Messaging: Revisiting The State Of The Nation Address.

Good listeners, they say; are like trampolines. These are not my words; these are the words of mighty scholars from Harvard. After looking at data & analyzing a number of listening traits, researchers found that being a good listener is more about the type of feedback offered than it is just quietly listening. “They are someone you can bounce ideas off and rather than absorbing your ideas and energy, they amplify, energize, and clarify your thinking. This lets you gain energy and height, just like someone jumping on a trampoline.” The study by Harvard Business Review went on to conclude.

So folks, I want to use the findings of that study clinically, elaborately and hopefully usefully too in dissecting the Presidents messaging during the State of The Nation address delivered on Thursday, 4th April 2019. In doing so, not only do I seek to give feedback to the president on his speech; but most importantly I want to analyze and dissect the president’s feedback to us the citizenry as a communication scholar/practitioner. Because truly, what the president was doing, was basically giving feedback to the citizenry; because the citizens have been talking and talking a lot.

From the mama mboga across the street, to our deacons in Church and even the guilty and afraid; everyone has been bouncing off ideas to the president. “We want to see action,” they said. “We want to see the President’s commitment both in word and deed,” another group kept screaming. “We can’t allow this war on corruption to continue, let’s clip the DCIs balls” the notorious group was also heard conversing in hushed tones.  

So with all the talk around town, did all this amplify and energize the President? Through his speech, did his clarity of thinking resonate positively with you? Could you see and feel a gained sense of energy and height, just like someone jumping on a trampoline?

Communication and Messaging

There are countless definitions of Communication out there and today I don’t intend to deliver my points based on any particular one. However, for all who have been through a communication class, there is always a convergence in understanding as to what the components of communication entail.

The main components of communication are: Sender, message, channel (or medium), receiver and response (feedback) all happening within a given context. These components are adopted from the great Shannon-Weaver model of communication that came to be adopted by social scientists the world over as “the mother of all models.”  Simple chart below refers:                                                    

Also, communication specialists of good grounding will tell you this; that communication requires two parties-a sender and a receiver. For the whole thing to be meaningful and create mutual understanding, the two should interact within a common frame of reference that consist of either shared social, cultural, religious or national emblems.  

Without attempting to qualify either component as carrying more weight as compared to the other, let me speak something about Message. Words are powerful; words are also the main currency in communication. Of course there’s also the use of gestures, symbols, pictorials and the like but I only speak of the main.   

A cardinal rule in communication is that the messaging should always carry a key message. The key message is an adept way of not only ensuring consistency in the messaging but also helps in audience comprehension and message recall.

The Communication Context

For us to make rational sense of the entire State of the Nation Address, let’s spare a minute and put things in perspective because nothing happens in a vacuum. If anything, consider this as part of what the sender (the Citizenry) put out as his message before the receiver (the President) gave his response (feedback).

Top of the country’s talk is corruption. Day in-day out our news is polluted by rivaling scandals of stupefying amounts. It has been a never ending season of plunder and blunder, so-to-speak. The citizens have been united in sending out the message of “stop this corruption madness” to the President.

So shocking, saddening and even frustrating has this been an issue to the citizens that in every time-band, through every medium and in all manner of tones will you hear or see the people crying out for real action sooner rather than later. In fact, so loud and repeated has this cry been that even amidst momentous occasions of triumph such as the Peter Tabichi story and heart wrenching times such as the Dusit attack, such stories have only had their 2 minutes of airtime in a constricted space of scandals.

That, the handshake jitters and the ‘silent’ cries from the jilted lover are what the President was facing as he sat down to pen his feedback to the nation. Don’t forget too that whilst addressing all these issues, the President, as is required by law and In accordance with Article 132 of the Constitution, was also meant to “report to Parliament the measures taken and progress achieved in the realization of the National Values set out in Article 10 of the Constitution, as well as the progress made in fulfilling International Obligations.”

Wow! a herculean task indeed. Considering the dynamics of the audience, the myriad of issues and the all important speech delivery KISS rule (Keep it Short & Simple); just how thunderous was the Commander in Chief’s speech as measured on the “Communication Richter Scale.” Was it earth-shaking, did it vibrate positively or was it just a polite tremor that comes and goes without much ado?

“No Turning Back”

Give and take, this was the President’s key message. As promised, my task is two-fold; to join Kenyans in sending our all too familiar ‘stop the corruption madness’ message and also, to dissect the President’s messaging in his feedback to the people. Let me paint the picture clearly.

Folks, from the onset (less than 3 minutes into his speech), the President pronounced himself- “As President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, I have heard the cries of our people, and their stated hopes and aspirations for a better Kenya. When they elected me as their President, I committed to strive and unceasingly fulfill the trust and confidence they placed in me. I will not turn back on this commitment.” As earlier stated, notice he is basically acknowledging the senders’ message and giving feedback?

In communication, writing without a key message is as good as screaming against a wall, their simply won’t be any chemistry-no connection to what is being spoken. In well spaced out intervals and after touching on various issues, the President consistently concluded his statements with the punch line “…and on this one, there is no turning back.”

