In a world where communication is key, who better to learn from than the masters of messaging: politicians? In this episode, we will uncover how four strategic tactics used on the campaign trail can be directly applied to enhance your business communication. From relational organizing to message packaging, discover how to elevate your communication game and achieve extraordinary results with Can You Hear Me? podcast co-hosts Rob Johnson and Eileen Rochford.
5 Strategies Approach and the Voter Movement Project
Eileen Rochford: [00:00:18] Hello, everyone. Welcome to. Can you hear me? I'm Eileen Rochford, CEO of the Harbinger Group, a marketing and strategy firm. [00:00:25][6.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:00:25] And I'm Rob Johnson, president of Rob Johnson Communications. As you all know, it is political season and we're deep into it. So today we want to discuss how campaign strategies can be used in business communication. [00:00:37][12.4]
Eileen Rochford: [00:00:38] That's right, Rob. It might seem surprising to some people, but the political arena, it really tends to be a goldmine of insights for effective business communication. If you pay close attention, you can learn quite a bit because I think politicians are by necessity, they're just super skilled at connecting with diverse audiences as well as they got to build their strong coalitions. And most importantly, they have to craft compelling narratives, right? They understand the power of the well-crafted message and how to deliver that with great impact so that it resonates deeply. So while the stakes may be different in business, the underlying principles of effective communication, that always remains the same. So we're going to dig into this and see what we can learn today. There's a lot. [00:01:24][45.5]
Rob Johnson: [00:01:25] There's a lot. And also, Eileen, we're talking about the politicians that do it well, because every time you see some politicians, they don't do it well. And I watch and I cringe. And the ones who do it well, I'm like, all right. That's what everybody should be taking a lesson about. Those are the people we're talking about today who will remain nameless. Politicians, though, as you know, are masters of persuasion and influence. They hone their craft through years of experience in the public eye. And while the business world might operate a little differently, there is no denying the power of their tactics. Now, one strategy that really stands out is relational organizing. This is essentially building a strong network of supporters who can amplify your message. It's about leveraging personal connections to drive action and create a powerful system of support. Imagine the impact this could have on a product launch or a company wide initiative where you get everybody on board. Eileen. [00:02:16][51.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:02:17] Yeah, that's right. That's what we want to do. We want to kind of look at these new emerging tactics or really strategies that are being used in this election and increasingly so in the last couple and apply them to business communications and what we can all learn today. Might it be helpful to dig a little into or more into what relational organizing is? Do you think that's good? [00:02:40][23.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:02:41] That would be excellent. I think that's what people want to hear. [00:02:43][2.3]
Eileen Rochford: [00:02:44] Okay. Wonderful. So I've been hearing and I'm sure you have to more and more about this idea and the application of the concept of relational organizing through different activist organizations. And sometimes when you say the word activist, people get a little freaked out. That's really not what it's about. It's it's just any group that has an agenda or an initiative that they want to see take effect in political in the political arena or through political campaigns, shall we say. And relational organizing is something that I didn't know about. I'll be really honest. I didn't know what it was. And I thought, that's that's it's showing up in new and different ways. It's really the simplest way to think about it, I think, is it's much more of that word of mouth type of activism. So taking people who might have, like we said, interested in a piece of legislation being passed or or even a candidate, I guess, and using those people who have vested interests to tell the story to other people who are a lot like them, but who may not be as invested or even paying attention to politics, but that by relational organizing helps regular people who aren't necessarily they don't look at themselves as activists, but it helps them to bring other people into the fold so that they kind of expand their ranks and expand their impact and add more voters, those kinds of things. That's really what I've come to understand, relational organizing to be so. [00:04:19][95.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:04:19] So let me ask this. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions related to it to see if we're talking about the same thing here or to give it additional context. Would that be somebody going door to door in your community, somebody who knows the neighborhood, somebody who believes in your message and wants to spread it with other people in that kind of way? Would that be part of it? Would that be part of relational organizing? Even though I know being in somebody's base and going door to door is like an old idea, it's not a new political concept. Would that qualify as such? [00:04:49][29.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:04:49] It might, but there's a caveat. So the key to relational organizing is people tend to receive messages kind of more positively when they are delivered by people they know and people they trust. So if a stranger goes up to your door, the chances of you really taking the time to listen to what they have to say, I think are much lower in my opinion, than if you're at your book club and or your at your Softball team game and you go out afterwards and someone from either your team or another team starts to talk to you about how they're involved with this, either a campaign or an issue and why it's important to them and asking you about your feelings about it. I think that is much closer to really slow organizing than doorknocking. [00:05:35][45.