(Chuck Muth) – Attention candidates: Stop talking about yourself and start talking about the voters, regardless of what office you’re running for.
Time after time I listen to “stump” speeches or read candidate emails/blog posts…and they’re all about the candidate. I did this. I did that. I believe this. I’m going to do that. I. I. I. I. I.
Just converting the message from “I”-focused to “you”-focused would be a dramatic improvement. But another way to make your message both more effective and more memorable is to…tell a story.
Storytelling is an ingrained, accepted and welcome form of communication; one we learned as a child and carried with us into adulthood. It can also be very powerful in conveying a political message in a non-political manner.
Case in point: Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
We know it today as a beloved holiday story. But what I didn’t know, and I’m guessing you didn’t either, is the story was written as a way to effect political change during the Industrial Revolution in England, as explained by Katya Andresen…
“Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol after reading the Second Report of the Children’s Employment Commission, an 1843 parliamentary report on the effects of the Industrial Revolution on poor children.
“He had intended to write a political pamphlet in an attempt to convince British employers of the need for social and educational reform but decided he would have more influence if he were instead to write a Christmas story.
“He was right. Take it from Mr. Dickens: A story has power a pamphlet lacks.”
If you want your message to sink in and be remembered, don’t give a political speech or write a policy paper. Tell a story.