example, women generally respond better to stories, anecdotes, and metaphors, while men are more fact-oriented and statistical. Men appreciate a colder, more scientific, almost mathematical approach; women’s sensibilities tend to be more personal, human, and literary.

When you articulate what you are for or about, you reveal something of yourself.

And above all, listen. Listen more than you ask questions, and ask questions more than you “talk.”

Positioning an idea linguistically so that it affirms and confirms an audience’s context can often mean the difference between that idea’s success and failure.

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.

Once again, the context determines the public reaction.

As we’ll see, the meaning of words doesn’t stay the same over time. It’s constantly changing, in ways that will surprise and amuse you.

“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” —GEORGE ORWELL “POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Modern English . . . is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration.

What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. . . . I have not here been considering the literary use of language, but merely language as an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought.3

But good communication requires conviction and authenticity; being a walking dictionary is optional.

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

Reglas Orwell

We have put our words on steroids and amped the language up so high that unless we communicate in overdrive and hyperbole, we believe—perhaps correctly—that nobody will hear us.

Making assumptions about the extent of your audience’s vocabulary is not only stupid—it can cost you your career.

It’s one thing to insist on proper usage in a piece of formal writing, but if you’re speaking or communicating informally—whether to your customers or your constituents—it’s really more important to be understood than to be heard. This is not to say that you should knowingly misuse the language; instead, just find a simpler, more readily understandable way to convey what you have to say.

Feelings and emotions are what generate words that work.

Arriving at the best language isn’t enough in and of itself. The majority of human communication is nonverbal. It involves not only symbolism and imagery but also attitude and atmosphere.

Just as it is true that you are what you eat, it is also true that you become what you say.

But the most powerful messages will fall on deaf ears if they aren’t spoken by credible messengers. Effective language is more than just the words themselves. There is a style that goes hand-in-hand with the substance. Whether running for higher office or running for a closing elevator, how you speak determines how you are perceived and received. But credibility and authenticity don’t just happen. They are earned.

“People forget what you say, but they remember how you made them feel.”

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.

Tell someone “two plus two,” but let him put them together himself and say “four”—and he is transformed from a passive observer to an active participant.4

The fact is, candid, genuine expressions of passion and commitment are worth ten times the value of a canned, rehearsed publicity stunt.

Unless and until you say something to break the rhythm of a negative story, it will continue. A graphic profanity would have broken the rhythm, changed the focus,

Messengers who are their own best message are always true to themselves.

The importance of authenticity cannot be overstated. Whether your arena is business or politics, you simply must be yourself. Few things in this world are more painful—more fingernails-on-the-chalkboard grating—than a politician or a CEO trying to act cool.

By all means, show don’t tell . . . reveal your personality . . . be the message rather than narrating it, but above all, be authentic.

Of course, being yourself doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put your best foot forward or should be content with being boring or out of touch. It’s important to be your best self.

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”13 The incredibly powerful and personal “GE, we bring good things to life”

The company persona is the sum of the corporate leadership, the corporate ethos, the products and services offered, interaction with the customer, and, most importantly, the language that ties it all together.

Language is never the sole determinant in creating a company persona, but you’ll find words that work associated with all companies that have one.

When products, services, and language are aligned, they gain another essential attribute: authenticity. In my own market research for dozens of Fortune 500 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? Unfortunately, achieving personalization is by no means easy.

That’s one of the definitions of words that work: We remember even when we’re not trying. Not that we seek to ignore them.

As we’ve seen in this chapter, the power of poignant language is immense, but the destructive power of an ill-thought sound bite is unending and unforgiving. Successful, effective messages—words and language that have been presented in the proper context—all have something in common. They stick in our brains and never leave, like riding a bicycle or tying our shoelaces. Not only do they communicate and educate, not only do they allow us to share ideas—they also move people to action. Words that work are catalysts. They spur us to get up off the couch, to leave the house, to do something. When communicators pay attention to what people hear rather than to what they are trying to say, they manage not merely to catch people’s attention, but to hold it.

“My language was meant to be transparent and clear. If there was a theme, it was always to simplify, simplify, simplify, to make them feel it in their blood, get it into their skin. You have to reach people in their soul so that they internalize your message. Too many messages are just internal gobbledygook.”1 —JACK WELCH

“I used my words to give our people a more outward focus on the customer so that they would always try to satisfy that customer,” he told me emphatically. “That’s why I said again and again: ‘Companies don’t give job security. Only satisfied customers do.’”

“I used to have coffee with the assistants and the staff once a month when we were restructuring the company, and they would ask me whether they’d still have a job after we were done downsizing staff functions. I’d tell them to look at their phone logs. If they were primarily filled with calls coming from the field with customers wanting to buy something, that’s a good sign of job security. But if the calls were coming from the corporate office to the field just to get data for me, their days may be numbered. The message I was sending was clear: their job was not to kiss our fannies. Their job is to make things, sell things and do things. I communicated quite plainly that you’d have job security if you were customer focused, and you wouldn’t if you weren’t.”

Regardless of the facts, even if it’s unfair to do so, it’s only human nature for audiences to regard silence as a tacit admission of wrongdoing. Every attack that is not met with a clear and immediate response will be assumed to be true.

Whether in the midst of an employee strike, corporate scandal, or just a bad quarterly financial report, a company’s communication with the public must be proactive, consistent, and ongoing. Whether a difficult event is about to take place—or a crisis has just landed in your lap—the rules are the same. The key word is more: more conversation with the affected community rather than less, more information rather than less, and more details rather than fewer. If the words are right, there is no such thing as overkill.

While the best language has a musical sound to it much like an opera or orchestra, for words to have a real impact, the public, at an absolute minimum, has to know what they mean—and how to say them and repeat them. If they don’t, or can’t, it is hardly the recipe for success.

For example, in a poll I took for the pharmaceutical profession (notice I didn’t call it an “industry”) by a two to one ratio, Americans would rather receive their health care from a free market system than a private system. Just a simple shift in a single phrase can and does account for a huge shift in public perception.

Again, for corporations in the midst of controversy, silence = guilt.

A third language lesson is to exceed expectations. Message timing is important. Few things are worse for employee morale than being left in the dark with regard to job-related turmoil. 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.

Employing the words-that-work principles, corporations need to communicate with employees in concrete, objective, back-to-basics terms.

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

If the forces of change have descended on your doorstep and you find yourself having to defend the status quo, the phrase that pays is “do no harm.”

Those are just a small sample of the corporate case studies where words that work were applied to reshape products, companies, and even public policy. They all have one thing in common: usage of the essential communication rules and a clear focus on the target audience—the customer. It is incredible just how a simple change of words, phrases, positioning, or context can alleviate public pressure, restore consumer confidence, and refresh a product or brand.