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:05:35] So if I had a cocktail party at my house on behalf of a candidate or I just wanted to talk about a candidate or an issue that would be relational organizing, people I know coming over, they know me. They trust me. And we're going to talk about either a candidate or an issue that I feel strongly about. Is that more along those lines? [00:05:52][16.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:05:53] Yes, I would I would definitely categorize that as closer within the relational organizing realm. Again, I am not an expert on this because I just learned about it. I mean, in the last 4 or 5 months. [00:06:03][10.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:06:04] I just think it's interesting, though, to be talking about it because we're taking some older concepts and we're like, Does that fit okay? That doesn't quite fit, but that does fit over there. So it's interesting that, you know, I'm sitting here trying to think more traditionally and thinking we're sharing some less traditional ideas today, but how did the two how are they married? Right. And so that's really I think what I'm trying to get to with you. I know you're not the, you know, lifelong relational expert expert, relational. But but I just I'm to kind of put some context around it. [00:06:34][30.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:06:35] Yeah, that's good context. You know, word of mouth is been around forever, right? We all know that. But the formalizing of word of mouth marketing, I would say probably 20 years ago is when that started to become much, much more of a thing, a recognized thing that people would use. And I think that probably has everything to do with social media, right? So this is just another twist on that or maybe it's an outcome of that potentially. So if you think about how social media is what has created this surge, overwhelming surge of people listening to other people like them that came out of social media, it is deeply embedded, particularly in the generation that is coming of age in voting right now. So I think that's why relational organizing has become such a critical, useful tool in this election, because those folks who are raised on it and who don't tend to take facts from traditional news media outlets whatsoever, but they do tend to take it from influencers on social media, people that they feel like they know because they've been watching them for so long or people who they know directly. That's that's kind of that the new generation of voters. So that's why we're seeing this being used quite a bit in campaigns right now. [00:07:51][76.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:07:51] Or could be a podcast co-host or. [00:07:53][1.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:07:55] It could be that could. [00:07:56][1.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:07:57] Be. I'm not saying it is in this case. I'm just saying it could be it. [00:08:00][2.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:08:00] Could be. [00:08:00][0.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:08:00] Totally. [00:08:00][0.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:08:02] So to a couple of things about how it's done in relational organizing. There's a couple kind of components to it. Obviously, you got to identify, you know, supporters, meaning people who who are in your sphere, who potentially who you think are aligned with your values or align with the values of the issue. Don't assume that they do, but they might. So that's kind of, you know, creating your list. You're identifying who those people might be. So getting that first and foremost is critical. And then these campaigns are providing tools and training, and they're doing it in such an easy and effective way. If you think about one of the candidates, at least at the presidential level right now, is a very short amount of time to prepare to be the candidate and to launch a campaign. Well, they're using technology and apps, particularly the mobilize app, which people have probably been exposed to in one way or another by now. But it's it's come so far. It's started being used, you know, maybe to possibly three elections ago. But now it just could not be easier. The intuitive nature of it is fantastic. So they're harnessing that and putting all their materials together, conducting all their trainings, tracking how people are able to reach out to their neighbors, their friends, their like minded individuals and connect with them and do things like make sure that they're registered to vote so easily. So it's kind of fascinating to see how technology and communications tools have advanced and are being used in this realm. And as a marketer, it makes me think about all the ways we probably can do that for things like you mentioned, product launches and much more as well. But then the key to relational organizing is it has to be personal. You can't deliver this your emails, you can't deliver this through texts from people in another state who have nothing to do with you. That is not what it is and that won't work. So the ability to get the like minded people, circles, forms and sustain their engagement and participation, that's really what that really organizing means. And that tracking that I mentioned before, that tracking of the interactions and seeing how it kind of takes people through the continuum of awareness to understanding which we're all so familiar with in the marketing realm. So pretty neat that that's being used here. [00:10:16][134.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:10:16] Let me let me. Or something else that you can see if this applies as well. So it's somebody, you know, that is delivering that message or is trying to engage you or a politician or foreign issue that may be on the ballot. It doesn't need to be on brand. In other words, if I'm always about work and we talk about work, we talk about our kids, we talk about this, and then all of a sudden I come to you, you know me, I have credibility with you. And all of a sudden I'm Mr. Politics. Does that does that fit into that at all or does that keep it from being more effective if it's not on brand for me, like if I'm always talking about politics and then I come to you and talk about politics, you're like, Yeah, I expected that. But if I don't, I don't. But all of a sudden I'm passionate about something and I come to you, but I haven't come to you about it before. Is there any disconnect there? [00:11:02][46.4]
