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View Full Version : Words that work -Frank Luntz


Zay
2008-04-17, 18:21
"It's not what you say, it's what people hear"

I just read this book for a marketing assignment and I must say this is one of the most brilliant men you've never heard of. You'd be surprised at how many political buzzwords have changed because of his influence. The "War in Iraq" became the "war on terror", global warming became "climate change" the estate tax became the "death tax" etc. etc. He's been influencing republican for years. It's not all about politics, however. This guy through countless focus groups, personal observations, etymology research, etc has a profound understanding of how to use words manipulatively err... persuasively. You see, a lot of totseans have the problem of being too smart for their own good, and lack a basic language skill that enables them to communicate clearly, effectively, and to persuade people to see your point of view using much simpler words. People understand emotion better than substance, and if you have a wordy speech with terms your audience wont understand, you'll be seen as a cock. If you can use more concise, emotion-stirring words or downplaying words(depending on what your aim is) you can have your way more often. And in no way does it mean you're dumbing yourself down. Even a scholar can get pumped up by the right language. Complex sentences usually needlessly lengthen something that can be said in simpler words and it gives the impression that you're obscuring the actual aim. That's why this election is going to be about McCain vs Obama, because they are both better public speakers than hillary. Hillary can't motivate a crowd. Bill Clinton could though. That's one skill she lacks that she'll probably never understand.

Read this for starters: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm

and then read his book. I made this post short because i have to run out to work now, but I'll discuss this further later.

Fza
2008-04-17, 18:40
Sounds interesting.

Crash2108
2008-04-18, 04:05
Fuck you Frank!

--Cr@sh

Zay
2008-04-18, 14:03
Fuck you Frank!

--Cr@sh

He may not work for the party you like, but his methods are non-partisan. I mean, he travels all across the country and pays a couple dozen people to sit in a room for a few hours and watch speeches and other pieces on a screen. He will give them each a little remote control thing with a dial from 0-100 and will have them all move the dial based on their personal opinion of the speech, and while the speech is going on he'll sit in another room analyzing their reactions and words that create buzz using a real-time line graph projected on the screen that moves as the people adjust the dials. It's really cool. I saw a video of it working. It has a red line and a blue line, to denote the different peoples party affiliations but you'll notice them react the same way often times to the same speech. He goes even farther then that. He'll play the same speech with the same message but he'll change one or two words, and it'll completely change the outcomes for people of one or both parties. Think of the difference between "increased aid to the poor" and "increased welfare." Privatized healthcare vs "free-market" healthcare. Its fascinating really. He doesn't just help republicans either. He lectures CEOS of major corps on how to talk to the public and he analyzes a lot of marketing campaigns. He isn't old fashioned either. He has a chapter about how blogs, social networking, forums, and just the whole internet in general are changing things.

Crash2108
2008-04-18, 14:14
I'm part of the 120% of the population that shouts out "Fuck you Frank!" when they hear his name.

Sounds interesting.

--Cr@sh

Lamabot
2008-04-22, 05:03
Fuck you frank!

Adorkable
2008-04-30, 08:32
Another good one on this topic, although less oriented to marketability:

http://books.google.com/books?id=GtXRXNkUErIC&dq=unspeak&pg=PP1&ots=8hpkD0feHQ&sig=uOcVGuos1x8ukXU1s4hRN3BYNxA&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=unspeak&btnG=Google+Search&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail