Frank Luntz
Some people call it global warming; some people call it climate change. What is the difference?Collection: Change
Republicans use think tanks to come up with a lot of their messages. The think tanks are the single worst, most undisciplined example of communication I've ever seen.Collection: Communication
There are people still in the Republican Party that I believe practice the communication of anger, of disappointment, of regret, of pain, of sorrow, of suffering. That's not what the American people want to hear.Collection: Communication
I don't understand why people whose entire lives or their corporate success depends on communication, and yet they are led on occasion by CEOs who cannot talk their way out of a paper bag and don't care to.Collection: Communication
Ideology and communication more often than not run into each other rather than complement each other. Principle and communication work together. Ideology and communication often work apart.Collection: Communication
There's a problem with political polling in that you have so much pressure to do what your client wants you to do and say what your client wants you to say. I've never felt that pressure. I am independent of the political parties.Collection: Politics
The way you communicate an idea is different than the way you communicate a product.Collection: Communication
It's not what you say, it's what people hear.Collection: People
A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be more emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth.Collection: Stories
Winners know what makes people tick by effectively tapping into our fears and aspirations. By listening very carefully and then repeating almost word-for-word exactly what they've heard, winners know how to articulate compelling needs—and products to satisfy those needs—that people didn't even know they wanted.Collection: People
Writing a book is the most difficult, anxiety-prone aspect of my life because the words that I put on paper are very serious to me.Collection: Book
Eighty percent of our life is emotion, and only 20 percent is intellect. I am much more interested in how you feel than how you think. I can change how you think, but how you feel is something deeper and stronger, and it's something that's inside you.Collection: Thinking
We are so divided, and we recognize that we're divided, that we're looking for ways to come together.Collection: Together
The Tucson speech [of Barack Obama] was brilliant, and I'm so angry at Republicans for jumping on him because you have to give credit. Part of being successful is to give credit to people who you may not disagree with when they do well.Collection: Successful
The problem is people become so angry. And they become so vicious.Collection: People
You cannot lie ever, because a lie destroys the credibility of the product, and credibility is more important than anything. Credibility's even more important than clarity.Collection: Lying
People want to be inspired. They want to aspire to something. ... You can have the best product, the best service, the best argument in a debate. But without the effective words you still lose. In the end you need good principles and good language if you are to succeed.Collection: People
I tell this joke about Barack Obama is the best communicator of our generation: The guy reads a teleprompter better than any Hollywood actor. John McCain, his opponent - Stevie Wonder reads a teleprompter better than John McCain.Collection: Our Generation
Anything that causes you to doubt, to raise either objections or just concerns about it - and they always put the information right at the bottom of the screen so you can't really read it - every time you see a company do that, the ad becomes less effective. The communication becomes less effective.Collection: Communication
I do a lot of work in travel and tourism, and I think this story is in the book. This woman is in a hammock, and she's got the beach below her and the sky above her, and the ocean beyond her. She's relaxing. She's got a drink in her hand and a book. Every woman sees this picture and says, I want to be in that hammock. Every guy sees the picture and says, I want to be in that hammock with that woman. It works for everybody.Collection: Beach
To Americans, Washington is a giant cesspool. It's no wonder almost half of Americans (47%) now agree with the statement 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.' It's us (the people) versus them (the politicians), and it doesn't matter what primary color you wear [...] I was involved in the 1994 elections, and I will never forget the arrogance of the Democrats back then, and how they refused to accept the electoral reality facing them. It is no different today.Collection: Reality
Whether or not you liked George W. Bush, there was no doubt about what position he was going to take, and that's what endeared him to a significant segment of American society.Collection: Doubt
It's all emotion. But there's nothing wrong with emotion. When we are in love, we are not rational; we are emotional. When we are on vacation, we are not rational; we are emotional. When we are happy, we are not [rational]. In fact, in more cases than not, when we are rational, we're actually unhappy. Emotion is good; passion is good. Being into what we're into, provided that it's a healthy pursuit, it's a good thing.Collection: Passion
It's all emotion. But there's nothing wrong with emotion. When we are in love, we are not rational; we are emotional. When we are on vacation, we are not rational; we are emotional.Collection: Emotional
