Takeaway<\/strong>: Make sure your actions match your words.<\/p>\nUse Group Relationships<\/h2>\n
In nearly every previous post about this election I have discussed the importance of group\u00a0identity. If this election proves anything it’s the validity of this principle.<\/p>\n
We have the “must-vote-Democrat-even-if-we-don’t-like-Hillary” voters, the “must-vote-Republican-even-if-we-don’t-like Trump” voters, the “never-Trump” voters and “never-Hillary” voters, the “Only Trump” and “Only Hillary” voters, plus a few others.<\/p>\n
In fact in this election, the group identities have moved outside the scope of political party. I’m willing to bet some of my readers better identify as “people who stand for principle” or “people who respect common courtesy” or “people who want a non-politician” or “people who are afraid what will happen if nothing changes” or “people who want to protect others” or “people who want diversity and unity.” Personally, for the first election in my life, I find myself in the same “group” with people who believe in completely different political policies.<\/p>\n
Generally, my prediction has been correct that most Republicans have fallen in line with Trump and most Democrats with Clinton. This is why Trump can get votes from people he insults–because group loyalty is that strong. However, more so than in previous elections there are many voters who have stronger identification with non-party groups.\u00a0This makes the outcome harder to predict.<\/p>\n
I don’t think any further explanation is necessary. If you live in the USA, you’ve seen the fanatical power of group loyalty on full display this year.<\/p>\n
Takeaway<\/strong>: Always be first to define the in-group.<\/p>\nYou Have to Choose<\/h2>\n
Speaking of group identity, it should be just as clear this election that you can’t be everything to everybody. The first rule of marketing is that you have to know your audience.<\/p>\n
Hillary knows that she won’t be able to persuade everyone, and has chosen to appeal to the centrist “stronger together” group identity.<\/p>\n
Trump knows that he won’t be able to persuade everyone, and has targeted his appeal to the “anyone but Hillary” and “America first” groups.<\/p>\n
I thought Trump would choose to target the centrist group, and I was wrong. Nevertheless, to be an effective persuader, he had to choose, and he did.<\/p>\n
Normally, I would call Hillary’s “stronger together” identification the weaker choice (which I did after her nomination). However, in this election, Trump has been so divisive, I just don’t know.<\/p>\n
The message is not that one choice is right and one is wrong. The takeaway message is that you have to choose. If you try to persuade everybody, you’ll persuade no one. At least speak to only one audience at a time.<\/p>\n
Takeaway<\/strong>: Choose your target audience.<\/p>\nReveal Personality<\/h2>\n
Another self-evident lesson from this election is the difference between a group and a personality.<\/p>\n
I don’t think many people in\u00a0either party\u00a0would disagree when I say that most Hillary voters are not Hillary loyalists as much as party or policy loyalists. Very few Americans have any idea what Hillary, the woman, is actually like in real life.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a huge portion\u00a0of Trump voters are loyal to the man more than his policies. The loyalty displayed by the Trump faithful is proof of the power of personality. If Trump wins, it will probably be because his voters are more loyal. He created that loyalty with his persuasion tactics.<\/p>\n
Love him or hate him, you can see the power of personality.<\/p>\n
Takeaway<\/strong>: Don’t just deliver a message, reveal the messenger.<\/p>\nYou are Being Manipulated<\/h2>\n
Whichever side of the political spectrum you embrace, I hope you have recognized how\u00a0the powers that be are trying to manipulate us.<\/p>\n
Politicians, marketers, management, religious leaders, family members, professional speakers and others are all trying to manipulate you. Whether that is good or bad is a conclusion I will leave to you.<\/p>\n
Whether you agree with the “persuaders” or not, you are in danger of being manipulated by their tactics if you don’t educate yourself on the principles of persuasive communication.<\/p>\n
Takeaway<\/strong>: Learn the\u00a0principles of effective communication\u00a0to protect yourself against manipulation.<\/p>\nAnd the winner is …<\/h2>\n
I don’t know. Regardless of the polls, I’m not going to make\u00a0a prediction about this election. There are just too many variables at play beyond a single candidate’s\u00a0communication skills.<\/p>\n
I stand by my analysis of the persuasion techniques the candidates have employed–regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n
Please don’t discount the persuasion principles involved–regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n
You can become a better communicator\u00a0by studying the candidates–regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let me tell you where I was wrong! Has watching the Trump-Hillary spectacle over the last few months changed my opinion about the candidate’s communication skills?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[20,21,28,47,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1100,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions\/1100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelspeaks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}