Watching the final Republican Debate before the New Hampshire primary.  And Marco Rubio was on the ropes from a pummeling attack from Chris Christie.

Why?

Because Marco proved Chris’ point that he’s too scripted.  And after years of dealing with a president who lives by the teleprompter, this point hit home.

So is a script bad?

No.  Scripts help you make your best point consistently.  Commercials are perfect examples of hitting a point over and over in a consistent way.  Those are very scripted and repetition drives the point home and drives people to buy their wares.

So what makes it bad for Marco?

Well in politics, politicians are well known to hammer home great slogans and craft messages they think will connect with voters.  They are not known for off the cuff remarks that work well.

They have a team telling them what to say and how to say it.

But people like Donald Trump use a good mix of consistent messaging “Make America Great Again” and real responses to real questions.  That shows up as answers that are different each time because they are tied to the specifics of the question rather than the specifics of the message they want to continually sell.

How many times have you seen the politician spin the question to something he wants to answer rather than tackle the question head on.  People see what is happening and they are tired of politicians.  They have said enough is enough.  That is why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are doing so well.  They are real.  They believe what they say and their actions support it.

So if you are evaluating the marketing of your business or your career, the biggest question I have for you is,

“Are you too scripted?”

I think most people are actually not scripted enough.  They don’t have a consistent message or competitive advantage they are hammering home.  They may actually need to learn something from their political counterparts.

However if you go too far you lose your human connection and become a glorified parrot.  Make sure you own your message and then support it with a human connection that is real.  When you actually believe what you say and are congruent in your actions, you will sell more or move forward in your career.

If you don’t have congruency and realness, you will lose.

So how do you actually get to the point where your communication is both real and powerfully conveyed?

Find Your Passion

You have certain skills, interests, and resources that make you or your business unique.  Like fingerprints, because of the people, learning over time, geography, etc. each business grows into something significantly different that other people or businesses.

And certain elements drive you or your organization.  They have a life of their own.  And you find that those points connect well with you and others you communicate with.  An good example is Apple.  Apple connects with its workers and customers through a consistent passion and vision that people want to be part of.

Train Your Passion

Once you’ve found what differentiates you from others, you need to constantly improve and grow your passion.  For example, someone doesn’t become a concert pianist by practicing their art once a week.  They fully absorb themselves in their craft.  They play constantly, they’re thinking about it all the time.  And by doing that they reach a level most others, who dabble in it, could never attain.

Now you don’t have to reach that level to be successful in business or your career.  But you can definitely learn from what they do to improve your results.

Message Your Passion

Once you’ve found that point of competitive advantage, you need to make sure others know about it.  If no one knows what you are passionate about and why you are worth supporting, then you can’t get the results that your unique contributions deserves.

So dig in, find your passion, train it, and message it.  And once you get to that point, you can recheck your messaging to make sure you aren’t too scripted.