Communication is a tricky skill. Humans begin to communicate even before they are born. A baby will communicate to the mother if she’s uncomfortable with a kick or punch. Once the child is born, they’ll communicate through sounds (mostly crying), and their actions (sleep).
As mother and child grow closer, their communication also becomes more effective. Crying becomes more nuanced. Crying grows from “what does this kid want?” to “She’s hungry” or “She’s sleepy”, etc. As we get older, we lose this effectiveness. This is partly because we stop emphasizing our point and getting people to empathize. The emphasis and empathy that has worked so well begins to be frowned upon. “You whine too much”, “you sound like a baby” is what we hear.
The truth is emphasis and empathy are at the core of effective communication and Trump knows how to use it the best.
In social media we often get those puzzles where you need to figure out how many shapes (triangles, squares, circles) you see. The shapes are intertwined with each other and the puzzle is in separating and combining them to get the correct number. That’s what this statement reminds of:
I decided not to do the project…, I decided ultimately not to do it. There would have been nothing wrong if I did do it. If I did do it, there would have been nothing wrong. That was my business… It was an option I decided not to do… I decided not to do it. The primary reason… I was focused on running for President… I was running my business while campaigning. There was a good chance I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would’ve gone back into the business. And why should I lose lots of opportunities.
Mueller Report Volume 2, Page 150
Just look at how effectively he communicates he was in full control, there is nothing to see here and he has a business to run:
- 4x – He decided to…
- 2x – Nothing wrong…
- 2x – My business…
The real efficacy of this statement is not only in his emphasis. It is also in how he uses empathy to make you see the world his way. What good-American would be against another American making a buck? He was just looking after his family, his business. You would do that same, wouldn’t you? The importance of empathy is that it allows the other person to draw from their own experiences. He never said family, yet I thought of family when I read it because I do not run a business.
Even in his written statements to the Mueller Investigation:
I had few discussions with Mr. Cohen on this subject. As I recall, they were brief, and were not memorable. I was not enthused about the proposal, and I do not recall any discussion of travel to Russia in connection with it. I do not remember discussing it with anyone else at the Trump Organization, although it is possible. I do not recall being aware at the time of any communication between Mr. Cohen and Felix Sater and any Russian government official regarding the Letter of Intent.
Mueller Report Volume 2, Page 149 -150
What jumps at you in that statement? If you said “lack of memory” you are right. Either he didn’t recall, remember or found it “not memorable” 4x.
Of course we know that someone wrote that last statement for Trump, but we also know that he had a hand in making sure his main point was communicated effectively.