What matters most in politics is personality. It's not issues; it's not image. It's who you are and what you represent.Collection: What Matters
Bill Clinton was effective because he had that personal relationship, that this was a guy who had tremendous curiosity, which is another one of the key attributes. And he had the ability - his mind was - his mind and his heart were very well-connected. And so he genuinely empathized.Collection: Heart
We will be far more effective as communicators when we acknowledge our mistakes, and then we try to make them up.Collection: Mistake
It's something that people who read my materials have asked me in the past. If you don't have principles - the last chapter of the book ["Win"] is all about winning with principles. It's all about applying words to good things, good people, good efforts. Without that inherent accuracy, then even the best words will still fail.Collection: Book
The adjectives that are in the book ["Win"] - passion, persuasion, persistence, perfection, prioritization, being people-centered - none of them are as important as principles. Without principles, the language will fail.Collection: Book
"Which side are you on" asks a question. That's one of the most powerful, persuasive ways to make a case, to say something, to advertise something or to communicate it. Don't make a statement. Ask a question.Collection: Powerful
Nobody wants to hear about process. They want to hear about results. They want to be inspired. They want to aspire to something. And so often in our communication, we will explain why - sorry, we will explain how but not why.Collection: Sorry
My father was a dentist, and I always thought that he was one of the 10. It's an interesting way to personalize and humanize, which is one of the most important aspects of communication.Collection: Father
The most powerful visual in America today is actually the Statue of Liberty.Collection: Powerful
Rick Scott used let's get to work to say: All these politicians talk; it's time to do. Everybody else talks about the problem; it's time to find the solution.Collection: Problem
The visual is important. "Let's get to work" says let's get it done, and that's what they want.Collection: Important
The perfect opening is the word imagine, because imagine allows you to communicate in the eyes and the vision of the listener rather than yours. And the best illustration of that is "1984." Room 101 in "1984" - everyone's read it, and we all have our own imagination of what that looks like.Collection: Eye
By the way, for those who are listening, I absolutely define - I have a face for radio. Unfortunately, I've got a voice for print. So I apologize for the sandpaper you're listening to.Collection: Voice
The second most important attribute of winners, after understanding the human dimension, is knowing what questions to ask, the rhetorical nature.Collection: Knowing
If you just heard 90 percent of dentists recommend something, it's too statistical. Nine out of 10 says: Well, it's just virtually everyone. It leads you to think of that joke about the one dentist. But so much of communication.Collection: Communication
There are certain aspects, and there are - there are 15 attributes of winners and winning slogans. "Which side are you on" sounds divisive, that you're on one side or the other, at a time when we actually want universality. We want unanimity.Collection: Winning
Richard Nixon will always go down as a failure because of one stupid, moral - and that goes back to that last chapter, on principles.Collection: Stupid
Richard Nixon's career certainly ended in failure but someone who won an election with 60 percent of the vote, won 49 out of 50 states, that makes his -up to that point - incredibly successful. The idea of winning 49 states, incredible.Collection: Successful
George W. Bush - who I'm sure that a lot of people, when I say this, will not be happy about it - but Bush had a determination, and had a very clearly defined set of principles. You knew exactly where he stood.Collection: Determination
FedEx is another company that's passionate. When it absolutely, positively has to get there is such a great, aspirational phrase. And FedEx used it for almost a decade to communicate the passion of delivering a package. The more passionate you are, the more successful you are.Collection: Passion
The most successful people in American life are those that have had horrific failures and have come back, done it again and again until they got it right, whether it's Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.Collection: Jobs
The eureka moment is two reasons why the output-based standard should be adopted: common sense and accountability. Input-based standards don't encourage energy diversity; they don't create any incentives; they don't produce solar, hydro, nuclear.Collection: Two
It is acceptable to bring someone to tears if it explains to them in an emotional way why a product, a service, or a candidate is the right person, is the right thing to do.Collection: Emotional
While it is important to trash the governor, it should be done in the context of regret, sadness and balance.Collection: Regret
The ability to connect and communicate is one of the most powerful, and you cannot find anyone who has been truly successful in life that doesn't have that ability because you've got to motivate, and you've got to -frankly, you have to influence.Collection: Powerful
Nothing guarantees more applause and more support than the call to abolish the IRS.Collection: Support