About this podcast
Giving you the tools to lead and influence in the policy arena.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 84 episodes
- #84 One Last Text · 2 minThe election is days away. The mail, TV, radio, and social media are set. So what can you and your supporters do to turn out voters? Text your friends to go vote. A 2024 Florida…
- #83 Answering the Tough Questions About Gas Prices · 7 minIn the final month of a campaign, you get a lot of tough questions. But how do you prepare for questions when you don't know what you'll be asked? Back in Winning Edge #24, we…
- #82 Your Personal Focus Group · 5 minEver wished you could put voters from your district in a room for a focus group? You actually can - but not the way you might think. Focus groups grew out of World War II-era…
- #81 Keep Digging: There’s a Pony in There Somewhere · 3 minOne year after his inauguration, President Ronald Reagan spoke about the year's progress ahead. He told the joke about a father with two sons - a pessimist and an optimist. When…
- #80 3 Videos Every Campaign Needs · 6 minShort campaign videos fail for the same reason most first dates do - one person talks about themselves and never thinks about it from the other person's perspective. To avoid…
- #79 3 Tips to Improve Your Videos · 4 minIf you've been doing the video challenge from the last Winning Edge, you've probably watched yourself and felt stiffer and less animated than your normal self. Chris Goor, a…
- #78 Getting Comfortable Talking to Camera · 5 minIn October 1968, Richard Nixon walked into a television studio to film ads. He sat stiffly on the edge of a desk, looked at the camera, and started to talk. One aide muttered, "I…
- #77 The Hand Trick Great Speakers Use · 4 minThe Margaret Thatcher Story: Late 1970s: Thatcher knew the election would be decided by televisionKnew she wasn't good at TVHired media advisor Gordon Reece, former TV…
- #76 Persuade with Visuals: The Cuba Map Strategy · 5 minThe Historical Story: Spring 1962: General David Shoup at White House meeting about potential Cuba invasionUsed two transparencies to make his point about invasion…
- #75 How to Fight Back Against FUD · 7 minThe 1960 Attack: Democrats ran ad: "Would you buy a used car from this man?" with Nixon's picturePurpose: attack with Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)1960: Fighting Emotion…
- #74 Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt · 5 minWhat is FUD: Acronym: Fear, Uncertainty, and DoubtCreated by former IBM engineer Gene Amdahl 50+ years agoAppeals to emotion rather than factVirginia Election Case Study…
- #73 The 90 Second Phone Pitch · 4 minThis week marks just over 200 days until Election Day. Just 29 weeks. If you haven’t started fundraising yet, now is the time. In previous episodes, we’ve covered how to overcome…
- #72 The Phone Coach · 5 minThe Problem: Gap between the anticipated fear and the reality of fundraising calls - we talked about this previously in Episode #20Candidates imagine donors will be annoyed or…
- #71 Practice Without Pressure · 6 minThe Problem: Every interview is high-stakes for candidatesEvery question could be recorded and go viralCan't afford to mess up, but nobody is born great at answering tough…
- #70 One-minute Reps · 4 minThe Wax Museum Lesson: Fourth graders memorized 90-second speeches about historical figuresKids rushed, focused on exact wording rather than audienceSounded like recordings, not…
- #69 Breaking a Wave · 4 minIn 1950, two French engineers faced a problem they couldn’t solve the old way. They didn’t have the resources to build bigger seawalls, so instead of trying to stop the wave…
- #68 The Gas Station Pitch · 3 minEvery candidate needs a short gas station pitch: the 60–90 second version of why you’re running. It’s the answer you give at a gas station, a coffee shop, or the church lobby…
- #67 Workout Your Stump Speech · 4 minAfter ending Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld threw out his old material and rebuilt a stand-up act from scratch. In the documentary Comedian, you see even a legend bomb, forget…
- #66 Create a Fundraising System, Not a Goal · 4 minMost candidates don’t fail at fundraising because they can’t do it. They fail because they never get started. In this episode, we break down why systems beat goals when it comes…
- #65 The Middle of a Good Story · 4 minMost people know how to start a story. But few know how to keep people listening once they’re in it. In this episode, we break down what actually makes the middle of a story…
