Torie Clarke, renowned and respected in political and business circles as one of the nation\'s most gifted communicators, offers a complete guide to the new age of transparency.
Entertaini.
Admit your mistakes, because the truth will out.
Be ready and able to explain yourself to the proverbial man on the street in a clear, simple sentence or two.
It\'s about one thing.
It will allow you to survive controversy and will also enhance your reputation.
Her lessons for getting your message out include: Tell your own story -- especially if it\'s bad news -- on your own terms, before Someone else tells it on theirs.
Clarke shows that a policy of transparency not only protects you, but that you even stand to gain from it -- because once you figure out that you can\'t put Lipstick on a pig, you\'ve actually learned something far more powerful: not to create a pig in the first place.
She illustrates her lessons with riveting behind-the-scenes accounts of some of our country\'s crucial moments over the last two decades -- for instance, as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, she was at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and she recounts her experience that day as Rumsfeld\'s office strove to inform, instruct, and reassure the public.
Bush\'s presidency and, prior to that, a high-ranking adviser to the first President Bush and to Senator John Mc Cain.
Clarke\'s experience is incomparable: She was the Pentagon\'s communications chief during the early years of George W.
Or put another way, "You can put Lipstick on a pig, but it\'s still a pig." Distilling her twenty-five years of experience and wisdom into eight concise rules, Clarke counsels that politicians and executives need to tell the truth early, often, and in plain language.
Always a dubious proposition, spin has become increasingly vulnerable as information sources have proliferated; spin is simply no longer viable.
Clarke\'s message is refreshing and straightforward: No more spin.
Torie Clarke, renowned and respected in political and business circles as one of the nation\'s most gifted communicators, offers a complete guide to the new age of transparency
