The Cash communication system (1/18/08)

Louise Cash taught a session for presentation skills today. I had a number of similar workshops before, so most of her teachings were not new to me. However, since she came from theatrical background, she did spend some time on Board room walk (facing the audience at all the time, feeling the room out beforehand, etc) and how to position yourself (cheating out, body facing forward when talking to audience on the wings). She also talked about her black bag (distraction), which was memorable.

One thing created some controversies was what Louise called “creative vulnerability”. She used the example of Hillary’s tear. It showed that she’s a real, normal person, she is emotional, and she is one of us. Of course, creative vulnerability is not showing tears all the time, and its purpose is not trying to get pity points. Louis said that the key is to build up your credit and other people's confidence, and then you can use creative vulnerability to show the soft side of you.

The argument against creative vulnerability was what if it’s not legitimate? What if you faked it? Is it ethical? Will that be too manipulative? I don’t have a definitive answer for that. I think it’s totally depends on the situation. I don’t mind people talking about their problems and struggles. But if Hillary did deliberately fake her tears, I would have big problem with that.