Yesterday, President Bush delivered his second inaugural address. Regardless of your political views, you can learn effective vision sharing techniques by listening to politicians--after all, they have teams of speechwriters helping them. And while the president's advisors surely helped him prepare yesterday's remarks, by examining the choice of language, we can learn some handy techniques for sharing our own visions.

Emphasize Common Values An inspiring vision embodies values with strong appeal to its entire audience. The vision then calls attention to those common values and illustrates how--and why--all individuals can connect. While acknowledging the country's political division, Bush reminded Americans that our core values--democracy, liberty, and freedom--still unite us. "America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one," he said. He added, "These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom."

Describe the Importance of the Values Explaining why your values are important helps people connect emotionally to your vision. Visions with the greatest impact depict the status quo as intolerable and alternative values as unacceptable. And stressing a problem"s seriousness and the urgency for change can portray your vision as the only suitable approach. Speaking of an enemy that promotes fear, repression, and terror, the president said, "America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies." He stressed, "We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people."

Disparage the Vision's Opponents To add emotional energy when describing your vision, you can point out the conflicting behaviors of your competitors, critics, or adversaries. Typecasting your opponents as lacking those values your organization deems important helps underscore your vision's significance, creates passion and competition, and fosters commitment. The president referred to terrorists with ideologies "that feed hatred and excuse murder," and said the "force of human freedom" can "break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant."

Forecast Success Predicting the successful realization of your vision builds employee confidence in your leadership. Alluding to accomplishments helps to confirm the likelihood of this vision's success. Bush said, "We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom...Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation," but because "freedom is the permanent hope of mankind." He said, "By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal."

Select Emotional Language The right language is critical to creating an emotional impact. Symbolic words enhance your vision's meaning. Metaphors and analogies help clarify your vision while stimulating the listener's imagination. Repetition adds a mesmerizing rhythm to the message, making it unforgettable. Choosing effective rhetorical techniques makes your vision meaningful and memorable. Bush chose metaphors including "shipwreck of communism," "when the soul of a nation finally speaks," and "we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time." He used repetition when he said America speaks anew to the world: "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know...Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know...The rulers of outlaw regimes can know...The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know...And all the allies of the United States can know…"

Too many business leaders lack the essential ability to articulate the big picture to their workforce. Therefore, their messages are devoid of emotion, energy, excitement, and any mention of values. Master these techniques and you'll separate yourself from other leaders. Bookmark this post on del.icio.us

Flying to Las Vegas to present to the Promotional Products Association International at The PPAI Expo 2005, I met a business owner who shared a recurring scenario. A client asks her to provide suggestions for a companywide incentive campaign. She spends days researching fresh and exciting promotional products and even pays for samples imprinted with the customer's logo. The client loves her ideas and promises a quick purchasing decision. When following up, she learns that the customer bid her ideas to a competitor who eagerly undercut her prices and won the business. The owner is losing faith, no longer trusting clients to honor their implied commitments. I recounted this conversation during my presentation and heads began nodding in collective empathy.

Perhaps you've experienced other broken commitments at work: you assign an employee the task of preparing a report; before you know it, three weeks elapse and you're still waiting for the information. Or maybe you've asked your boss to consider you for a promotion; now it's been two months since any mention of an upgrade. Living by the values you profess means honoring the commitments you make. But how do you ensure that others--your employees, bosses, and customers--honor their commitments to you?

We associate false commitments with someone failing to make good on a pledge. But a broken promise is only the culmination of a false commitment. In fact, the carelessness in making commitments causes most commitment problems.

Make sure all parties understand the commitment. Do you need a report prepared, or do you need a report prepared in time for next Monday's 1:00 p.m. staff meeting? Do you want the boss to decide whether to promote you right now, or do you want her to consider you for promotion when the next opportunity arises? Are you happy to design an incentive campaign only if the client buys the products from you? Wondering ensues when commitments are unclear. I wonder what happened to that report I requested. I wonder if this report takes priority over my other duties. I wonder why my customer took advantage of me. Clarifying expectations ensures a two-sided commitment.

Also, watch out for hallow commitments. Some people are uncomfortable saying no, so they postpone it by offering halfhearted assurances. Let me think about your proposal. I'll discuss the idea with my boss. Others are afraid to appear incompetent, so they over commit. Sure, I'll have that report ready by Monday. If challenged, they attribute their broken pledges to memory lapses, unavoidable delays, or a boss's interference. I planned to grant your raise, but my boss put a freeze on all increases. But because they have little intention of keeping their promises, they're breaking their commitments the moment they make them.

Finally, the commitments people make to you are only as trustworthy as the commitments you make to them. Unfortunately, managers and sales professionals must overcome trust-sapping stereotypes that portray business leaders as unethical and salespeople as pushy. Be honest: do you trust most CEOs and used-car salespeople? When you consider your own commitments carefully, the trust you generate eliminates wonder and frees people to honor their commitments to you. Bookmark this post on del.icio.us

Business people are obsessed with lines. How else do you explain the countless references to lines in our daily business language?

Of course, we're all interested in the bottom line. We know that to increase profits, we need additional top line revenue, more production from all our business lines, and to pay closer attention to each line item. We'd better move some of those expenses below the line. Otherwise, our forecasts will be way off line and we'll default on our credit line.

Some companies like to encourage front line employees to color outside the lines. Others take a tough line and want workers to toe the line while following the Party line. Regardless, it's important to walk a fine line lest you venture out of line.

Did you see someone cross the line? Go online to our ethics chat line; simply type "embezzler" in the command line. If you'd rather talk offline, use the 800 line to call our ethics hotline. We've also got an ethics helpline--it's the same people, but the name sounds friendlier so you're more apt to report wrongdoing. But please, don't call Dateline.

Our new product line is top-of-the-line. We need to keep the assembly line running so we can keep our price line high. I hope they complete labor negotiations by the deadline and avoid a picket line.

Companies like to use sporting metaphors. We're at the starting line now, but we need to cross the goal line. We've sent in our best line-up because the game is on the line and they're our last line of defense.

Organizational charts can be confusing, what with all the lines. You might have a straight line to one boss and a dotted line to another. It's best to have the inside line and a direct line to the CEO. Are you in line for a promotion? If not, call the job line to see what's available.

If you're in the leadership line of fire, and you overuse jargon, you might be putting your career on the line. If your employees are confused, bemused, or embarrassed by what you're saying, how will they follow you? Master Both Listening and Speaking by sending jargon to the end of the line. Bookmark this post on del.icio.us