Political communication must put words on reality, not disguise it! Today’s reality seems like a gift package, well wrapped but a bit empty, and it doesn’t really spark the imagination.
Being here and being elsewhere. Is the glass half empty or half full? Life goes on!
In recent years, politicians have communicated a lot about ecology, social progress, and citizenship. As for the political discourse itself, it has become synonymous with (too often) unkept promises: It is clear that words are no longer followed by actions. The ideas conveyed by our communication society have become pointless. Citizens, in complete disarray, feel like victims of manipulators.
The crisis of communication is not new. And regressive innovations leave a bitter taste. Instead of creating value by allowing an idea to become known and stand out from others, it has become its own subject. Today, citizens are bombarded with empty words: starter, main course, and dessert, the whole menu at once!
By overexposing slogans and calls to big causes, communicators have lost their credibility. This situation leads to pointless gestures and a bad habit: that of babbling like a Narcissus instead of speaking and explaining with the necessary pedagogy to be understood by others.
How then to restore legitimacy to political discourse?
This requires thinking about communication very early on, right from the strategy definition. Then propose a vision, specifying how it is intended to be implemented and in which state of mind, which should not just be about knowing “who” you are, but rather knowing “if” you are!
To make it last, it is necessary to regularly provide evidence, showing that words are kept. And to generate adherence, one must put words on reality and not seek to disguise it!
The world fears uncertainty much more than movement.
By explaining movement and its complexities, communication must restore trust and change the way people view politicians. It is up to politicians not to forget the watchwords of the “magic square” which should guide them: behavior (consistent) in the face of expectations (realistic); rationality (of actions) in the face of volatility (of feelings).
Returning to practice, a note to those who at the municipal, departmental, and regional levels have responsibilities, and to those who, as we know many, will be candidates in the upcoming cantonal elections: stop the comedy of democracy without forgetting that … The jury is still out, as the Americans say, referring to citizen-voters!
