Lesson 2
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Stanford Research Institute’s Value & Lifestyle Survey
Belongers – 38%, traditional American values, worth ethic, family is #1, joins clubs, religious
Hate change, very patriotic, everything is black & white – no gray, psychic wounds are divorce & mobility, you sell them a feeling of family & relationship, coke/miller
Emulators – 20%, young, driven to become successful according to emulating those they see successful, highly motivated
They lack confidence, they want to be successful so they will be more popular, sex is a major motivator for them, you sell them success and confidence to become successful, Pepsi/Coors light/Levis
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Achievers – 18%, best at what they do, proud & confident, want to be unique!
Psychic wound – they are deathly afraid of being one of the pack
Socially Conscious – want to be intelligent, afraid of being manipulated & hate salesmen, show them they are being smart & making a difference
● Experientials – 60’s rejects, half not employed
● SC’s – want to be part of the solution & not the problem, hate achievers, mission oriented
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Need Driven – Surviving through government assistance
Integrated – 1/10 of 1%, total integration of Socially Conscious and Achiever, wants to be unique, intelligent, and make a difference, income is more than $250 K/ yr.
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THE LEADER’S EDGE!
PRECISION MODEL
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Mind Reading: How do you know…..?
Pattern: “You don’t like me.”
Response: “How do you know I don’t like you?”
Pattern: “You don’t care about poor people.”
Response: “How do you know whether I care about poor people?”
Lost Performative: Who or what specifically?
Pattern: “They don’t listen to me.”
Response: “Who specifically doesn’t listen to you?”
Pattern: “It isn’t fair.”
Response: “What specifically isn’t fair?”
Pattern: “Studies show that kids raised in gay homes do just as well as others.”
Response: “What specific studies?”
Pattern: “Being against affirmative action is racist.”
Response: “According to whom?”
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Cause –Effect: How does —- cause —-?
Pattern: “Tax cuts cause deficits.”
Response: “How do people keeping and spending more of their own money cause deficits?”
Pattern: “Your budget starves children.”
Response: “How does our proposal starve children?”
Pattern: “You make me mad.”
Response: “How does what I’m doing cause you to be mad?”
Complex Equivalence (A=B): How does A mean B?
Pattern: “You never attend our luncheon…you don’t care.”
Response: “How does not being able to attend your luncheon mean I don’t care?”
Presuppositions: How does ….? How is ….?
Pattern: “If he knew how much it hurt me…”
Response: “How do you know he doesn’t know?” How do you allow it to hurt you?
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Universals: All? Never? Every?
Pattern: “All Republicans are rich.”
Response: “All?” or “I’m Republican and not rich.”
Pattern: “Conservatives never win in this district.”
Response: “Never?” or “What would happen if we did?”
Necessity & Possibility: What prevents you?
Pattern: “I have to vote Democrat.”
Response: “What would happen if you didn’t?”
Pattern: “I can’t support you publicly.”
Response: “What prevents you from supporting me?”
Comparative Deletions: Compared to what?
Pattern: “She’s a lousy candidate.”
Response: “Compared to whom?”
Pattern: “He sure is young to be elected.”
Response: “Young compared to what?”
Pattern: “Your plan is too expensive.”
Response: “Compared to the cost of not implementing the plan?”
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THE LEADER’S EDGE!
MASTERING THE MESSAGE
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A. BASICS
1. Keep eyes focused on the interviewer, no shifty eyes.
2. Smile and be friendly, regardless of the questioning.
3. Avoid mentioning opponent by name.
4. Use reporter’s name (e.g. “Well, David…”)
B. ANSWER OR ACKNOWLEDGE THE QUESTION
Even though the question probably will not be in the edited interview, do not ignore it. Though you take your answer in the direction that stays on message, you must acknowledge the reporters question to maintain credibility. Even if you do not answer the question head on, make sure it is clear you are not ignoring it.
Q: “Are you accusing the incumbent of abuse of power?”
Bad Answer: “He’s been there a long time and a lot of people are unhappy.”
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Good Answer: “Not necessarily. We’re unsure of exactly what happened behind the scenes, but the public statements by those involved leave a terrible impression of the type of conduct that took place.”
Memorize the following answers and phrases for quick reference:
Yes.
No.
Of course.
It depends.
Sure.
Not in this case.
I hope not.
It’s not that simple.
I’d be glad to come back to that…
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C. DON’T REPEAT EMOTIONALLY CHARGED WORDS
Q: “Aren’t your anti-affirmative action positions racist and outdated?”
Bad Answer: “I’m not a racist!”
The brain cannot process a negative. When you say “I’m not a racist,” the listener or reader actually hears that you must be a racist. Remember “I’m not a crook?” What’s the first thing that goes through your mind when someone says that?
Good Answer: “Absolutely not. I believe, as did Martin Luther King, that a person should be judged by their skills and character, not the color of their skin.”
D. DON’T LOSE THEM IN THE NUMBERS
Q: “Critics say your school finance plan will bankrupt our schools.”
Bad Answer: “The current education budget is 29&1/2 billion dollars, with 19.5 billion coming from the local property tax, 8.7 billion from the state budget, and 1.3 billion from the federal government. My plan will save 750 million in redundancy of functions alone, while shifting 15.4 billion of the local property tax burden to the state.”
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While the reporter will be impressed with your knowledge of the numbers, the reader will have no idea if what you said is good for them or not. It’s okay to use a few statistics to “prove” your point and your expertise, but be careful not to confuse the reader and limit the numbers to the ones you want them to remember. Try to go with “direction” (up, down, in half, worse, better) rather than exact figures.
Good Answer: “On the contrary, my plan makes our schools more financially sound and will create better results for the taxpayers’ investment. Under my proposal, we actually increase the amount of money we spend on our kids, while spending less on the bureaucracy.”
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E. STAY ON MESSAGE WITH THE FOCUS FORMULA
Give them the HEADLINE first, and then back it up with evidence in a structured way:
1. HEADLINE
2. SPECIFIC EVIDENCE (facts, figures, stats)
3. SOFT EVIDENCE (anecdote, example)
4. QUOTE
EXAMPLE:
Headline: “Texans don’t own their homes; they rent them from the government.”
Logical Evidence: “An average family of four in this county pays nearly $400 per month just for their property taxes… and that’s before they put a penny towards the mortgage.”
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Heart Evidence: “A retired couple right down the road from me paid off their home years ago, but now they pay more to the government each year than they used to pay for the mortgage.”
Quote: “Mr. & Mrs. Johnson are on a fixed income and told me that without property tax relief, they will have to sell the home they spent thirty years working to pay for.”
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Headline:
Logical Evidence:
Heart Evidence:
Quote:
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Headline:
Logical Evidence:
Heart Evidence:
Quote:
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