Eileen Rochford: [00:11:03] Possibly, if you're blunt about it, yes. But I think relational organizing and some of these other principles that we were going to touch on today is it's in that training component that I mentioned. Campaigns are helping to raise awareness about how you lag, start a conversation about these kinds of things. And it's never about directly saying, are you registered to vote? No, you don't start there. You start with how do you feel about this election or how do you feel about what's happening in, you know, name your small town. And the issue with, I don't know, it's something infrastructure that's really affecting people's lives. You start to find common ground first and foremost, and then you move the conversation over multiple interactions, possibly toward well there's something we can all do about that. And that has to do with getting engaged in these ways. If you're interested, you know, I can show you how that kind of thing. So it's a it's progressive in nature. You don't hit them over the head. Bluntly, that's never going to work. Is that. Yeah. If it were off brand, you'd be super off putting, as you put it, and people wouldn't react to it. So it's all in the training so that people understand, don't be blunt, you're just going to turn them off. You want to meet them where they're at. You want to explore their feelings. Don't assume they feel the way that you feel. You got to have conversation and use probing, not in a invasive way, but more in an exploratory way. Questions so that you can get an understanding of how do they feel and move on from there. [00:12:33][90.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:12:33] And the other thing you're talking about in a very general sense, too, is persuasion. Just the idea of persuasion. Even if you know this person or you don't, you're talking about framing the common ground you're talking about. I would add things like giving anecdotal and empirical evidence. So like, here's a stat that may blow you away, and then here's a story around that. And then at the end you're connecting emotionally with them. So I think it's kind of cool. You're talking about something very specific here. That's that's that's extremely strategic. And yet at the at its core, it's really about persuasion, persuading others to do what you want them to do. Yeah. [00:13:05][31.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:13:06] And if you think about applying that even to internal communications in an organization of some size, anywhere from, you know, small to mid to even quite large organizations, we used to get our information about company initiatives almost strictly from a CEO or another or even a team of executive leaders in an organization. And today, I think taking lessons from relational organizing could be very helpful to corporate leaders in that finding the people who want to be ambassadors, who are really invested in an initiative that's going to be rolled out in your organization, and then teaching them how to do relational organizing through these various techniques that we've been touching on to kind of form their own internal groups and roll the message through and bring people along with them. But it's coming from people who might share similar jobs. They might be in their same department, so they're rolling out information and it starts to feel like almost their own ideas, too. It's not being pushed from the top all the way down. So that's an interesting application of relational organizing in business communications. [00:14:19][73.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:14:20] Absolutely. [00:14:20][0.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:14:21] Yes. So that's really fun. Okay. I want to talk about another piece here. So another observation that we have drawn from looking at various campaigns, again, candidates as well as issues. There are some huge issues across the country. Things like constitutional amendments in various states are in several cases are on the ballot. And now you're seeing advertising about them all over the place. So whether we're talking about a candidate or we're talking about an issue, it's equally important to have a clear and compelling message to share with that network in terms of the strong relationships that you're working to build. So that's where I believe and I think you share this because we talked about this, Rob, is the message packaging concept. We do this all the time. [00:15:10][49.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:15:11] All the time. [00:15:12][0.5]
Eileen Rochford: [00:15:13] in communications. [00:15:13][0.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:15:13] So for business and marketing, this is like this may this. Part of the conversation might be a little bit closer to your comfort zone. I mean, all these points are excellent, but this might be like, yeah, that's important. But but taking it from a politician's perspective and how effectively the good ones do it is is important to point out. [00:15:31][17.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:15:31] That's right. So that's where the message packaging comes in. It's about crafting a narrative that's so easy to understand and grasp and also share. So the simplicity is key. Politicians, there's just absolute masters at this, as you said at the beginning of this show. When you when you see it, you know it. They're just the greatest of all time. You walk away from listening to them and you understand at a high level what's at stake and you're motivated to do something about it. So that message packaging that we're going to go into is is really about condensing those complex issues into the simplest and most memorable, package as it possibly can be. [00:16:14][42.9]
