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Winning In the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game
Free Press
November 0000
272 pages ISBN: 0743271165 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
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. Clarke's message is refreshing and
straightforward: No more spin. Always a dubious proposition,
spin has become increasingly vulnerable as information
sources have proliferated; spin is simply no longer viable.
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.
Clarke's experience is incomparable: She was the Pentagon's
communications chief during the early years of George W.
Bush's presidency and, prior to that, a high-ranking adviser
to the first President Bush and to Senator John McCain. 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.
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. 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.
It will allow you to survive controversy and will also
enhance your reputation.
- It's about one thing. Be ready and able to explain
yourself to the proverbial man on the street in a clear,
simple sentence or two.
- Admit your mistakes, because the truth will out.
Entertaining, approachable, and full of crucial insight and
practical guidance, Lipstick on a Pig will be
indispensable for business leaders, public figures, and
anyone working in media relations. With humor and savvy,
Clarke's vision offers truly new opportunities for
communications in the Information Age.
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