Even though most of his rules seemed more like common sense than anything else, they really do make a lot of…well…sense. Rule one specifically seems important to me. I think all too often, even in every day life, people feel the need to use colorful words and twelve syllable adjectives to get theirs ideas across to an audience when all they end up doing is confusing people. Even in everyday life, when people want to impress someone with their speech, they pull out all kinds of words that are not even close to being in everyday casual dialect. It’s like the higher the level of difficulty in your vocabulary, the more credibility and respect you’ll get. Although, as Luntz points out, this doesn’t really hold true. When you use simple vocabulary, it’s easier to say exactly what you mean. Going along with this, when you use “hard” words, it’s almost like putting yourself above your target audience, and in doing that, they lose the ability to identify with you. And as we all know by now, the identity thing is a big deal.
I also liked his emphasis on the importance of visuals. What people see is so much more important than what they hear. I think most people are more likely to recall things they see rather than things they hear. Also, I liked his example of Lesley Stahl and her report on Reagan. It really emphasized the fact that as long as you have a great, resonating visual, you could be singing the alphabet and no one would really care. Well that’s a bit of a stretch, but you get my point.
His writing style was casual, easy to read, and I appreciated the fact that he genuinely tried to engage his audience. By using pop culture references and then fading in to political examples, Luntz really gave a thorough depiction of the rules; making sure that they were understood from every angle.
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