It is never a good week when one of the most highly regarded investors of all time, Warren Buffett, declares that the economy “has fallen off a cliff”  after previously stating that the financial crisis is an “economic Pearl Harbor.”

Secretary Geithner has had his hands full since he took office, and has not established himself as a skillful communicator or messenger up to this point  He was lampooned on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, never a good thing for credibility, and was heavily criticized after announcing Treasury’s new plan a month ago, based both on his delivery and the lack of specifics to the plan.

Last night, the much maligned U.S. Treasury Secretary appeared on The Charlie Rose Show to discuss the economy, what has been done, and what will be done.  Needless to say, we are currently in some of the most frightening economic times ever.  People are scared, and are looking to Washington for reassurance. This was an opportunity for Secretary Geithner to talk directly to the public, in more of a conversation and less of a presentation and quell a bit of the panic and fear.

Unfortunately, Secretary Geithner did not do that, and I believe a large part of that has to do with his communications skills.   Fortunately, there are communications lessons that every leader, whether in politics, business or any other field, can learn from watching the Secretary.

1.  Always Have A Central Message — One of the main reasons that the Secretary has failed to effectively connect with the public is his jumbled and somewhat incoherent message. What does any of this mean to the average person 6  months from now? A year from now?  How does anything being done affect the average person?

The public has made it very clear that the time has past for explaining why the  economy is in the state that it is in, what the public wants to hear is an understandable plan explaining how and when the economy will improve.  Dr. Jeffrey Feldman has written a great article on framing this issue, as well as the importance of language and metaphors when framing this issue.

2. No matter the medium, it is important to be aware of your own voice Secretary Geithner has a few things working against him: 1) He speaks in a relatively flat monotone; 2) He speaks at a lower pitch, making it more difficult to hear him; 3) He speaks very, very rapidly, and then tends to trail off, and then get right back to speaking rapidly, making it very difficult to follow

3. Be aware of verbal ”noise” – “umms”, “ahhhs”, and “uhhh’s” all take away from the ability to deliver a message.  More pausing, more focused points, and more practice would have improved this tremendously.

4. Language Matters - the Secretary used very descriptive, “charged” words, such as dramatic, catastrophe, profound, to describe the “deep mess,” “we did some very important powerful things” - the issue is that he deadpanned these words — no expression at all. 

5. Expression Matters – When using words like these it is important that a) the fit the occasion and b) you allow enough time for the words, and the meaning, to sink in.  Flowing right from one to another to a different thought sends mixed messages.

6. Body Language Matters – the Secretary seemed to be hunched a bit forward the entire time, and his lack of expressiveness, especially compared to Charlie Rose, was very noticeable.  There was very little movement

7. Body Language Matters, Pt. II – Be aware of where body positioning AND body language — Secretary Geithner spent the entire hour talking with is chin lowered. This caused two problems: 1) It was harder to follow what he was saying as his voice was slightly muffled and 2) It put his forehead at the center of the screen, making it appear that he was not making eye contact, and putting the focus on his forehead.

While each of these issues independently would be a challenge, all of them together make it very difficult for the Secretary to connect with his audience and convey his message effectively.

The good news for Secretary Geithner is that, with training and practice, I believe he can still resurrect himself as a strong communicator.  The bad news is that every day more economic bad news comes in, his window of opportunity to become an effective messenger closes a little more.

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