Tag Archives: Palin

Voting for people, not policies?

Not surprisingly, journalists and reporters are having a field day with  “Palin’s meteoric  appearance on the political scene”.  Their opinions, as among voters in the USA, are divided.  A.A Gill, in the Sunday Times, wrote “I think she looks hard and caculating and a bit of a bitch”. In the Observer, Paul Harris, “one of the most remarkable speeches of recent political history”.

Harris also reported on the views of the Republicans. ‘They believe stirring personal narratives will decide the election.  They are betting that voters are looking for people to vote for, not policies.’

We may not like to admit it but this is often the case in business pitches.  The decision makers are looking for people to vote for, not proposals.

Casting can make the winning difference. A  brilliant solution indifferently presented, more often than not, loses out to an average one brillantly presented.

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Sarah Palin, the body language counts

The Presidential election in the USA is boiling up nicely to be one of the political pitches of all time, certainly as a media spectator sport. Obama versus Clinton was a cliffhanger, with style, just, winning out over substance. The, seemingly last minute, addition of Palin to the McCain ticket is already overshadowing that earlier battle.

Until quite recently it seemed the Obama style and charisma would carry the day. He, seemingly without effort, puts into practice the concepts illustrated here. But so does Sarah Palin!

As this ”baked Alaska“ (!) pie chart shows, the way we respond to communication is such that only 8% is purely down to the verbal content. The rest of our response is formed by the non-verbal, tone and visual. It’s not what you say, it’s the way you say it.

For this argument’s sake, let’s ignore the political content, and think of the contest only in the terms of this chart. Then, it seems to me that the combined ‘body language count’ of McCain, calmly heroic and Palin, feisty, fearless plus female, outscores that of Obama, the orator and Biden, recycling Kinnock.

Until, of course , the next dramatic revelation.

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