227. Communications 101 for India’s political leadership
Indian politicians have never been known to be great communicators. There have been exceptions but those are less than a handful. The Indian Prime Minister has faced flak for the numerous scams his ministers have been involved in but the most grief given to Dr Manmohan Singh for his communication style or for the lack of it.
Communicating is not rocket science but it definitely is an art as it involves the written word, the spoken word and the unspoken word or body language. Here are a few elements that the Indian political leadership across party lines would do well to imbibe. Nothing new but all in one place.
a) Always speak out and speak up
b) Be transparent
c) Communicate often
b) Don’t run away from issues
e) Empathise and be enthusiastic about what is being said – that’s engagement
f) Face the audience bravely and with brevity
g) Get the message across in simple words and sentences
h) Have a single message and spokesperson for every issue or event
i) Inspire with body language at every available opportunity
j) Just embrace social media as that is the way forward
k) Keep it plain but be in control
l) Listen to the people you govern in order to be respected as a leader
amithpr 
Amith this needs to be directed to the media managers and the I&B guys who create the content of the speeches and also decide on the reaction/response to situations. Most often these people are so unfamiliar with the way new age communication works that they feel best to not communicate and wait for the situation to die out. There is no pro-activeness.
I have copied the PM”s office and his communications advisor on the tweet that had the link to this blog.