It began in Pittsburgh, McMullen, the youngest child in a working class family. One of her first gigs after college was as a reporter for a newspaper in Richmond, Indiana. Later on she got a job in Dayton working for the American Friends Service Committee. Her stewardship of the Dayton Voice was soon to be. This was also the period when she met her future husband Jeff Epton.
Each of the forty entries closes with pithy “lessons learned.” If you remember the Dayton Voice you’ll recall exemplary investigative reporting conducted on shoestring budgets. She writes: “We took sides at the Dayton Voice-but only after thoroughly investigating the story. In many stories that we covered, there came a point when the truth was obvious. So obvious, in fact, that it would be irresponsible to go on covering it in a ‘balanced’ way that essentially requires you to quote people you know are lying. Truth was the goal, not objectivity.”
The author demonstrates a communications tool she employs. Her “persuasion matrix” addresses particular situations and the steps taken to accomplish communication goals with each project. McMullen has worked on political campaigns, with organized labor movements, in a school system, and with the administration of President Barack Obama. Each organization provided unique opportunities to address and solve communications challenges.
One fascinating instance occurred during her time working on the Affordable Care Act. They needed to contact Americans lacking health insurance and came up with an ingenious method. Uninsured people fall into debt over medical bills. Those debts can cascade, causing them to stop paying other bills.
They determined when people stop paying on time, overdue debts to utility companies lead to utility services being cut off. Everybody uses electricity. Of course utility companies want their customers to pay promptly. They approached utility companies with a suggestion: medical bills can cause people to stop paying their bills, why don’t you work with us to help your customers obtain insurance through the Affordable Care Act, it could lower disconnection rates? A stroke of genius, and it worked.
McMullen has been a boss and has worked for many bosses, some great, some not so much. Do you supervise people? Some of the most useful advice in this book relates to how to treat people. We can always improve our communication skills. This book can help you to do it.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Guest lecture and book discussion with Marrianne McMullen about “Persuasive - 40 Lessons in Communicating for the Common Good.”
When: 6 p.m. Sept. 30
Where: University of Dayton Science Center Chudd Auditorium
More info: persuasive4good.com
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
About the Author