With less than one week before the presidential election, civics expert and political communications advisor Richard Greene offers a masterclass on why your vote REALLY matters, why so many people DON’T vote, and which politicians are the greatest public speakers ever.
Does each person’s vote really matter?
“A million times more than people realize. And the reason I say that is because on virtually every single thing that people care about, on both sides – because we are such a divided nation at this point and because so many people do not vote – things can be solved one way or another by an unbelievably small number of votes.”
Okay, but really, how important is every vote?
“Every single election these days, especially in swing states, is decided by one to maybe five individuals in every precinct.”
Why people don’t vote:
“I talk to thousands and thousands of people … especially around elections, and I say, ‘Are you voting?’ And they say, ‘No.’ And when I ask them why not, I get two major answers. The biggest answer I get is that the system is broken. It’s screwed up, it’s corrupted, it’s bought and paid for. Politicians are being controlled by special interests, etc. And then the second thing is that they feel their vote doesn’t count. And neither of those things is true. The reason the system is ‘broken’ is because everyone doesn’t vote.”
People would rather complain than cast a vote:
“Noone wants to talk about civics or how the government actually works. And it’s all about, ‘I hate Trump’ or ‘I hate Kamala.’ Or, ‘She’s this,’ or, ‘He’s that.’ Let’s become transactional American voters. … You do not have to love them. Kamala Harris will sign certain bills. Donald Trump will sign other bills. Vote based on that.”
What concerns Richard about this election:
“The thing I am concerned about, if we’re honest, is that if you have almost half the country that has been convinced that Joe Biden and the Democrats stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump, and many, many, many people believe that even though 63 courts determined that that was not the case, then I can’t say with absolute certainty that a very, very strong supporter of Mr. Trump might not do some things behind the scenes.”
In public speaking, how can you read the room:
“When you’re talking to someone and if you’re being too complicated or using too much jargon, or talking over someone’s head, or not connecting with them, there is an absolute 100% certain way to know that. And that is for you to be paying attention and you to be looking at them, watching their head, watching their eyes, watching their shoulders, watching their arms, watching whether they’re leaning in or leaning back, and notice whether you’re connecting with them. Because you can feel the connection.”
Richard’s #1 rule of public speaking:
“There are four simple words that I teach (my students), and this is true for every communication: It’s. All. About. Them (the audience). … And that applies to political candidates as well. If you have a feeling that a (candidate) really cares about you, you’re going to be much more receptive to everything they say.”