As we know, good communication not only depends on what we say, but also on how we say it and how we look when we say it. You’re more likely to persuade an audience when you appear credible and believable, but also likable.

Dress the part
People begin to judge your credibility before you even open your mouth. If you look sloppy, they assume that your thinking and your work are also sloppy. You should dress at least a half step above your audience to maintain credibility, and check your grooming (hair, make-up, five o’clock shadow, spinach on your teeth, etc.) in front of the mirror before you speak.

Don’t read, talk
Most people struggle when trying to read a speech. They aren’t natural or conversational. They lose eye contact with the audience, speak in a monotone, and talk too fast without pausing. Unless you spend a lot of time learning how to read a speech effectively, you’re much more successful when you use bullet points and talk naturally.

Use the microphone correctly
If possible, use a lavaliere microphone that clips to your clothing. You’ll have more freedom to move your head and come out from behind the lectern. If you’re stuck with a stick mike attached to the lectern, adjust it for your height so you don’t have to lean down to talk into it.

Use good eye contact
Make regular eye contact with each audience member. Don’t dart from person to person, but spend three to five seconds with each one. Try to avoid speaking when you’re looking down at your notes.

Relax and stand tall
Plant both feet comfortably and evenly on the floor. Avoid swaying or leaning from side to side. Don’t clutch the lectern, but instead use your gestures naturally. That will make you feel more relaxed and look more relaxed. We aren’t as likely to trust people who are stiff and uncomfortable.

Have an open face
If it’s appropriate to smile when talking, do so. However, much of the time you’ll be delivering more serious information. Even so, avoid frowning, which comes across as mean, unfriendly and closed. You can still be serious with an open face, meaning your eyebrows are up instead of closed and knitted.

Pause
The pause is one of the most effective tools we have as speakers, and one of the most ignored. Stopping in between thoughts or sentences helps the information sink in, and lets the audience catch up with you.

Let your energy and passion come through
I once got a greeting card that said “We all become poets when we speak from the heart.” Show in your delivery that you really care about and believe in what your saying. Your attitude may be contagious.

Television producers and reporters know that the best way to make news “real” to their viewers is to personalize it, to add emotion. Abstractions alone bore audiences, while specifics and examples draw them in.

For example, to report on the devastating hurricane in New Orleans they did more than just explain how many died, how many were homeless, and the dollar amount of the damages. They made the horror hit home by telling stories of real people struggling to survive.

How are you personalizing your speeches and interviews? A story, anecdote or example doesn’t need to be long and complicated to be effective. Let’s say you want to tell a potential customer how much better you are than the competition. You say, “We have the best customer service in the business.” But anybody can say that. What’s your proof? What’s your example?

“We had a customer who called us on Christmas Day with a problem with his _______. We had a crew out there in an hour to take care of it and he was able to get back to turkey dinner with his family.” Now you have engaged the listeners’ hearts as well as their minds.

Do you remember show and tell when you were in grade school? As kids, we realized both parts were important: show and tell. You could brag to your classmates about your new ant farm, but it was a lot more interesting if you brought it in for everyone to see. You also wanted to tell the class what you fed the ants and how you watched them burrow in the dirt.

Then we grow up and we forget about the showing part. We become speakers who just tell, tell, tell and tell some more. We give our audiences information overload. No wonder they lose interest and forget half of what we said!

Metaphors are similar to stories in that they help your listeners visualize what you are talking about. Their colorful, interesting language keeps people’s attention and helps them understand your concepts.
A great example of a metaphor that hit home appeared in a story about Medicaid. Early in the article, Virginia Governor Mark Warner was quoted as saying, “The Medicaid program is not sustainable in the long haul.”

Later in the article, Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said the same thing in a way that was much more interesting and memorable: “Medicaid is a 45 rpm program in an MP3 world. It’s time to take a fresh look — not so we can undo it, but so we can better do it.”

“Showing” what you mean is more challenging than just “telling” it. But in the long run, the extra work pays off. Your messages become more compelling. People understand them. Most importantly, they care about them.

John McCain’s very first campaign for office was a contentious one. I know. I was there. As a reporter for the Phoenix NBC affiliate, I was assigned to cover the 1982 race for Congress in Arizona’s 1st District, covering the eastern part of the metro area.

In past years, this had been no race at all. Congressman John Rhodes, a legendary figure in Arizona politics, had been entrenched for 30 years in the solidly Republican district. But now, after Rhodes decided to retire, it became a wide open race, with four candidates vying for their party’s nomination.

