Getting Through With Messaging
What to say, when, how, and to whom
A rather amazing thing happened last week. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) gave a marathon speech for the books. He spoke for over 24 hours – breaking Strom Thurmond’s record for speaking.1
He had help from fellow Senators who gave him a break from time to time. But every question from them was an opportunity to support Booker on what he came to do, from the highest profile stage available to him – hold Trump accountable, speak out against his administration’s incompetence, lack of judgement, and terrible policies.
At no point did Booker’s speech wander into shenanigans, and there was no reading out loud from Green Eggs & Ham. Because the Senator came prepped. Apart from physically preparing for the endeavor – something the former athlete knew how to do – Booker’s staff prepped him with talking points, messaging, and a core throughline so he had enough material to go on for a good long time.
Full marks and no notes from NDTC on that front! If you’re running for office no one expects you to talk for that long. But there’s a lot to learn from Booker, or for that matter many successfully elected politicians across the board.
Know Your Why
No matter what office you are running for or what race you’re working on, know your “why.” Why are you running? Why are you working late nights on a campaign? Who or what is inspiring you in the political or leadership space?
There’s a reason why this query is one of the first prompts in our 30-Day Challenge.
If you’re not clear about this with yourself, the public will sense it. Voters know when they’re being lied to. Also, it’s really good to be clear about what’s motivating you, what gets you up in the morning on a rough day – whether you’re running for office or working on a campaign.
One more thing: If you decide to run, who and what are you running FOR? You may be furious and charged up at the state of things. But you can’t just run against the status quo. You have to give the voters something to vote for. Be clear about what you offer that the other campaign and candidate don’t.
Clear Talking Points
A clear, consistent message isn’t just integral to the success of your political campaign. It builds a candidate’s reputation and reinforces the campaign brand.
There’s no better example than Trump. His rallies were full of wandering stories, the “weave” as some commentators called it. But there was a throughline that resonated with his voters. Contrast that with the sheer confusion that’s surrounded the tariffs. The timing was firm (until it wasn’t, sometimes in the same day!), it’s punishing others (into a trade war), it’s not a tax on consumers (except prices will definitely go up and there will be “some short term pain”), and on and on.
Your talking points are your brand – they’re what you return to time and time again. So they’re what people are going to think of you as a candidate, they’re the positions you take and the policies voters will expect from you.
Ideally, they are clear short phrases that outline the candidate’s policies and ideas – three to four concise sentences at most. Think about it, if you’re a voter at the end of your day, or about to start your commute, how much time are you going to have for a highly nuanced conversation on a weedy topic? You probably want to get to the point, and know what the candidate hoping to get your vote is about.
Last week Booker may have had all night at his disposal. But he drove home some talking points – 71 days, accountability, crisis, unconstitutional, due process, when is it enough, the power of the people, and finally, good trouble. All of which underlined what he’s about, what Trump is not about, and a clear choice for voters.
Know Your Audience
We live in an ever noisier communications and marketing environment. In fact, the 2024 election was called the “shards of glass” election because there are now over a dozen distinct, not always overlapping media bubbles. This is reflective of where we are as a country.
Booker knew his audience – it’s not the public, yet. But it was a stroke of genius to speak for a long time in a place where no one can kick you out or shut you down if you know the rules, to one particular camera that never stops, and that is tracked by reporters who are read by the power brokers who do matter as the public decides how it wants to make different choices about them in the next few months. He picked a small, but selective audience that mattered in the moment. The fact that the public picked up on it was a bonus.
So how do you decide what to say to who, how, and when? How do you make sure there is a core throughline going through your messaging so it’s authentic, unified, but meets audiences where they are and resonates with them to support your candidate, campaign, or issue? It’s a good question, a whole series of substack posts, in fact!
NDCT offers both individual courses and structured learning plans on messaging precisely because it’s so important to know your why and how to convey it so that it resonates with voters.
There are several courses to choose from, as well as a learning plan on Communication Essentials for Candidates, and Building Campaign Communication Strategy.
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In a richly historic moment, Sen. Booker, the descendent of slaves broke the record held by Sen. Strom Thurmond – whose speech was a filibuster to hold up passage of the Civil Rights Act. Booker came prepared with 1164 pages of prepared material to hold President Trump and his administration accountable for actions that are clearly illegal.