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Attention Presidential Candidates: Give Me Some Sexy Process

A non-process guy like me rarely gets excited about the sexy topic of “process.”

But just once, I’d love it if I heard a candidate forget the lazy platitudes and opinions and get into some lovely process talk.

Process

Here’s what I mean:

Almost every candidate running for President loves the promises, platitudes and opinions. They love to tell you how they’re going to Make America Great, or how they’ll guarantee free college for all, or how they’ll stop illegal immigration, or my favorite, how they’ll create 7 million jobs.

I don’t want to hear them say they’ll “fight for me.” They won’t.

I want to hear HOW you solve problems.

Not how you’ll accomplish the goal from a policy or strategy standpoint.

There’s no disagreement that the country faces many problems. Therefore, I want to hear HOW you solve problems. 

Give Me Some Method to Your Madness  Read more

Does Your Story Make YOU Cry?

Sentimental.

Untold-Story

Something that most who know me will say I have none of. But, I get emotional when I do an exercise in my training and coaching when I ask people to tell me their story.

Most people are uncomfortable with their own story. They avoid it. They dodge the details. And, most of all, they run from the emotions of it. Read more

Coaching The Presidential Candidates

As of yesterday at 5:00PM, not one candidate has called me from any presidential campaign. Hmmm. Guess that’s not unusual. THEY NEVER DO!

IF-YOU-DON'T-STAND-FOR-SOMETHING

But let’s pretend that one did call asking for help on debate prep, speech prep or just how to communicate better with the American people. I would lead with the three-headed problem to be followed by the 10-point fix:

The Problem

1. People are hungry for a candidate that people feel understands them. Most candidates are awful at establishing ‘remote rapport.’ (Rapport is easier when you’re face-to-face, but more difficult to establish at a distance, or in media). Reagan and Clinton were very good at this. Read more