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Hello, I hope ’25 is off and running for you!

I get asked all of the time about what it was like running for President. Running for President was in many ways a communications challenge. You have a vision you want to present to people. But it’s also competitive in that there are others – lifelong politicians – who want airtime and you have to try to break through.

This week on the podcast ([link removed]) I interview Michael Chad Hoeppner, the author of the new book “Don’t Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life.” Michael was the expert, then a communications professor at Columbia Business School, my campaign brought in to coach me prior to the 2nd primary debate. You might recognize him as the “Terence” character in The Last Election ([link removed]) .

“People think of communication as something you either are good at or you’re not. But it’s something that virtually anyone can get better at if they put in the time and practice in the right way,” Michael observes. “Communication is a physical act and something that responds to training.” Michael was a Broadway performer earlier in his career, which is very physical.

Michael’s approach clicked for me because he homed in on how I was speaking as a performance activity. For example, he identified immediately that I had a tendency to cram too many words per minute into some of my answers. A slower pace would lead to more pauses and emphasis and a stronger delivery. Michael changed the timer in my head so I felt that I didn’t have to rush through a number of drills and exercises.

His book takes the same approach with different aspects of communication, like vocal variety: Pace, Pause, Power, Pitch and Placement. He also writes about optimizing your posture, gestures and nervous energy. My team got used to my reciting “Topeka bodega, topeka bodega” as a warm-up prior to a televised interview. I would sometimes jump up and down or jog in place backstage before a debate to get my blood pumping.
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I said to Michael on the trail, “You should write a book.” And now here we are. One thing I love about Michael is he’s totally pragmatic. “The title of the book is a trick; we get negative directions all of the time, like ‘don’t be nervous.’ That stuff doesn’t work. Thought suppression doesn’t work, like ‘don’t think of a pink elephant.’ The question really is how do we develop the muscle memory to do all of the things we want to do in a communications setting without thinking about them. My goal for the book is to have people be aware of their top 1 to 3 communications practices they can improve on and then actually implement them in real life.”

Michael is passionate about helping people communicate better. He’s acutely aware of the era we are in. “With technology getting more and more powerful, it’s more important than ever that we have positive humans who are effective communicators with good intentions.” As he writes in his book, “We need honorable, moral communicators!” I couldn’t agree more, whether it’s advancing in one’s career, running for office or just living a better life expressing your thoughts to those around you.

For my podcast interview with Michael, click here ([link removed]) . For his book, including a free chapter, click here ([link removed]) . It’s also my birthday today – if you want to help me celebrate do something positive for someone in your life!
Andrew Yang
Co-Chair, Forward Party
forwardparty.com ([link removed])
andrewyang.com ([link removed])

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