Rob Johnson: [00:16:14] And and the point you're making earlier about it being completely relevant and used fairly frequently in the work we do day in and day out. It's so important because, I mean, I know you deal with clients and their messages and things of that nature where they want to say everything. They're so smart. They're such they're such subject matter experts. They want to tell everybody everything. I'm like, you can't do that. What is the most important thing you're going to convey today? What is the message you want everyone to digest today? And then we prioritize the most important points of those of that messaging. And I think that's a little bit of what we're talking about here, which is you can't say it all because then all of a sudden it becomes muddled. You have to say the most important things that you think are going to resonate with the audience on that day in that interaction, whatever the case may be. [00:17:00][45.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:17:01] Right. So being consistent, but being extraordinarily clear and compelling and then creating the ability for that clear, compelling message to be shared in a packaged way. That's really what it comes down to. It's the understanding and the sharing, I think, is the critical component of message packaging. So that just to differentiate it somewhat from what we talked about before, really organizing. So there's a couple of things we can talk about when it comes to message message packaging. You have to be really clear in identifying your objective or delivering the message. And I would don't try to have more than 1 or 2. I think that's what I've taken away from analyzing and examining so many of these speeches, so many of these press conferences, even the way that information is being delivered across various activist organizations, websites, they have picked one, maybe two clear objectives for the work that they're doing, and then they've packaged it down so simply so that people can have the facts and be able to do something with the information. And they're also very, very clear about what the action is that they want you to take. So I would say that's the most important part about message packaging, as well as making whatever package you put it in and visually compelling. More of this, show me don't Tell me style and format. People are really responding well to that. And the ability again to share is enhanced when you make it much more show me than tell me. And you mentioned data-driven that's a big piece too. [00:18:29][88.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:18:33] Yeah. For sure. And we talked about this several episodes ago about how important video is and when you're trying to make your case and you can give a great speech and you can make your case and you can prioritize your points. But there's a reason that in digital marketing or marketing in general, video is so popular right now and has such an incredible impact on on people. And that's it's just that's what that's the way the world is is is headed. [00:18:59][26.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:19:00] Definitely. You know, one more thing that I would say about message packaging and you talked about this you touched on the personal stories is a very important component of any aspect of communications. And in this context, creating sample message structure for your your followers, your employees, your ambassadors, insert whatever words you want to be able to adapt, but still allow for consistent sharing of the message. That's another somewhat new thing. I think it's been refined and refined over the last couple of election cycles. There are so good at it now. I went to an event a couple of nights ago. It was at a public library and it was about voting or increasing registered voters. That was the whole purpose of this kind of workshop training and this organization I believe it's called Vote Forward. They have whole tutorials and templates on their website for how to share your own story about why you vote. That's it. As simple as that. No party affiliation, no naming of candidates, nothing. It is just here's why I vote as part of the democratic process and you're encouraging the person you're writing the letter to to do the same potentially but just at least be a motivating force by sharing your own story with them. So the workshop was great how it broke it down into words not to use. Yeah. No, no nonvoters shaming type of language like it's your civic duty, you know, nothing like ever. Yeah, I know, right? We've heard that for ever. And it really didn't get us anywhere. So this whole point was just expanding voter participation. And again, I love going to some of these things and participating in it because even though I've been doing marketing, communications and public relations for 30 years, I still learn something every single time. So that's why we're sharing and observed. [00:20:56][116.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:20:57] And I want to ask our listeners right now, did you hear what Eileen just did? She just told you a story about why it's important to have people, you know, the organization telling their story, the workshop. So you just did what you were illustrating. You said, you know, people should tell the story more and then you went and told the story. Well done, if anybody in this stage, I just wanted to make sure in case anybody missed that, that you just illustrated that while telling the story, which is the point you were trying to make. So bravo. [00:21:22][25.7]
Eileen Rochford: [00:21:24] Artful. Thank you for. [00:21:25][1.3]
