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12. Andrew Cuomo Is No Mario When Communicating
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ident Bush.He may not be as savvy a speaker as Bill Clinton or as dynamic as some other big-name orators, but his human qualities come through and he connects with people on a very personal level. This is the essence of great communication, even for someone that has little natural ability. In addition, Bush’s candor (“I hated losing to Clinton in 1992”) was another quality that made his presentation so effective. He also poked fun at the New York Times and the media in general, recounting a story about his son’s visit to Yankee Stadium after 9/11 to throw out the first pitch of a big game. Bush senior joked that the newspaper described his son’s pitch as “an apparent strike.” Looking exasperated and shaking his head, Bush blurted out,“What the hell were they talking about? George’s pitch was right down the middle.” The crowd roared with laughter. Finally, in his own self-deprecating way, the former president acknowledged that he was not the greatest public communicator and poked fun at both his and his son’s much publicized past speaking mistakes . But he clearly showed that he gets it when responding to a question as to what it takes to be a really effective public communicator.“The key is to speak with conviction . . . to speak from your heart.” And so he did. For that former president George Bush gets the award for being the most improved communicator . . . at least among former presidents. Chapter 12 ANDREW CUOMO IS NO MARIO WHEN COMMUNICATING This chapter was written after Andrew Cuomo dropped out of the New York governor’s race seven days before the September 10, 2002, primary. One reason he quit in the eleventh hour was that by his own admission , he was trying to communicate “too many messages.” At a press conference announcing that he was dropping out,Cuomo said,“It was like we had a new idea every day. We weren’t focused enough on communicating a single message. Simplicity is very important in communication.” Communication 101 27 The lessons learned by Andy Cuomo have tremendous value for the rest of us. This is less about electoral politics than about people in leadership positions communicating effectively in an effort to get things done and rally the troops. We all do that, don’t we? Campaigns are in many ways a microcosm of what we do every day in the workplace. We are like candidates communicating our ideas and approaches on a variety of issues , problems, and questions facing our organization. Our audiences vote on us and our message on a regular basis. When you get up at a meeting and talk about a new project or initiative , you want your peers and bosses around you to support you. It’s all about persuasion. The key to remember is that people aren’t usually persuaded or moved (much less impressed) when we come up with a new idea or proposal every day. Sure, it shows you have a lot of imagination and energy, but the problem is that people can’t keep track of your agenda. While they are just digesting your last idea, you are throwing a new one at them. It gets confusing. When you communicate with the same enthusiasm and passion about more than a few messages, people begin to wonder what’s really important to you. What are this guy’s priorities? When they hear a laundry list of ideas coming from you, they begin to tune you out. When you are in a meeting with your boss or a potential client, the worst thing you can do is have a ton of points you want to make. Even if all your points are valid and you make a compelling case for each one, it’s a poor communication strategy.People don’t want to work that hard to keep up with you, so don’t make them. It’s a real turnoff. Andy Cuomo was right about one thing. Simplicity is very important in communication.We’re not talking about communicating simplistic ideas, but rather getting a single message across that is clear, concise, and credible. That message is your anchor. It grounds all of your communication in whatever “campaign” you are currently engaged in at work. If you have lots of points or messages you plan to communicate in your next presentation—DON’T! Rather, ask yourself, “Of all these things I want to say, which...