Here are some random notes from the book The Language of Trust by Michael Maslansky

• You can’t ignore attacks as you are presumed guilty under proven innocent. Silence is an admission of guilt and every minute you delay telling your own story makes it worse.

 

• In dealing with a skeptic there are four principles of credible communication: (1) Be personal (2) Be plainspoken (3) Be positive and (4) Be plausible. The most important step is engagement. If the skeptic isn’t willing to listen you can’t convince. This means you need to find a common ground of agreement. After engagement you can start the discussion.  You begin by acknowledging their concerns first and up front. After that you can make your point. However, your point should be point in context of the big picture situation.

 

• In  90% of the cases you need only three messages. The audience is more likely to listen to three arguments, features or messages then five or seven

 

• In a world where the public believes companies, politicians and salespersons are out to manipulate you with messages and languages, one of the most effective ways to build credibility is to tell the whole story, not just your side of the story leaving the choice up to the listener.

 

• “Confirmation bias” refers to the research  which shows that people seek out information that is consistent with the beliefs they already have and filter out the rest.
• People may want direction and guidance but the never want to be told what they have to do or should do. Companies press you to buy a product. Politicians hound you for a defined dollar contribution. We resent this  because rather then presenting reasons and leaving control with you, they went too far. They took control away and failed to convince