Rob Johnson: [00:21:25] Sharing. [00:21:25][0.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:21:26] It's also when you do it so long, you just you can't help yourself. It just comes out. [00:21:30][3.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:21:30] I know. It's like. But whenever I whenever I talk to people about the stories and whenever we get to it and then I and whenever I'm sort of sharing concepts with them and I'm doing it in real time and and I'll say, I'll stop and say, See, I was just doing that in case you didn't know, see how I did that? And they're like, yeah, that too. Because sometimes people are looking in such a linear fashion, they don't see that there are side doors. You can go into it to the same place, you know. So anyway, pretty, pretty interesting. So message packaging is very important, there's no question about that. But we also need to make it incredibly easy for our audience to understand and respond to that message. So think about how politicians simplify all these issues and calls to action so their audience can easily follow along and contribute to the mission. So we need to do the same in business by breaking down information into clear, concise points. We can guide our audience toward the desired action. So they do in politics, we think it's an easy transition to do it in business, and it's an important issue to be talking about. [00:22:27][57.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:22:28] Make it easy. We say this all the time. Absolutely. It has something to do with the message packaging, but it has everything to do with how easy you can make it so that people know exactly what they need to do and to either follow along or take some action. What's a good example you can think of Rob? [00:22:45][17.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:22:45] I would say, okay, I would say this. This I don't know if this is the exact thing you're looking for, but whenever I deal with people and we're trying to let's say it's a not for profit and we're trying to get a message out and it's like share the message about an event or something coming up or something that's already happened. And it's and a lot of people like, what do you mean to share it? Like, what do you mean? Some people are a little more savvy with social media than others, but then somebody will who's trying to get you to make that call to action will say, Do this hashtag, put the ad for you. You know, add all of this stuff in there so that there's some uniformity in all of our messages. And that's the first example I can think of. It's not the only example, but it's the first one that came to mind is make it easy. If you say just share that message with everybody, you're part of the choir that's spreading the word, right? Some some people are going to get it and some people are going to be like, I don't get it. And if they don't get it, they're not going to do it. So I would say most importantly, make sure it is easy for that call to action. And it's easily understood by the people who you want to make it. [00:23:45][59.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:23:45] Yep. Well done. I'm going to give a political example just because that's what we're using to highlight throughout the show, and then I'll give a similar usage within internal communications to back it up. So one, I would say there's this tool called voterizer. I just love that. Doesn't it sound like something out of like the 50s, like an appliance in your house or something? Yeah So voterizer.org the entire purpose of motorized.org is it's it's you call it up on your phone you can instantly look up yourself to see am I registered to vote. You can take a step further and go to the Secretary of State's office in the state where you reside to start the process of registering to vote, you can get the form that you might need to download, print, take to your board of elections to register yourself to vote or to Sorry, that's not right. Go to wherever you go. Your Bureau of Motor Vehicles, your Department of Motor Vehicles, whatever it is that say that you live and drop off or even your library. All these kinds of places where you can drop off your forms to register to vote. And you can also find out how do I get an early mail in ballot, How do I register for that? Do I have to request it by a certain date? All kinds of things. So it's all explained in one place with very few clicks and you get the information that you need so that you don't get frustrated and just bail on the whole situation, which is what most voters do, right? So some of this technology has just made it. And I would say that people over 40 don't know about this to the degree that younger voters do increasingly. Because they've always done it a certain way. My daughter is just explain this to me recently. She's a psychology major and she was talking about a phenomenon of brain plasticity, where we older people, you and me, Rob, we rely almost exclusively on how we used to do things and how we operate in our daily lives. But under 40, you're constantly learning. You're still receptive to new ways of doing things, and you're okay with rewiring to do it in a different way. So it's interesting. The older that you get, the less likely that you are to seek new information and to behave in different patterns. That's not really, I think, shocking to anyone. But when it comes to trying to change a nation's behavior, that's a big deal because you're talking about, you know, all these different generations that you have to make it easy for them to do it. So voterizer.org. [00:26:11][146.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:26:12] Your new tricks, right? [00:26:13][1.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:26:13] It's so hard. It's so hard. But I have to say, this is so easy that anybody should be able to do it. If they'll just open their mind and have a little patience with themselves. So what drives voterizer.org Is an example of that. So when I think about internal communications and I think about how much organizations struggle to get things from their people, like surveys, to inform the leadership team about people's satisfaction with their jobs, about how the leadership team shares information and communication, how they feel in the job that they're doing, and the culture that's fostered this struggle so much to get that information. And I have recently seen more and more organizations and some that are little more innovative than others using. They have custom apps. They create them. Their employees have them on their phone. It's so easy for them to fill out surveys like this, and they're still anonymous and all of that. And that's, you know, the information is protected, but they're seeing these very big spikes in participation, particularly with employees who are younger and newer to the organization. So the adoption of a lot of these principles that are used to reach the masses quickly, effectively that we're seeing in political campaigns, hopefully we're going to see that move into more and more of the business realm, the organizational realm. Following this election, it's a pattern that we've definitely seen over the last two presidential cycles. Much of what they've done, whether it's external communications, social media or their constituent organizing tools that they've been using, you kind of see adaptations of them coming onto the scene in the business organizational context. So I'm excited to see what's going to come out of this election in that way over the make. And that's how you make it easy, frankly. [00:28:02][109.