Two of them were long-time politicians and veteran state lawmakers, Sen. Jim Mack representing Tempe and Rep. Donna Carlson-West from Mesa. Ray Russell was a former veterinarian, active in Mesa civic affairs and the Mormon Church. The fourth candidate was not known locally, but as a war hero and a Washington insider, he was someone to take seriously.

John McCain also had money. His wife, Cindy, was the daughter of Jim Hensley, who had gotten wealthy from his Phoenix Anheuser-Busch distributorship. Some of that money went into McCain’s congressional campaign.

From the beginning, McCain was painted as a carpetbagger by his opposition. He had just married Cindy and moved to Arizona so he could run for office, some people alleged. Others claimed he had no political experience or ties to the state, as opposed to the other three candidates who had strong roots in Arizona.

But even then I knew enough about politics to see that McCain had the superior campaign organization. He had a consultant from Washington on his team, and support from some key Republicans. While the other three candidates focused on Tempe and Mesa, he focused on Scottsdale and won a key endorsement from that city’s well-known and popular mayor, Herb Drinkwater. And McCain’s team knew how to use TV advertising effectively.

Most importantly, McCain was charming and full of energy. The media liked him (including me). He went for votes the old fashioned way, by walking neighborhoods and knocking on doors. As the story goes, he wore out three pairs of shoes during that campaign.

During 15 years as a TV reporter, I covered many campaigns, but this was one of the most interesting. There were lots of fireworks, which made for great stories. The race was hard-fought and extremely close. There was bitterness and name calling. One candidate even tried to dig up dirt on McCain by contacting his ex-wife. And the carpetbagger issue kept coming up — until McCain put it to rest for good.

At a candidates forum, someone asked him again about his residency. According to McCain, he “snapped” after hearing the accusation “for the thousandth time.”

“Listen, pal,” he started. “I spent 22 years in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the first district of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fac, when I think about it now, the place I lived the longest in my life was Hanoi.”

That now much talked about McCain temper may have won him his first election. Many people, including McCain, believe that was the turning point of the race, though he didn’t realize it at the time.

On election night, McCain got 15, 363 votes. Russell was second with 12,500, Mack third (10,675 votes), and Carlson-West fourth (9,736). Because the district was so heavily Republican, he had the seat locked up after the primary. In the general election he trounced his Democratic rival by more than a 2 to 1 margin and headed to Washington.

Now 26 years later, McCain tries to be President of the United States, a fight harder than he could ever have imagined on that magical night in 1982. Will that legendary temper hurt him or help him in 2008?

In what century is Target living? I thought these people were hip, savvy marketers. Unfortunately, they apparently don’t have a clue about public relations.

The founder of ShapingYouth.org, a blog about the impact of marketing on children, called Target, complaining about a commercial that shows a woman spread across a giant target with her crotch at the bull’s eye. The PR department responded with this email:

“Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets. The practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest (their shoppers).”

Frankly, I don’t find anything offensive about the ad. But that’s beside the point. You would think any smart PR person would realize that these so-called “nontraditional media outlets” are becoming more and more traditional. And that Target’s “guests” write and read blogs. And that such an ignorant policy would eventually get publicized — in the very traditional New York Times — and spread across the blogosphere faster than any ad campaign.

That publicity woke up the PR department, which said it is now reconsidering the policy.

How many times can Mattel get caught selling toxic toys before its reputation is ruined beyond repair?

This time, 50 members of Congress have sent a letter criticizing the company for not recalling a blood-pressure cuff in a toy medical kit. In November, Consumer Reports discovered high levels of lead in a plastic part on the toy, but because Federal law only bans lead in paint on toys, Mattel doesn’t have to issue a recall. The Congress members think the company should do it voluntarily.

Mattel might have ignored the problem completely, except that in Illinois the toy is illegal. Their standards for lead are more rigorous that Federal regulations. So Mattel took the toys off the shelves there, but nowhere else. As the letter from Congress said, “If this product is too dangerous for the children of Illinois, it is too dangerous for children in the rest of this country.”

Mattel’s action is especially heinous because of the promises president and CEO David Eckert made after the problems it had with Chinese toys this past summer.

“It is my sincere pledge that we will face this challenge with integrity and reaffirm that we will do the right thing. We will embrace this test of our company and the opportunity to become better.[M]y father encouraged me to earn his trust through my actions rather than just talk about what I was going to do. And it is on this principle that Mattel will move forward. We will earn back your trust with our deeds, not just with our words.”

I guess Eckert’s promises are as empty as the company’s bank of trust.