The Mega metamorphosis is great but rather late<\/p>\n
Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There has been a fundamental shift in how President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri communicates. The Megawati we saw during Tuesday
\nnight's presidential \"dialog\" was definitely a different one from
\nthe Megawati in the first round of presidential dialogs weeks
\nago.<\/p>\n
Mega watchers will note that up to the last presidential
\ndialog she was her old self -- tentative, insecure, inarticulate
\nand unprepared to speak before the public. She looked and sounded
\nmore like a dowdy housewife, happier to tend to affairs of the
\nhousehold than affairs of the state.<\/p>\n
Then something happened. By Tuesday night Megawati was still a
\nbit stiff, but she was doing all the right things to communicate
\neffectively. Gone was the horrendous handbag that she plonked in
\nfront of the rostrum during the first dialog. Gone were the
\nridiculously folded notes that she clung to. And gone was the
\nsense of confusion and helplessness that she greeted each
\nquestion with.<\/p>\n
In its place was a well-prepared Megawati who looked like she
\nwas confident, in control and in possession of the facts. This
\nwas a Megawati who could parry the more uncomfortable questions
\nand deliver a message of how successful her administration has
\nbeen in effecting change.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
To a public relations practitioner, the answer is obvious:
\nMegawati has, at last, been media trained. In media training
\nexecutives and politicians are taught how to communicate
\neffectively in an interview situation, whether it is in the
\nformat of Tuesday night's dialog or before a pack of aggressive
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
There are two components to effective communication: the
\ncontent and the delivery.<\/p>\n
The content consists of boiling down all that the interviewee
\nhas to say into two or three main ideas that are expressed in
\nshort, concise and memorable statements. These are called key
\nmessages and the interviewee's job is to repeat them as often as
\npossible during the interview.<\/p>\n
In Megawati's case one of the key messages was how successful
\nher leadership has been in introducing change. There were at
\nleast four or five occasions during the dialog where she
\nexpressed this idea, saying that she had successfully introduced
\nthis law or that initiative and all that remains was merely the
\nimplementation.<\/p>\n
Then there is the delivery. This is as important as, if not
\nmore than, the content. The late Ronald Reagan, who was known as
\nthe Great Communicator, was a master at this. No matter what he
\nsaid, it seemed credible and likable. Successful delivery depends
\non body language and the use of voice.<\/p>\n
In these areas, Megawati also seems to have had a makeover.
\nThough she still does not come across as an animated or inspiring
\norator like her father, she was noticeably better. She looked
\nresponsive to the questions from the panelists. When confronted
\nwith difficult questions, she answered with confidence and seemed
\neven to enjoy the session. Unlike the last time, where she leaned
\non the rostrum, she affected good posture and was attentive. She
\nspoke clearly and enunciated well.<\/p>\n
And she made eye contact with the panelists and the audience.
\nAlthough she still needs to work on sweeping the audience with
\nher eyes to make contact with more people, she at least did not
\nmake the same mistake as her rival, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
\nLike Megawati, his answers were well prepared and rehearsed but
\nhis trainers overlooked correcting his habit of rapid eye
\nmovements. This created the perception of shiftiness and
\nmitigated the effectiveness of his otherwise competent though
\nuninspiring delivery.<\/p>\n
The result was a perception that Megawati came out better in
\nthe dialog. She even appeared mildly presidential.<\/p>\n
Will this be enough to tilt the balance at the presidential
\npolls on Monday? It is doubtful, as her change may be a case of
\ntoo little too late.<\/p>\n
Whatever the outcome of the election, however, Megawati's
\nmetamorphosis raises intriguing questions about the future of
\nIndonesian politics.<\/p>\n
Like most of Indonesia's politicians, Megawati has obstinately
\nrefused professional help in managing her public image. Yet her
\nperformance on Tuesday night as well as in the immediate
\naftermath of the bombing outside the Australian Embassy -- where
\nshe cut short her visit to Brunei and returned to pay a symbolic
\nvisit to ground zero and the victims in the hospital. She also
\ndelivered a speech that expressed empathy as well as an action
\nplan -- a clear indication that the age of the image maker has
\narrived in Indonesian politics.<\/p>\n
From now on we will increasingly see the products of political
\nmarketing. Politicians will increasingly be slicker and more
\nsophisticated in the use of public relations strategies and
\ntactics to win the image war, so they can win the political war.<\/p>\n
Will this result in a more open Indonesia where its political
\nleaders have to communicate with the people to win their support?
\nOr will it mean the rise to power of the slick, ruthless
\npolitician who's mastered the sound bite and other tricks of
\npersuasion but has little else to offer?<\/p>\n
Time will tell, but in the meantime we can rejoice that there
\nis change in the air. Change is the result of self-realization.
\nWhere self-realization exists, there is capacity for improvement.
\nThis may be Megawati's lasting gift to Indonesia, no matter how
\nshe does in Monday's presidential elections.<\/p>\n
The writer is a Partner at PT Maverick Solusi Komunikasi, a PR
\nconsultancy specializing in crisis\/issue management as well as
\nbrand communications. He can be reached at ong@maverick.co.id<\/p>",
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