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:28:03] And I want to yeah, I also want to take what you said a little bit earlier, a step farther in terms of, you know, the fact that older people aren't so willing to do it new ways. They like to do it the old way. But I can tell you, being one of those quote unquote older people, that whenever I see something that is that easy, when I see something that is that efficient and easy and it makes sense, I'll jump on it right away. I'm not like, no, that's too new for me. It's too easy, it's too efficient. I don't like it. I mean, so the thing is, if you open your mind and you set it early, if you open your mind just a little bit to the fact that there might be something new and more efficient out there that will help you achieve the goals you might have, whether it's getting somebody elected or getting something on the ballot passed it. It has value. [00:28:47][44.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:28:47] Absolutely. That's my goal as I get old. I'm 53. I'm not that young either. So I totally understand you. You are, but not by much. And you certainly don't act it. [00:28:56][8.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:28:57] I know you don't. [00:28:57][0.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:28:58] Absolutely. So wrapping up the campaign's easy bit. I just want to do the three things that I think is good for people to remember. It's the simplifying the action. It's got to be clear. It's got to be, say, concise and ideally one step in terms of the process. Just make it super simple, create a sense of urgency, meaning this is only going on for a certain period of time, or you're only eligible to get the prize if you complete the survey or the merge. If you complete the survey by, you know, two weeks from now or whatever the case may be, just create some urgency to it so that people are more incentivized to do it and to do it quickly. Use that social proof bit, showcase how others are taking action to encourage that idea of even fellowship. Right? We're we're in this together so lean on that. It's super effective and then be really clear in your guidance. So always have your step by step instructions. And here's the important part. Oddly, customer support, which is a phrase that you hear in the political organizing realm very often. [00:29:57][59.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:29:57] You really don't, no. [00:29:57][0.4]
Eileen Rochford: [00:29:58] But even more so now the access to volunteer staff who can help in your example about older people maybe taking a little more time to understand how to use the technology, there are, in some cases, just throngs of young volunteers who are standing by saying, I can help you. Show exactly how to do it so that customer support aspects. Think about that too. You know, if you're going to do this in your own organization, how can you create the semblance of customer support? Okay. So finally, are we going to move on now? [00:30:28][29.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:30:28] Yes. [00:30:28][0.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:30:29] And do you you're ready? Okay. We're ready. We want to talk about the five strategies approach. So this method often used in political campaigns, it focuses on building deep human connections. Deep is the key word here. So this involves elements like empathetic listening, sharing of your personal stories. This is a common theme. We're hearing quite a bit today, reminding voters of the challenges that we have overcome or that we're in. [00:30:55][26.5]
Rob Johnson: [00:30:56] Common ground. Common ground. [00:30:56][0.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:30:57] Hopefully. So reason this is important is because by focusing on human connection and the shared values of common ground, as you put it, this approach has proven to be incredibly effective, particularly when it comes to building trust and inspiring action. And we know that people don't take action on your behalf unless they trust you and they believe you, right? [00:31:19][21.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:31:19] Sure. Sure. And it's and it's also you're also wrapping this whole thing up with the concepts we're always talking about a little bit earlier about persuasion. But but first and foremost, the listening. And I know when you go into an interpersonal interaction, much like I do, it's what's on your mind. What can I help you with? What are your pain points? Whatever the questions may be, it's asking the questions to get them to elicit answers and to be empathetic. To your point, which is I hear you. You have every right to feel that way, etc., then it's the sharing of the personal stories which we've gone over time and again during the podcast today because it's so effective. And then you said reminding voters of the challenges we've overcome. I'm like, that's finding common ground. That goes back to what I was talking about with persuasion. It's it's we all share this. It's something we all know, and it might even have an emotional component to. So if by a framing, the common ground may also include connecting emotionally because it may be something that you really have an emotional reaction to. And if you can get others to feel that way too, if you can share a story in that way, you're going to be really effective. [00:32:23][63.