If I was advising any political party in the last week of the campaign, I’d be telling them to start using stories and examples to get their points across. Jacinda Ardern showed how powerful this can be when she mentioned how Waikato Hospital tried to send her grandfather home at 11.30pm the other night. That’s was a great way to make her point about health system underfunding. Why? Because people are more interested in actual stories or examples than they are...

I always find it surprising that commentators focus little attention on body language in political debates, when it often has more influence than what anyone says. That’s precisely why Jacinda is so popular and why Andrew Little wasn’t. But the big mover in the body language stakes last night was Bill English. His biggest problem has been how he comes across. He’s always had the economic credibility, and he proved that again last night. But in the debate he was far...

One thing that’s been impressive from Jacinda Ardern since she took the Labour leadership is how she has been selective about what to comment on. When a negative issue hits a political party or business, leaders usually need to front up to put their side of the story. But if its not that serious or they are not the focus, sometimes it’s best to avoid comment. Why? For a politician, they want people to vote for them. That’s why they need...

There’s been lots of debate over the last few weeks about what people will think about Metiria Turei’s admission to benefit fraud when she was a solo mother at University. Will people punish her for breaking the law? or will it grow the Green vote because she highlighted the need for changes in the welfare system? The jury is still out on that. However, this whole issue could hurt the Greens in another way that I haven’t heard any commentators discuss....

Labour’s decision to reverse National’s tax cuts and spend some of that money on health and education is clearly a big ideological difference between the parties. However, it does mean that Labour has a harder job to communicate the benefits of its policy. This blog isn’t about the value of each option, but how easy it is to communicate the benefits to potential voters. The reason Labour has the harder job is because announcing they will add 8 billion to the...

One of the best ways to make a point stick with audiences is to relate it to a personal story. This brings the point to life, makes it concrete and adds emotion. This makes it attractive for reporters to use as the focus of their stories and sticks in the minds of those who hear or see it. This is clearly understood by Greens co-leader Metiria Turei, who admitted to withholding information from WINZ as a solo mother because it would...

We haven’t seen anyone master the use of the analogy to get a point across since John Key left the top job. But it now seems that someone in another top job has stolen the mantle. Steve Hansen’s description of the drawn series with the Lions as “a bit like kissing your sister” has led the news coverage of the result in New Zealand, and even more so in the UK. John Key was the master of the analogy. He regularly...

I doubt Shane Jones will have any impact in this year’s Election, but 2020 could be a different story. With Election campaigns being dominated by party leaders and Winston Peters always offering the media an exciting sound bite, he will undoubtedly dominate the New Zealand First media attention. The party would be silly to plan it any other way because many would argue that Peters is New Zealand First. But what about the next Election? If Peters doesn’t stand as a...

Anyone trying to generate some good publicity in the New Zealand mainstream media over the last week will have been completely out of luck. Why? There’s been so much big news, meaning there has been little space for anything other than political scandals and the Americas Cup victory. Often people who have good news to tell approach media without thinking about what else is competing for the limited space that’s available. The last week is a great example of when it...

The Labour Party will have to think seriously about how much attention they give to the Todd Barclay. While it may seem natural to attack Bill English, will it win them votes? If they look back to New Zealand’s last two Prime Ministers, they will see that attempts to discredit them failed on all counts. Many commentators predicted that John Key would lose popularity over ‘Ponytail Gate’, the GCSB issue and more. Helen Clark had her own challenges like ‘Paint Gate’...