4 Tips to Cure Tone Deafness

“Tone Deaf”: Another new post-recession word invention that means “out of touch with the public environment in which one operates.”

The latest example of “tone deaf” materialized last week when key business leaders tried to engineer a public “bailout” (another post-recession word) for our financially ailing hockey team.

As a result, it appears to me that corporate, civic, and political leaders need a little basic PR counsel on how to shake “tone deafness”. I hope a few of these suggestions help:

1) Remove the words “shareholder value” from your public lexicon.

I, of course, realize that a company’s growth is dependent on a positive shareholder attitude. I also realize that many every day citizens are, in fact, shareholders – although they are totally oblivious to that. When the public hears the words “shareholder value”, to them it means the CEO and the CEO’s buddies on the board. So simply put, stop shoving “shareholder value” in the face of the customer, taxpayer, and public; and, start realizing for the foreseeable future that the taxpayers and the public (one in the same) are going to be your primary tone setters.

2) Show sincerity in your public statements.

The age of “spin” is certainly on the rocks. The public sees demagoguery for what it is – your prepackaged bullshit. Let me give you an example: People can disagree with Ted Strickland on a wide variety of issues, but I guarantee you he will still get more than his fair share of affection and votes. Why? Because he is sincere in his comments and the bulk of every day people truly believe that he cares about them and their families. So why can’t you cast off your way too overly prepackaged statements and just talk to people straight, even if it’s bad news? People will love you for it.

3) Put yourself in the customer’s (public’s/taxpayer’s) shoes.

It’s bad enough that the income gap between upper management and every day working families is “tone deaf”, but is the CEO world so ‘tone deaf’ that you can’t at least take a brief moment each time that you make a decision to think about, act upon, and speak with some sincere empathy on how it’s going to affect the bulk of your public environment?

4) Stop allowing lawyers to control your communication strategy.

I’m not oblivious to important legal input, but when my clients and contemporaries allow lawyers to package how to talk about things, I fearfully think about the movie Transformers where, in this case, perfectly capable, bright, feeling human beings are convinced to speak as if they on a planet all their own. And that’s the way the public sees them.

You might note that none of these “tone aware” suggestions will cost you a dime. What makes them even more doable is that they are just common sense.

Be sincere, honest, and truly empathetic when dealing with every day people, and you’ll be surprised how well people accept your point of view.

David Milenthal is CEO and founder of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.