Your bleary-eyed
city council members have sat through an hour of angry citizens, appearing
one-by-one to attack their motives or earnestly recite a stupefying set of
statistics or both. Now you’re
up. Their decision affects your
neighborhood, maybe even your street, perhaps even your home safety or
value. Your lifestyle or even your
life may be at stake. You are just
a name to them. You aren’t Colin Powell. How do you get those weary elected officials
– plus the restless audience and reporter to see the situation your way? When it happened to him the Accidental
Communicator offered this apt advice.
Hint: You gain an
enormous advantage when you offer the most compelling criteria by which a decision
should be made. Frame or be
framed.
