Eloquence and Bluntness

A lot of people long for the days when people spoke eloquently.  When you hear a truly great public speaker it is something.  It’s rarer than you think.  We tend to attribute great public speaking skills to people who are famous or on television a lot but there aren’t a lot of great public speakers today.  We are just used to seeing them so much that we are comfortable with them.

Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were great at it.  Other Presidents in my lifetime not so much.

Speaking well is an art form.  It’s a skill that takes a lot of practice and it is one that can be acquired.  You aren’t born with it. This is true of the written word as well.  A lot of books are not well written today.  They are far too long to get to the point of where they are going.

The way our world is today there is so much noise.  It’s very hard to be eloquent.  The world moves too fast.  You have to be blunt to hammer your point across.  It comes across as unvarnished.  It might be distasteful or even disturbing.  As long as it is true and real, it’s okay.  When the situation avails itself that has a lot more space and quiet you can back up your point with the nuance and thought process behind it.

Eloquence versus bluntness depends on time and place.  You cannot be eloquent on a social media site.  The bandwidth, speed, and width of the lanes are just too tight.  In a ten to twenty minute speech, you can be eloquent and really build to make your point.  The audience is basically captive although they can pull out their phone and browse while you are talking.  It never used to be that way, but you have to keep that in mind when you speak.  Kennedy and Reagan never had to deal with that.

When you are on a panel, you have to be blunt.  Quickness and brevity.  There is no time for nuance or a story or metaphor.

The problem with both approaches is that things can be quickly taken out of context and used as ammunition against you.

I think understanding this difference is important for CEO’s of companies.  When they talk to their team, they need to understand the context and tailor the message.  If they are talking to the press, they need to understand how it is going to be used.  Is this a long interview for one quote or is it in depth where there is room for a lot of nuance?  If they are on television or radio, where time is condensed, brevity and bluntness are key to attract people to your business so they can learn more.

I think with brands and businesses, this is an important point to recognize.  There are various ways to talk about yourself.  You have to understand who your target is, and what you want accomplished.  Brands can be eloquent, but it has to be in the right place at the right time with the right group.

When I read the book Fizz, I thought about communication style when it comes to word of mouth marketing.  We think that marketers only come up with tag lines and jingles.  They don’t.  They spin an eloquent, involved story when they can.  Along the way, it’s peppered with bluntness so you remember the larger story.

If you want to see a consumer brand that has done a good job using both styles of communication, check out Simple Mills.  I think that Fin Tech companies can learn a lot from the way they communicate to their customers.  They have created a cult and when you are in business, creating a cult like following is a good thing.