My ongoing quest to help save the world from bad answers still has a long way to run.
This stark assessment has been underlined by voters in the United Kingdom who have just been punishing both of what used to be considered Britain’s two main parties.
Voters clobbered the Labour Party in this past weekend’s local elections across England – and in elections for the National Assemblies in Scotland and Wales.
And voters also clobbered the Conservative Party.
There’s a broad consensus that these two parties were punished for disappointing efforts by their top leaders inside and outside the UK’s House of Commons.
This resulted from the failure of policies and performance by the ex-main parties at the UK level over the past 20 years or so.
It’s also been accompanied by multitudes of bad answers from the leaders the ex-main parties along the way.
Voters who turned against Labour and the Conservatives opted for a range of other parties – both to their Right and Left on the political spectrum.
The most successful of these insurgent parties were the Reform Party of right-wing populist Nigel Farage…
…and the Green Party led by left-wing pragmatist Zac Polanski.
Other smaller parties to benefit from the swing against the ex-main parties included the Scottish Nationalists, the Welsh Nationalists and the Liberal Democrats.
In seeking to answer questions in the face of noisy complaints from the so-called ‘insurgent’ parties chipping and chopping away at them, the Labour and Conservative leaders often failed to get the balance right between connecting effectively with voters’ hearts and heads.
And as Britain’s Labour Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has been demonstrating – as he desperately fights to cling on to power at 10 Downing Street and restore stability – he still struggles to connect effectively with his questioners, and his wider audiences, at an emotional level.
Surrounded by criticism, Sir Keir often sounds like a robot that’s emotionlessly trying to connect with humourless daleks invading parliament from outer space – as they’re occasionally inclined to do in the BBC’s “Dr Who” TV show.
The following uninspiring prime ministerial answer is from a BBC weekend interview where Sir Keir was seeking – alas not successfully – to build up parliamentary and public interest in a speech that he’s since given – aimed at (but not spectacularly succeeding) saving his teetering prime ministership in the longer-term.
His answer – about his government’s mistakes and misjudgements – involves his admitted failure to convey sufficiently inspiring messages to his own Labour MPs and the wider public.
Alas this has routinely become the norm.
Watch as Sir Keir Starmer talks about his government’s lack of success in providing enough hope for people in the two years since Labour’s 2024 general election triumph.
But within his typically grim unsmiling answer, he yet again fails to provide any reason or vision illustrating why there’s hope for the British people now!
Connecting with target audiences on an emotional level is an area where many in business frequently come unstuck.
In my ongoing efforts to show how good communication can be achieved, let’s shift away from politics to the world of wildlife documentary-making.
Here we find a master of communication excellence who knows how to appeal to both reason and emotion simultaneously.
He’s a man who has been connecting with mass audiences for a very long time – and who just enjoyed a huge public celebration at London’s Royal Albert Hall marking his first 100 years on this planet that he’s examined so thoroughly.
Sir David Attenborough is someone who gives wonderful answers to questions with seemingly the greatest of ease.
Watch how – when faced with questions (albeit not particularly tough ones) from big names in the spheres of football, pop music, film-making and beyond – he paints absorbing colourful pictures in everyone’s minds.
You can watch how each of Sir David’s answers appeals magnificently to both the human brain and heart.
All of us – including politicians and people in business – can enhance our communication skills by observing how Sir David effectively deploys the power of example.
The following video features a UK-based Australian professional speaker who emphasises to business audiences the importance backing up your communication efforts by outlining your own real-life examples.
This speaker recommends that you build a treasure chest of the best real-life examples you’ve witnessed within your field of expertise – just as Sir David Attenborough has in the world of living creatures.
This video has been recorded at a London event arranged by the Executives Association of Great Britain.
If you and your people would benefit from master classes on ‘Give Great Answers To Tough Questions’, click here for details:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/give-great-answers-to-tough-questions/
And if you would like to explore having a communications-boosting keynote at your next conference or away day, click here:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/speaking-at-your-event/
You can now book Michael Dodd sessions on giving great answers to tough questions pretty much anywhere in the world through the Unique Speakers’ Bureau International at:
https://www.uniquespeakerbureauint.com/speakers/michael-dodd
It’s splendid to have had the opportunity to speak on giving great answers to blowtorch-on-the-belly questions on six continents so far.
My quest to further spread the methodology for giving great answers to tough questions continues – even if it’s too late to rescue the career of Prime Minister Starmer!