, 1923-07-21

minated. I think. In q letter winch L
saw n which was mailed by tho
president of tho really very impor-
tant bank IN a large city of this
country. I won't attempt to quote II
verbatim, but It was to this effect:
Dear Customer: AS I sit here all
alone in my office on Christmas eve
ming thinking of o n how much
we low you. I really wish that you
and every other customer could come
In here personally SO I could give you
n good. sound kiss" Well, that is a
trihe exaggerated. but the fact Is
this. If you don't feel these things.
you can't make other people feel
them. Emerson said. as you win re-
member. What o are so
loud I cannot hea what you say"
Unless there is back of this desire
for better public relations a real con-
viction. a zeal genuine feeling hat
you arc in business as a matter OF
service, not merely as a matter OF
advertising service; unless there is
that, then It is very dangerous, In
deed. to attempt to build public rela-
tons on any other ground.
The third very simple thing. and
the last thing that I suggest, Is this:
In dealing with the public. the great
thing is to deal with 1t simply. crisp
" and in language that it can under
stand.
Two men delivered speeches about
sixty years ago at Gettysburg. One
man was the greatest orator Of his
day, and he spoke for two hours and
n half, and nobody in this room prob
ably can remember a single word that
he said. The other man spoke for
considerably less than v minutes
and every school child at some time
in his career learned Lincoln's Gettys-
burg address. and remembers 1t more
or less all his life.
Many prayers have been uttered In
the world-many long, f~ne-sounding
prayers-but the only prayer that
any large majority of people have
ever learned is the Lords Prayer.
and Il is less than two hundred words
long. The same thing is true of the
Twenty-third Psalm. and there is
hardly a Latin word in it They are
short. simple. easily understood
words.
You have one difficulty. It seems to
ma. 1 was in Europe this spring. and
1 rode a great deal in taxicabs. In
England I sat in a taxicab ana
watched tho little clock go round In
terms of shiTlings. Then I flew over
to Amsterdam and / watched 1t go
around in terms OF guilders. Then l
went down to Brussels and 1t went
around merrily in terms of francs
Then 1 went to france and 1t went
around In terms of francs Of q dill
ferent value.
1 would sit there trying to divide
fifteen into one hundred and multiply
II by seven, and wonder just where l
was getting Off, and 1 have no oub
really that I was transported In
Europe ct very reasonable cost. but
because they talked to me in terms
that were unfamiliar. 1 never topped
out of a taxicab without having a
haunting suspicion that probably L
had been "gyped'.
In n degree you suffer Ike those
tnxicab men. You come to Mrs. a
ton and you say. BUY this washing
machine and 1t will do your washin
for lust a few cents IN hour" She
says, isn't that wonderfulr' She
buys Il. and at the end of n month
she sits with your bill in her hands
and she says, 1--WE have run this Ave
hours, and that will probably be SO
and So" Then she opens the bill ana
finds thut she has not run 1t nv
hours; that she has run 1t forty-one
kilowatts and seventeen amperes and
volts, and hat this is s2.67.
We'll. those are things that I sup
pose will be Strengthened out.
Asking an advertising man to talk
- -.--l-- ut n GnnURnIlOn
like this is a good deal like asking a
doctor talk about health. 1 nave
listened to many such addresses and
they are all about the same. The
eminent physician says. Drink
plenty of water. Stay outdoors as
much as you can. Eat good 1000
Don't worry. Get eight our sleep
And II you have anything h matter
with you. call n doctor"
So / say to you that there Is a GER
tain techniqrs about these things
and IL you have anything seriously
the matter with you. from a baid
head-and many Of you nave very
bald heads-to trouble with your pup
lie announcements. there probably Is
some doctor in your town who has
made his business of that thing. and
II NAV be worth your while TO all
him In. -,
But, in the meantime. and In THIS
very informal and necessarily general
talk, 1 say to you. BE genuine, DO
simple. be brief; talk to people in
terms and in language that they un-
derstand. and finally and most OF all
be persistent =,
You can't expect to advertise ! N
nush times and live on the
Of It when you are hard up. You
can't expect to advertise when you
are in trouble, or about to be In
trouble, and expect to get ANYTHING
in that direction. It Is a ~day-by-day
and hour-by-hour business.
II the amount OF money that mas
been thrown away by people who ad.
vertise s~paSmodically was all gathered
together It would form and endow
The most wonderful home for aged
advertising men and their widows In
Inc world. Don't throw any money
away. II Il Ia worth doing at all. II
is worth doing all the time. .
For every day, gentlemen tine
king dies, and there arises n new
.JkinR'' who knows not Joseph.