Speak and be Heard

It's funny how when you meet certain people who just open their mouths and not only do you listen but no matter what they say you like them- simply due to how they convey their message.

When listening to the radio last week our Prime Minister Gordon Campbell was on the Fox, firstly answering the questions of the on-air personalities, then he agreed to sit in on "Open Phones" and answer the questions of the listeners.

Now as I listen to the Fox on a daily basis the lead in to Campbell's appearance was consumed with everyone being all fired up craving not really his answers to questions regarding the Olympics, Americans being hired to do the construction that Canadian companies should be doing, the HST, utilization on Asian companies for Olympic apparel, the relocation of mentally ill/homeless people - by the time the day arrived for him to arrive I basically felt the same about the man that everyone else did - I wanted to see him suffer!

I couldn't imagine how he could possibly want to be in the hot seat and face this angry mob, not to mention how he sleeps at night or looks his grandchildren in the eye. But when the day came and I tuned in and began to listen to him answer questions and how he smoothly navigated is way slowly and concisely through the minefield he came across someone who was well "handled". He but a spin on every single point turning it all into the positive! No! As far as he was aware every amazingly successful construction job he was aware of did use Canadian companies and Canadian materials! In fact when it came to his attention that the Olympic apparel was to be given to a Chineses company to manufacture simply due to the fact that they had the lowest bid he didn't want to waste tax-payers hard earned dollars unnecessarily! And on and on... He was well-versed in statistics and reasons for the HST, he was listening to the council of some of British Columbia's brightest minds who agreed the HST is what BCer's need for a healthy future for our children. We should be thanking him. He was sincere and eloquent.

Now, amazingly it did not come across as sarcastic or condescending but humble and honest. By the end he signed off answering all that was put in front of him and winning over listeners. For the moments after the broadcast everyone involved wanted to see him succeed because that meant we would succeed. The gift of influence and the reason successful politicians, and speakers in general, are just that, successful.

My question to you is - how do you win over people and influence them?

- Angela Tames