Ron Paul was dismissed as a crack pot during the campaign elections, but ever since then he continues to be one of the most referenced politicians on news shows today. The reason - authenticity. In the 'he who yells loudest gets the most air time', Paul is a good example of how having a reasoned, authentic public persona can not only be a positive thing, but can help you remain relevant to public discourse.

In the video below, Ron Paul reacts to the recent GM announcement that their CEO was stepping down. While many who disagree with the GM bail out (as Paul did) would have used their air time rail against the powers that be, it's nice to see a politician take a counter-view while remaining cool, calm and collected. The consistency in demeanor that Paul exhibits in every interview is what has created an air of authenticity about him and is a big reason he remains as relevant to today's public discourse as he does. 

So when Geithner gave his famous press conference that began the crash of the DOW from 8300 to 6500, I couldn't help but think to myself "what were they thinking?" I say 'they' because this was not Geithner's fault. He continues to get beat up in the press as a man who doesn't know how to do interviews. Yes, his body language is stiff and his cadence is a bit odd, but that's not why this press conference knocked the wind out of the economy.

Geithner's communications people clearly did not apprise him of the expectations in the market. Wall Street and Main Street were looking for answers to specific questions and instead they got a long, drawn out speech that reiterated what the administration had already said in the past. The result was anger and a sell off on Wall Street.

This is a perfect example of how not understanding your audiences needs and not contextualizing your message to those needs is unbelievably damaging. Unfortunately too often this is exactly how people give speeches - they don't take even 60 seconds to let their audience know they understand their viewpoint and instead lecture like a principle speaking to a trapped gymnasium of students. A simple 60 second summary up front articulating an understanding of the audiences expectations could have minimized the anger and disconnect the public felt with the administration after this Geithner speech.