Michael Maslansky - The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

PART ONE - THE NEW LANGUAGE OF TRUST

Chapter 1 - Americas Post-Trust Era

Chapter 2 - It Al Starts with Words

PART TWO - THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OF CREDIBLE COMMUNICATION

Chapter 3 - Be Personal

Chapter 4 - Be Plainspoken

Chapter 5 - Be Positive

PART THREE - THE NEW WORD ORDER

Chapter 7 - Getting to Listen: Engagement Before Discussion

Chapter 8 - Its Not About You: Putting Their Interests Before Yours

Chapter 9 - Thats Not What I Meant: Context Before Specifics

PART FOUR - THE MEDIUM AND THE MESSAGE

Chapter 10 - The Language of Trust in a Digital World

Chapter 11 - The Anti-Trust Laws: Twenty Banned Phrases

Epilogue: Building a New Age of Trust

Endnotes

Index

About the Authors

Trust has never been more important in the corporate worldbecause theres so little of it. For years, people have tried to figure out how to communicate trust. Now, finally, Michael Maslansky has unlocked the DNA of trust. Anyone who cares about their employees, their customers, or their reputation has to read this book.

Dr. Frank Luntz, author ofWords That WorkandWhat

Americans Really Want... Really

To successfully earn trust in face-to-face or Facebook communication, embrace the proven concepts in The Language of Trusttheyre as important to your life as involuntary breathing. Its just common sense.

Thomas L. Harrison, LHD, chairman and CEO of

Diversified Agency Services division of Omnicom Group Inc.

Michael Maslansky has written the ultimate guide to winning trust in a world that has lost it. He writes with wit, wisdom, and a commendable absence of jargon. If you are concerned about trust, and all of us should be, then this book is an indispensable starting point.

Lord Gould, former polling and strategy advisor to Prime Minister

Tony Blair, and Deputy Chairman of Freud Communication

Marketers, financial advisors, and communicators of all types should take note of the lessons in this book. The financial crisis has raised the bar for our industry. Now more than ever, the burden is on us to better understand our audience, and to use the right language and approaches if we are to even have a chance of connecting with them. The Languageof Trust provides insightful and practical guidance that our industry would do well to follow. More than most, Michael understands the enormous challenges we face, and this book provides an essential set of tools and practical approaches for reconnecting with customers who may have lost faith in what we offer. It isnt enough for us to have a good story to tell; we must also be able to tell a goodand crediblestory. The Language of Trust will help any communicator who must win over a skeptical audience.

Cathy Weatherford, CEO of Insured Retirement Institute

Todays polarized discourse makes it hard to understand problems, much less fi x them. The Language of Trust provides the core principles needed for moving forward.

Philip K. Howard, founder of Common Good and author of

The Death of Common SenseandLife Without Lawyers

There are many books on effective communication, but this book is unique in the way it recognizes the importance of language and messaging as ways to build trust when talking to customers, partners, or employees. The Language of Trust will help any executive who must communicate with strength and credibility.

Suzanne Coulter, president of Polo Retail Corporation

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-1-101-40455-3

1. Business communication. 2. Trust. 3. Interpersonal communication. 4. Customer relations. I. Maslansky, Michael.

HF5718.L369 2010

658.45dc22 2009053933

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Acknowledgments

For ideation and creation, thanks to Gary, Scott, and Dave, and my col eague Lee Carter, for starting us down the New Word Order path that led to this book.

For narration, elucidation, and a fair bit of perspiration, thanks to Mike Phifer and Jennifer Gilbert, who were irreplaceable in creating a work of which we can be proud.

For dedication and consultation, thanks to my whole team at Maslansky, Luntz & Partners for doing the work that underpins this book and for keeping us going in good times and, wel , less good times.

For chal enging situations, high expectations, and sustaining my vocation, thanks to my great clients (and even my not so great ones), who have provided an incredible diversity of issues, brands, and products that make my job interesting every day.

For education and exhortation, thanks to Frank Luntz for introducing me to the world of language and showing how powerful it can be.

For publication and public relations, thanks to our editors John Duff and Maria Gagliano, literary agent Diana Finch, and the team at Prentice Hal Press and Penguin.