Clear, compelling, confident communication - the key to unlocking positive international relations

“If people had the right skills and intention to communicate well, there would be no conflict. The better we are at communicating, the better our lives will be.”― Yama Mubtaker

Let us contemplate this idea for a moment. Could it really be that simple, that making the world a better place comes down to effective communication based on integrity and mutual respect? Surely positive international relations are more to do with innovative policymaking than speaking and writing skills? Well, not necessarily. If we take some lessons from history, we can see that a great idea communicated badly is a dead idea.

The BBC has just made a fascinating series documenting the Blair and Brown years. For those unfamiliar with these figures, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were largely responsible for the transformation of the UK’s largest left-wing political party in the 1990s, rebranding it New Labour in a bid to ‘modernise’ the movement and render it more centrist. This shift has been attributed to them winning 3 consecutive elections between 1997 and 2005 after almost 20 years of defeats.

What really struck me over the course of these episodes was the fundamental role of communication skills in the Labour leadership. Whatever your opinion of Blair, an undoubtable success of his ministry was the Good Friday Agreement, which led to peace in Northern Ireland. Through 3 solid days of negotiations, Tony Blair and Gerry Adams managed to achieve the impossible and draw up a historic resolution to which both parties were amenable. Blair’s communication skills during this scenario would have been tested to the limit, but he clearly succeeded in conveying integrity, determination and empathy throughout the process. As a communicator, Blair was able to quickly assess his audience’s mood, interests and perceptions and confidently present his position in a way that would win them over.

In 2007, Blair handed over the leadership to Gordon Brown, who many would attest had largely been the brains behind the operation as Chancellor. A fantastically intelligent individual with a PhD in History, able to give the opposition a run for its money in parliamentary debates, he had been sidelined repeatedly by more confident aspiring leaders. Although he admirably claims his reluctance to put himself forward for the leadership was down to solidarity for his colleagues, one can’t help wondering whether it was also his insecurities that ultimately held him back. It was this unconfident communication style that those close to him attributed to his demise as Prime Minister, when he sadly failed to fully engage his team, let alone the general public, in his ideas. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the expertise to do the job, but when he chaired meetings or delivered speeches, a palpable feeling of self-doubt would seep through and allow scepticism to prevail. While he had been effective at critiquing the opposition, a whole new skill was required when it came to winning over the masses with compelling messaging.

Let’s take a closer look at the language they both used:

‘It is not an arrogant government that chooses priorities, it's an irresponsible government that fails to choose.’ This is a typical Blair contrast technique he frequently used in speeches, which serves to shift the listeners’ underlying suspicions to support his way of thinking. He had already dealt with potential criticism - that he was arrogant - by negating it in his speech.

In contrast, during Brown’s inauguration speech, he famously quoted his school motto, ‘I will do my utmost’, which despite being a charmingly humble childhood reference, leaves the public wondering, ‘but will his utmost be enough?’. Perhaps it would have helped if this statement had been qualified with a reassurance of his capability as well as his intentions to do a good job. When criticised over his handling of the 2008 economic crisis, his response was, ‘I always want to do better and I will do better’, which, however heart-felt this promise was, did not exactly give a conclusive impression of his prowess.

In order to communicate great ideas powerfully, I believe that you must deliver on the 3 ‘C’s:

Clear - You should have a well-defined message which you consistently transmit throughout the negotiation or speech. A defensive approach in which you predict potential objections can help you to shape your messaging in a way which will preempt criticism.

Compelling - Your audience should be studied and your language tailored to appeal to their interests. Using well-chosen imagery and other rhetorical devices will help to win your stakeholders over.

Confident - Rehearse your communication scenarios until you feel totally comfortable, mind, body and soul. Your words will flow, your body language will be relaxed and confident, your intonation natural and expressive, allowing you to be yourself.

You may think that the moral of the story is to be more like Blair - single-minded and overly confident, but actually, it’s the Browns of this world who I want to empower with effective communication skills. According to the documentary, Tony Blair had shown little interest in politics as a young man until he experienced an epiphany when entering the Houses of Parliament for the first time. On the other hand, Gordon Brown had been deeply affected by the poverty he witnessed when growing up in Scotland. I think it’s fair to say that while Blair’s main drive was to be the leader of change, Brown’s motivation was a deep-seated passion for social justice. The fact that he suffered all the soul-searching and moral dilemmas is what made him such a righteous politician, but he really needed to have resolved those internal doubts and honed his communication style in order to keep the public on side. As a non-native speaker of English working in international affairs, it can be doubly challenging, adding an additional insecurity into the mix. However, through a systematic process of the 3 ‘C’s, great ideas can be brought to life and spread widely to make the world a better place.?