Amidst the security scares, excitement and madness of the American election campaign there’s much we can learn from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on elevating our own communication skills.
Alas it’s mainly about how NOT to do it – though both deserve some credit for being able to attract attention…arguably to excess in the Trump case!
But both major U.S. Presidential candidates are failing to give great answers to the key question for voters and are getting bogged down in unseemly negative attacks.
So it’s little wonder they’ve become the most unpopular candidates in American presidential campaign history.
They’re finding that, as always, there’s a price to be paid for not answering key questions well.
There’s more on Trump vs Clinton vs Good Communication later in this ezine.
But first, the positive news.
Here’s your chance to take your skills at answering your tough professional questions to new heights…
LEARN AND PRACTICE THE SECRETS OF GIVING GREAT ANSWERS
You now have the opportunity to work out – and try out – the greatest possible answers to your toughest questions.
This is at a day of two master classes on Wednesday 18 January 2017.
They’re being held to celebrate the short-listing of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” for the Management Book Of The Year Award 2017.
Both master classes are in Central London.
The first – “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work – THE PRACTICAL” runs from 10am to 1pm.
This is the chance to boost your answers from prospects, clients, job interview panels, appraisers or whoever.
The second – “Great Answers To Tough MEDIA Questions” – runs from 2pm to 5pm.
This boosts your answers when interviewed by journalists – whether it’s for big-time broadcasts, the local paper or a trade journal.
Both sessions work on the content, structure and delivery style of the answers to your most challenging questions.
Each participant gets a signed copy of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” – for yourself or, if you already have it, for a friend who needs it most.
The investment cost of each session is £167 per place.
There’s an early bird price for a single session of £139 for those who secure a session before Wednesday 27 November.
By doing the two sessions and securing your place before 27 November, you can get the discounted early bird rate of £269 to cover both master classes.
If you already have a copy of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”, then it’s a chance to put what you’ve learned into practice and be critiqued – and you’ll get an extra signed copy of the book for someone who needs it more than you do!
Investment costs listed here include VAT.
To reserve your place or find out more details email:
michael@michaeldoddcommunications.com
LATEST USEFUL LINKS
Here’s the link to the latest on all the titles shortlisted for the Management Book Of The Year Award 2017 organised by the Chartered Institute Of Management and The British Library:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/cmi-chooses-management-book-year-shortlist-414431
Meanwhile I’ve been booked to speak at The Business Show in London’s Olympia at 11am on Thursday 17 November.
Free tickets for my pre-lunch session on “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” with access to the whole amazing show are available at:
http://bit.ly/2bD2X7g
WIN OR BUY THE “GREAT ANSWERS” BOOK
You have the chance to win one of 10 free copies of “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”.
Moneywise magazine is – wisely – giving them away at:
http://www.moneywise.co.uk/webform/win-copy-great-answers-to-tough-questions-work-michael-dodd
If you’re not feeling lucky, you can buy “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” with a 20% discount using the secret code word “DODD” on the website of the publishers, Wiley, at:
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0857086391.html
MOST UNPOPULAR CANDIDATES IN U.S. HISTORY FLUNKING THE BIGGEST ISSUE
So, as signalled, both major U.S. Presidential candidates are failing to give great answers to the key question.
They’re obsessively deriding each other at the expense of providing voters with great answers to the biggest election issue.
The key question – which both candidates agree on – is who has the character and temperament to lead the world’s most powerful nation.
Yet in all their public pronouncements the two candidates are failing to give great answers as to why they are the ones with the character and temperament to be in the White House.
Great answers involve telling an exact truth, conveying a powerful positive message and backing this up by painting a positive picture in the minds of audiences.
Instead of doing this, both candidates have become mired in focusing on why the other should not be chosen.
However good their reasons may be for why their opponent shouldn’t be elected, what they’re not doing is giving great answers on the issue of why it should be them in the Oval Office.
Neither candidate has been routinely using their massive exposure to successfully build a compelling, visionary case for why voters can be confident they have the right character and temperament to be in charge.
The lesson for those seeking to give great answers to tough professional questions is to avoid adopting either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton as a role model on this vital skill.
Excessive negativity rubs off on the answerer as well as their target – which helps explain why the two candidates are so unpopular.
SOMEONE WHO CAN DO IT
The more popular President Barack Obama makes a better role model for students of great communication by providing more enlightened responses in challenging situations.
His preparedness to stand up to a crowd of his own supporters in North Carolina over the weekend to defend the right of an elderly pro-Trump heckler showed masterly positivity.
This can inspire admirers of great communication everywhere.
It wasn’t easy amidst the excitability and raucousness of the crowd, but President Obama’s response to being heckled at a rally enabled him to get across powerfully positive points about the importance of free speech and respect for the elderly.
He argued that instead of booing, Americans should focus on voting.
In doing so he demonstrated an ability to inspire students of great responses everywhere.
You can watch it here at:
By the time the time the Great Answers Master Classes run on 18 January 2017, President Obama will be clearing his desk at The Oval Office after some great moments in inspiring communication during his two terms.
But whoever steps in to replace Barack Obama after Tuesday’s election, you could be a far better communicator than his replacement president by the time he or she is sworn in!
Keep smiling,
Michael