When a politician walks
into a room, according to Lyndon Johnson, the first thing you have to decide is
who's for you and who's against you. Once you've made that decision you have to
decide how to communicate with them. The most time-honored and most powerful
form of communication with human beings is storytelling. It's the same in every culture on the face of
the earth. The most honored person in an Irish village was called the Shenachie
who was the storyteller and the oral historian of the village. He was the
accumulated wisdom of what it going on in the in the village and what has gone
before. Good politicians are all good storytellers. I've known some: Tip O'Neill, Tom Foley who
was my mentor from the state of Washington was extraordinary storyteller. The
best storyteller I ever met was a member
from Louisiana by the name of Billy Tousan. Billy would talk almost continuously in
stories. One of my favorites from him which I often used to begin speeches with
was a story told me one day. We were
sitting on the floor one afternoon and
Billy told a story about Pierre Dugau who was a typical Cajun who had been out
fishing in the bayous of Louisiana. As he came up to the dock with a boat loaded
with fish, the game warden observed him and said, “Where did you get all those fish, Pierre?”
Pierre rather matter –of
–factly said ,”I just fished ‘em out of the water.” The game warden said, “Tomorrow
I think I'll go out and see how you fish.”
Pierre said, “Suit
yourself. Meet me at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning on the dock.”
The next morning the game
warden appeared and climbed in the boat. They rowed out into the bayous behind the
cypress trees.
Pierre reached under the
seat and took out a stick of dynamite. He lit it and dropped over this side of
the boat. There was a thunderous boom and the stunned fish began to float up to
the surface. Pierre began to flip them
into the boat. The game warden watched this performance and said, “Pierre,
that's against the law in Louisiana.”
Pierre ignored him and
keep throwing fish in the boat. The game warden said, “If you throw one more
fish in the boat I'm gonna have to arrest you.”
Pierre looked at the game warden, and reached
under the seat for another stick of dynamite.
He offered the sputtering dynamite to the game warden and said, “Do you
want a fish or do you want to talk?”
The point of the story is that people come to meetings
sometimes, simply to talk and not to do anything. I often use it as an introductory story before
I give a speech because I want people to figure out what the mindset there
really is. Are they there to do something or are they there just to sit listen
to the proceedings? When you find a good
story is that has a point not aimed directly at the audience, they can perceive
it. Jesus told parables, but very seldom, said to the people, “You're a
sinner.” He talked often indirectly to them through stories. Often
politicians don't want to directly confront people with the truth that may be
unpleasant or problematic, so they tell a story that allows the person in the
audience to connect with the story and get the meaning without feeling attacked.
It’s a skill that every good politician hones to a sharp point.
