To get all the latest news from Waliq Factory, make sure you subscribe to our free RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I watched an interesting and provocative documentary last week: South of the Border, by Oliver Stone. The film shows Stone travelling through Latin America to interview seven of its presidents: Venuzuela’s Chávez, Bolivia’s Morales, Brazil’s da Silva, Argentina’s Kirchner, Paraguay’s Lugo, Ecuador’s Correa, and Cuba’s Raúl Castro.
The documentary created some waves in the U.S. mainly because Stone presents Chávez under a very different light than what we are used to see in Western media. He doesn’t look like a dictator. In fact, he appears rather personable and even funny.
But what really caught my attention was how these seven presidents spoke their minds so candidly during the interviews. And most of them sounded sincere. They expressed their opinions without the restraint to which we’re used to with North American and European politicians. Regardless of the message they had to share, I found that candidness quite refreshing.
Obviously, being open has its dangers. There’s a reason why Chávez is perceived by many as a dictator. He says everything he has on his mind. Any wise married man knows that it’s a recipe for disaster. And this applies equally to politics. Still, there’s a big difference between being incendiary and being open. The communication world needs more of the latter.
The Cost that Comes with the Art of Saying Nothing
With the rise of non-stop news, politicians and business leaders have developed, as a defense mechanism, the art of saying nothing. Nobody can criticize you for something you have said, if you always manage to say nothing, right?
It may be clever in the short term. But in the longer term, it will probably feel more like a Pyrrhic victory. Decades of over-protected communications have led to diluted messages, vague declarations, and empty and meaningless words.
The worst consequence of this trend is the growing public cynicism. And this is far more dangerous than criticism for you not only lose your credibility among your detractors, you also stand the risk of losing it among your own supporters.
There’s a need to be open. Say something meaningful. Walk the talk. Align words with deeds. Take some risks. Something that neither North American or Latin American politicians have been particularly good at in the past.
What’s Your Take?
How’s your communication strategy? Have you noticed any empty words? Do you think that we can realistically expect leaders to speak more openly with the media that we have today?
If you enjoyed this post, please share it via the retweet button below. Thanks!
Other Posts You Will Enjoy
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
“Any wise married man knows that it’s a recipe for disaster”
lol. It must be hard for politicians to speak their mind and get elected, especially in the sound bites media world. But I hate listening to politicians that speak for 10 minutes to say absolutely nothing. In Quebec, it’s horrible.At least there are a few exceptions like Regis Labeaume and Denis Coderre. I don’t always agree with them, but they are rarely boring.
Buy the way, at the end of your article you talk about empty words. This is a great article about empty business writing vs very good one. I like the examples.
Why is Business Writing So Awful? http://bit.ly/dxnz6G / via @Incmagazine
So funny. I really like the examples about Woot’s customer service and Saddleback Leather’s 100-year warranty. I agree that corporations are also great at publishing empty words. The thing is, corporations are not really good at acknowledging their mistakes. So they try to avoid saying anything that would sound like one. Thanks for sharing that article. I’m still laughing
Regarding your comment on politicians speaking their mind and getting elected, I must say that many did well (well in the sense that they spoke their mind and got elected, not in the sense that their mind was well). Bush got elected, Sarkozy got elected.
Many politicians feel that they have to please everyone, but they tend to forget that voters like leaders who speak their mind and stick to what they say. That’s called leadership. That’s called having principles and living by them.