“There is no turning back on government reforms…There is no turning back on fighting all enemies of Kenya, … No turning back on the obligations we have made in the Big Four Agenda, …There will be no turning back on the Building Bridges Initiative that assures inclusion, cohesion, unity and respect for all Kenyans. No turning back on the war against corruption as it is a just war, a war to prevent misuse of public resources for selfish interests by those we have entrusted to manage them. We are not turning back because we are determined to gift our children a better Kenya than the one we inherited.”

You wait for it, all our colored pundits and governance specialists will be all over our media spaces lacing their points with “and if you heard the President correctly, he was categorical that there’s no turning back on corruption.” What I’m I trying to say? With the pundits’ repetitions, the key message in this aspect already accomplishes one key role; promotes recall and consistency. More than that, the repetition of the key message during delivery was also about emphasis. It was employed effectively to dispel doubt and speak commitment to the citizens. It was a re-assuring voice that sought to build trust; basically what every Kenyan truly wants.

Moreover, the key message, more-so the more natural sounding one as was the President’s choice brought about conciseness to the whole piece, was brief & to the point and most importantly was over and above a quick and effective way to convey his message across. On this count, the verdict is out and the speech scores a solid 9.

Know Your Audience

Not sure even whether this needs much of an explanation. Think about it, when you are talking to your peers about your upcoming ruracio’, will you talk to them the same way you talk to your “to-be” in laws? There, my point is made-different messages, different approaches, and different delivery styles to the different audiences so as to realize best impact and positive outcomes.

So how was the boss’s score? Well, judging by the sentiments of not only the politicians from both divides but most importantly going by the voices of the mwananchi as captured in the vox pops, the receiver (the President) struck a good balance for all the audiences. He was well aware of their expectations and clearly spoke to them.

Obviously, there were those who expected some form of firing of CSs as the best expression of seriousness against corruption but an even greater thing happened, the reassurance that all is being done within the law and being done by the legally empowered institutions so that when the hammer falls, every man or woman should bear their own cross. Kenyans love showy spectacles but emboldening our institutions guarantees institutional democracy and that, is for posterity.

So again, a solid 8 from the jury on this one.

Focus

People’s attention spans are quite short. So, this marries with the KISS (Keep it Short & Simple) rule. So as not to lose your audience, the speech should avoid niceties (or at least too many of them) and stick to script. Time is valuable and audiences usually switch-off over time so it’s critical that the primary intention is prioritized. The address wasn’t the shortest of speeches but then again, a solid judgment is one that puts everything in context. Imagine yourself being told to give your year-long life story in 1 hour? Not too easy a task I guess. So just to show that there’s room for improvement, I will score a 6.

Authenticity

One of the hardest things most speech writers will attest to is the ability to “get” their speakers voice. Jon Favreau is former Director of Speech-writing to retired President Obama and if you listen to his interviews and his public lectures, you will get a good sense of what I’m talking about. I have been listening to the President’s speeches with much keenness over time and I will tell you for sure, this was his authentic voice. Apart from the energy, and just like the trampoline metaphor, the messaging showed that the President had been a good listener.

It carried the sincerity of a father that had heard the cries of his children and he was making sure that every child first understands that indeed he was going to do something and that before he does it; the children should all know that he is doing what he is doing for the greater good and out of love. That, punishment is equally just a sign of love even though it might feel painful for some time. Mr. President, a 7 from me for being yourself.

Outputs, Outcomes and Impact

For those who have done some work touching on behavior change communication, you might have probably encountered this expression “Output, outcomes, who cares.” Not very common of an expression but I’ve heard it maybe twice when dealing with some nonprofit leaders. Some say, it’s a bit more common with government leaders as well, I don’t know.

But truly, someone should care and here’s my simple reasoning. When you set out to deliver a speech, somewhere at the back of your mind, you must have set some goal: to inform, to educate, to persuade, to avert risk, to manage expectations, to handle a crisis, to change behavior etc. These are all forms of goals that communication can help you achieve. Naturally too and as a binding principle, when goals are set, there must be some form of evaluation as well.

You indeed delivered a great speech; non-divisive, people clapped and most cheered you on, but is that where it ends? It need not end here. If anything the real work begins. Measuring the impact of communications is the grey area unloved by many but with a mighty potential of giving elaborate insights.  

To borrow from the works of David Rockland, the CEO of global communications firm-Ketchum Global Research & Analytics, messaging can be measured on 3 levels i.e. Outputs; Outcomes and Impact and in so doing one needs to evaluate on the following metrics post-the-communications:

i.                   Reach: What portion of the target audience did the message reach?

ii.                 Awareness: Did the target hear, read or see what they’ve never heard before?

iii.                 Comprehension: Have the recipients understood what they didn’t understand before?

iv.                Attitude: What do the people believe and feel after the address?

v.                  Behavior: Is there a change in the people’s behavior?

So, in conclusion Mr. President, I will end just as I started. Hopefully while delivering the next feedback and being the good listener that you are, Kenyans would have bounced off enough ideas to you that will amplify, energize, and clarify your thinking even more. And through that, through many more handshakes and the nation’s undying resolve, you would have gained even more in energy and height, just like someone jumping on a trampoline as you tackle our nation’s ills.

Hopefully that will happily coincide with that time when all Kenyans will be called to State House for the bash of the year because truly, those are moments we Kenyans live for.