What You Say vs. What People Hear
By Anne Saita, Vistage Corporate Communications Staff
If you find that your powers of persuasion fall short on results, it may be the way you’re perceived by customers and employees. And that perception may come from your choice of words.
“CEOs are less trusted today than at any time since they first started measuring this in the 1960s,” said Frank Luntz, whose company Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research has conducted more than 1,500 surveys and focus groups for corporate and government clients. Part of that low trust rate stems from many corporate leaders’ inability to connect with people using clear, concise and compassionate language. “It’s like the moment you get successful is also the moment they tear your heart out,” Luntz told a roomful of Vistage Chairs, members and special guests during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.
For CEOs to be trusted, he said, they must:
- back up what they claim,
- follow through on what they promise, and
- honor their commitments.
These actions of trust are especially necessary in today’s uncertain economy, where customer and employee retention are paramount to many companies’ survival.
Luntz, a famous Republican pollster, shared “10 Corporate Commandments” for business leader’s communications:
- Keep it simple.
- Keep it brief.
- Make sure it’s credible.
- Be consistent in your message.
- Tell people something different; grab their attention.
- Sound and texture matter.
- Speak “aspirationally.”
- Use visualization to make the abstract more concrete and complex issues easier to understand.
- Ask a question; rhetorical questions can be powerful with responsive audiences
- Provide context.
Chief executives who personalize, individualize and “humanize” their messages to employees stand a much better chance of improving productivity. Within companies, employees mostly seek respect, not money, for their work. To get a sense of where an employee stands, ask if she has a job or a career. Those who respond with “a career” likely want to stay with a company longer than those who see it as a job. Similarly, ask employees to rate the respect they receive for their contributions on a 1-to-10 scale. Anything lower than a 7 indicates they are, or will be, looking to leave the company.
Business leaders can build credibility among potential customers through third-party endorsements, such as certifications prominently displayed on corporate Web sites, Luntz maintained. Customers also respond to words like “genuine,” “efficient,” “independent” and “hassle-free.” He added: “People will pay more for a product if they are guaranteed it’s hassle-free.”
Key words are only half of the communication equation; they need to be placed in well-constructed sentences. Luntz, the author of Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, suggests using alliteration whenever appropriate. It helps people remember expressions like “ideas and innovation.”
Luntz also remarked on other communications, such as a company’s mission statement, which he said should be a single sentence that uses simple words. People should immediately understand a company’s commitment. “It is not just what you’re about; it’s what you’re against – what it is you believe and what you’re going to do about it.”
