Written by Karen D. Swim
Last night I watched the President of the United States deliver his first address to the joint session of Congress. This President was applauded for his brilliant marketing tactics during the election so I am always eager to listen and pick up lessons that will help me engage my customers.
This post, however is not about politics, but rather the train of thought inspired by the words. Let me repeat this is not a political post.
I enjoy the artistry of speeches. It is a joy to listen to the structure and rhythm of the words and how they move the crowd. Like all speeches, last night a few of the passages really struck me. I read the words again as I considered their application to day to day business life and my own interactions with clients. Below I’ve listed a few that caught my attention along with my thoughts/questions for reflection.
“The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation.”
What a great line! Many marketers have spun messages around the recession but lines like this inspire us to nod to reality but not allow it to define us for the future.
“The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.”
As entrepreneurs and marketers are we inclusive? Do we inspire everyone at our client and prospect companies that they are meaningful to the process? In our places of employment, does everyone feel connected to the vision and value of the company?
“In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. “
When presenting solutions to clients are we simply satisfying short term goals or are we aligning with long term positioning? Asking the tough questions in these economic times, will certainly stand out to clients who need more than a message of hope for today but a plan of action that will stabilize their future.
“And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.
Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.”
Okay, so we’ve made mistakes. There were things we should have done but it’s time to move past them and take charge of the future. How can we deliver that message to our clients and colleagues? What can we do to take charge now that the future is here?
Do you like speeches as much as I do? Are there any that are memorable for you?