Less is more? Using language to manage reactions
We Irish have always been famed for having the "gift of the gab". Language is our currency and, when I was growing up, it was pretty much the only currency we had in any quantity! We all know what happened next... This week, Brian Lenihan, Irish Finance Minister (and not a man who will be sleeping well in the next few days!) described the EU bailout amount requested as being "less than 100 billion euros." This is a perfect example of how, when giving presentations, speakers can frame numbers and statistics in order to create the effect they are after. Example one: The loan is going to be in excess of 99.9 billion euros. Example two: The loan is going to be less than 100 billion euros and substantially less than 110 billion euros. The second example aims to minimise the perception that a large amount has been borrowed. This technique can be applied to any type of figure which you anticipate will be badly received. Alternatively, politicians use it to discredit oppone