Today’s tidbit of Marketing Wisdom focuses on the two things that one must do before tackling such a challenging task as to tell another person something that you think is important in the hope that you can persuade them to agree with you.

Please understand that I’m not talking about simple statements about which there is little controversy such as, “Its 3PM,” “Politicians make me sick,” or, “Madonna is an outstanding example of the principle that a monomaniac can be successful absent any real talent.”

The type of “telling” that I’m talking about has to do with statements of belief that one hopes will persuade another to take a certain specific action. Examples might be: “Go there. Buy this. Don’t do that.” And, one statement that’s popular lately, “Vote for me.”

The MEDIA – the omnipresent, self-anointed political king-maker, arbiter of taste and oracle of ALL THINGS TRUE – under the guise of an impartial interview loves to blind-side anyone who they’re not predisposed to faun over with questions designed to make that person seem ill-informed, unprepared and outfight foolish.

So should one decide to undertake this quest – whether you’re talking to an individual, an auditorium full of people or a camera lens with a red light above it – the two things you must do avoid being made to look, or sound, a fool are homework and legwork.

Homework – Simply put, this means study up on the point you wish to make. And not just on your side of the argument. Any experienced debater, or general for that matter, knows that one had better know how his or her opponent will respond before engaging with them. A corollary to this is to know one’s limits. In other words, know what you’re talking about and don’t talk about what you don’t know. It’s quite tempting for some, when a microphone is thrust in their face, to want to seem omniscient. An unfriendly interviewer, when they sense this tendency in a victim…subject…will then assist Mr. or Mrs. Know-It-All to hang themselves with their own tongue.

Legwork is just another word for personal research. Formal research, by which I mean received data that has been processed by someone other than you, is almost always a trap. Unless you have been trained in how to read a research report – not just the “Executive Summary,” a.k.a., the Fool’s Cheat Sheet – don’t rely on it. Why? Doesn’t impartial data trump opinion or hearsay? Not any more it doesn’t, and that’s because every group with an agenda commissions research to prove their foregone conclusion.

Statistical “Truth” – whatever it is – will not, in and of itself, give you the means to successfully communicate your point. On the other hand, doing your own inquiry will give you a faith in your point of view that is more powerful than anything you’ll get from received wisdom. Nothing beats saying, “I was there. I saw this. I smelled the smell and heard the sounds.”

As our quadrennial, national puppet show grinds to a conclusion, I personally am sick of watching and listening to people tell me or my neighbor what they’ve been told I want he hear. I’m fed up with phony empathy and self-righteous anger. Listening to people whose position in life insulates them from the consequences of the actions they enthusiastically that I take makes me sad in my bones. I hunger for men and women who will tell me what they think and feel based on their personal experiences.

At this stage in the election, or in my life, I don’t care if I agree with them. I just want to hear someone tell me something what they are personally committed to. If they’ve done the homework and leg work I will give them my ear and my respect, whether or not I agree with them. And, who knows, an authentic honest argument might even cause me to change my mind.