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:32:23] Absolutely. So well said. I was at an event last night. There's another piece here that I want to just highlight that was pretty cool. The whole finding of common ground and like establishment of rapport element of, you know, the deep listening, all those things that I just went through. There's a piece there that I'm starting to hear a lot in the messaging from candidates, and it's the crediting of voters for progress made. So it's almost like turning the whole situation away from a candidate to you've done that. You did that. Your work created this new situation that we're all enjoying, etc. That kind of language as an event last night where I listened to probably 7 or 8 very short remarks from different candidates or elected officials who also were not running this year, they're not up, but who just were sharing perspectives. And one had gone to the Democratic National Convention last week and she had been a candidate. And he talked at length about things that had happened there and the work that needed to be done. But then he related to the situation in in the state of they had they were successful in putting a constitutional state constitutional amendment on the ballot. And that's nothing short of a Herculean effort. But in his whole description, each step of the way, he kept saying, you did that to this room of 200 plus people. So it was pretty awesome because I've heard a lot of candidates using that approach. So it's that's the kind of thing that when I think about how this applies to businesses or any other type of organization leaders, not no longer, I should say, talking from the perspective of the team accomplish this, meaning the executive team, or we rolled this out or. [00:34:05][101.9]
Rob Johnson: [00:34:06] I did this. If you're a politician, I did this, my administration, blah, blah, blah. [00:34:09][3.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:34:10] It's not about you. It's about we as a movement. We in fellowship, we as a community accomplish this together because of, frankly, your commitment, not my commitment. That's what I think is the big difference. [00:34:23][12.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:34:23] But but, but that politicians also bringing you along, giving you credit, bringing you along, but also not saying, it had nothing to do with me but saying we couldn't have done it without you. And you know what else that is? As I go into the Wayback Machine, into our podcast, that's a we brand CEO versus a me brand CEO, me brand CEO, politician, whoever says I did this, my administration did that, That's why we're great. So we brand CEO says, I couldn't have done it without you. This is what we've accomplished. This is the road, the journey we're on. And so that's funny that these are all new concepts, but they are related to I'm especially happy when I hear them and I think, that's related to something we've already talked about on our podcast here. [00:35:04][41.4]
Eileen Rochford: [00:35:05] Yep, yep. And other familiar themes that we utilize as communicators and professional communicators every day and helping others absolutely be their best at communications hundred percent. So have we done a good enough job of illustrating how we can apply these different strategies, tactics, tools in the business and organizational realm, do you think? [00:35:25][20.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:35:27] Well, listen, if you're asking if I think we did a good job, I must say yes. But I suppose it's what the listeners think. Did we do a good job? Let us know. [00:35:36][8.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:35:36] I will just say always. [00:35:37][0.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:35:37] Ask about. [00:35:38][0.3]
Eileen Rochford: [00:35:38] The reason why we did. You and I were able to do such a good job. I guess on the show today is through the work of our incredible production assistant, Olivia Sowacke. [00:35:49][11.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:35:50] Are you kidding? Unbelievable. I mean, this is. This is Eileen being a we brand CEO, by the way, a politician. So here here we go. I just want to make sure we are following along. All kidding aside, though, Olivia has been amazing. Our small but mighty team that's behind the scenes does an amazing job. And Olivia had a huge part to play in this today. So you did. [00:36:12][21.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:36:13] 100%. [00:36:13][0.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:36:13] So we couldn't have done it without her. And that's. [00:36:15][1.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:36:15] That's right. That's right. Absolutely. I just gave her the breadcrumbs. And, you know, she she made the loaf. [00:36:21][5.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:36:21] So and it was it was a great way to do it is she's right. [00:36:24][3.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:36:25] This is complex stuff. But we pulled from quite a few different organizations that are out there that we felt were very shining examples of how to apply these different approaches. And all of them will be highlighted within our show notes so that you can dig deeper and find out quite a bit more if you're interested. So we'll be sure to provide all that for you, but that's going to do it for another edition of Can You Hear Me? I'm Eileen Rochford. If you would like to weigh in on our podcast and give us an idea even for a new topic for another show, please just shoot us a note and the Can You Hear Me podcast page on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you or to. [00:37:02][36.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:37:02] Let us know if we did a good job. Hey, we think we did a great job. Did we do a good job search? I'm Rob Johnson. If you liked the show, please consider giving us a review on any of the platforms where you can find. Can you hear me? That's Apple, Spotify and more. Your reviews help other potential listeners find our show. Thank you so much for listening. [00:37:02][0.0]
[2159.8]