What To Say When Things Get Tough

What To Say When Things Get Tough, Business Communication Strategies for Winning People Over When They’re Angry, Worried, and Suspicious of Everything You Say, by Leonard S. Greenberger, McGraw-Hill 2013 

Angry?

Worried?

Suspicious of everything you say?

What industry do these fears NOT relate to?  Try healthcare, air travel, food, and that biggie, the government?  Is there really anything the head of national security, whoever the heck that really is nowadays, could have said to Boston residents after the Marathon Bombings that would have made us more secure in the midst of a multi-city lockdown and Lord and Taylor camera tape that showed two guys with backpacks positioning homemade fragmentation bombs right next to little kids? 

Or might a personal call or letter to The Mill Girl, otherwise known as Miss Crutches or Cranky Bitch,  from the big ole VP of Customer Service at Big Blue Airlines, have alleviated the anger she felt after her most recent and most disastrous trip with Big Blue? 

Are you at the point author Leonard Greenberger describes in his many to-the-point examples of having lost of your trust in various institutions or public figures?  Do you believe that big public relations problems such as such as the Anthony Weiner sexts or Bill Clinton’s Blue Dress question, can be somehow addressed, or made to go away, with better communications? 

Well, to a certain extent, that is true.  The list of public figures whose admitted indiscretions are somehow forgiven or forgotten grows every year – Mark Sanford, NY’s Weiner, Bill Clinton, Jack Kennedy, General Petraeus, Paula Deen – all of whom in some way let the public down.  While the Paula Deen public relations disaster may in the end have cost her a big financial food empire, the other miscreants seem to have handled their PR slightly more effectively.

Greenberger advises anyone trying to establish or rebuild from a bad event to remember that the public will be asking these questions:

·         Why should I trust you?

·        Are you lying to me?

·        Why should I believe you?

·        Why are you doing this to me?

·        What are you going to do about the harm you’ve caused me?

Greenberger says that if you can develop a strategy to immediately respond to these questions, and IF your gestures and appearance and movements publicly support your statements, you may have a shot at turning around a PR disaster.

Finally, the author leaves us with his three most important messages:

1.      People have to believe you before they will listen to you, so it is imperative to build trust and credibility.

2.     This is the beginning of your training, not the end.  Like the disaster recovery books we’ve seen post-earthquake and tsunami, Greenberger’s book reminds us that preparation and practice must happen to be ready to respond as needed at the right time.  He warns us that tough situations require skills that are more an art than a science.

3.     You are on stage.  As a performer, your speed, your facial expressions, word choice, gestures, and follow-on activities are very telling to your audience, and each nuance must be selected and carried out well.  Greenberger’s closing advice underscores this:  “Be positive, and break a leg!”