When Germans learn English they are told to avoid the passive form! Active form: “Joe fixed the car.” Passive form: “The car was fixed by Joe.” In Germany the passive form is far more common than the active.
Even when the subject – Joe – is known, Germans still tend to use the passive form: “The car was fixed” (leaving out poor Joe altogether).
Or the Germans will use the so-called one-form: Man wird sehen – one will see – instead of Ich schaue mal – I will take a look. The passive and the one-form are meant to signal objectivity, a distance between messenger and message.
Former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, was famous for displaying his emotions and energy at conferences. The video below from the early 2000s is typical for his exuberance
Ballmer is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association in the U.S. Here is on an American late-night talk show:
German universities have clear guidelines concerning term papers and the formal presentation of their results. Objectivity and precision (accuracy) are a must. Statements not supported by sources are considered invalid.
The focus of the presentation should always be on the subject matter. The discussion thereafter serves the purpose of delving deeper into that subject matter in an objective, impassionate, and academic way.
Distanz! – literally: distance. Personal pronouns (I, he, she, they, we) are avoided, in order to avoid “drifting into subjectivity.” Instead the passive form is expected. German professors watch very closely. Not following these guidelines leads to lower grades, or worse.
Bill Clinton’s speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention nominating Barack Obama for a second term as president is considered a masterpiece in persuasion.
Derrick – a Kriminalserie or detective show – remains to date the most successful of all German television shows. Its 281 episodes, filmed from 1973 until 1997, have been translated and shown in 102 countries. Derrick, the detective, is tall, slender, focused, sparing of words, analytical, unemotional. The show is all about his detective work, not about him.
Germans believe that it is unimportant who actually presents the arguments as long as the topic has been understood in both its depth and breadth, analyzed with stringent methods, leads to a logical and actionable conclusion, and is communicated in a structured and clear way. The presenter could be a junior member of the team.
Menschen bei Maischberger (People with Maischberger) is a popular and respected political talkshow in Germany hosted by Sandra Maischberger.
The topic on February 24, 2015 was Zar Wladimir I. – Was will Putin wirklich? – Czar Wladimir I. – What does Putin want?, and it included prominent guests including Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, a German journalist and author who spent many years of her career reporting from Moscow.
The topic of the show guaranteed intense discussion and controversy. Krone-Schmalz had particular difficulty remaining calm and collected. Time and again she avoided the questions about Putin, Russian aggression, and the situation in the Ukraine.
Maischberger and other guests zeroed in on her responses, politely, but directly. Krone-Schmalz lost her cool. Her emotional responses and defensiveness themselves became the topic of the discussion, so much so that she threatened to get up and leave the studio, stating: „Dann machen Sie Ihre Sendung doch alleine!“ – Well, you can do the show without me!
The Augsburger Allgemeine – the city of Augsburg’s newspaper – described Krone-Schmalz as grantig – huffy, grouchy, grumpy. In an interview with the BILD-Zeitung – Germany’s most-read daily – she said that ihr die Pferde durchgegangen sind – literally: the horses bolted on me, meaning things got out of control.
Frustration. Emotions. Passions. Anger. Nothing could be less persuasive in the German context. See the video above, especially 6:30 mins. onward.
When a car is designed for the German market the focus of both maker and consumer is primarily on technical requirements, features and overall performance.
A Volkswagen, for example, is not an Alfa Romeo. Functionality is more important to Germans than beauty and elegance. Sachlichkeit – dispassion, objectivity, relevance, practicality – trumps emotions. As the Germans would say: Ordnung ist das halbe Leben – literally: order is half of life.
German children learn at an early age, in grammar school, that a presentation should be objective, unemotional and topic-oriented. They should speak in an even tone. Be objective, not emotional. The agenda and structure should be clear.
The German understanding of order is taught early, reinforced throughout one’s life, and then passed on to the next generations.
Germans are very wary of any form of emotional manipulation. It is considered indecent and unprofessional to appeal to emotions. If at all, emotions are spoken to in a subtle, rational way. Playing on emotions is not persuasive. Germans very quickly become suspicious.
In the media, politicians, business leaders and journalists alike criticize each other for using populism – appealing to emotions and deeper fears – in order to influence public opinion. Sweeping statements, crude generalizations and blanket placing of blame are considered to be insulting, counterproductive and inappropriate.
Speakers who try to get their message across via emotions such as sadness, anger or happiness are not taken seriously by the majority of German listeners. Speaking to the emotions of the masses is viewed very negatively. The German media warns time and again about its dangers.
Leaders in politics and business take a cool, rational, objective, almost clinical, approach to persuasion. When German banks and financial institutions are criticized harshly for suspected manipulation and greed they defend themselves by claiming that their critics are populists and that the problems are far too complex to be generalized.
The Germans avoid using the word I. Whether in letters, postcards or emails, a sentence should never begin with I. Germans prefer to use either indirect speech or the passive form.
Especially common in German is the use of the word man or one. Germans believe that they should not speak too much about, or directly refer to themselves. To place yourself in the middle of attention is considered to be self-centered, not objective, and therefore not persuasive.
There is a German figure of speech: Der Esel nennt sich immer zuerst, literally meaning the donkey always names itself first. German children are taught to say: Hans und ich … instead of Ich und Hans. Hans and I, instead of I and Hans.
German schools teach their pupils to remain analytical, objective and to leave themselves as individuals out of the discussion. Textbooks explicitly avoid the word Ich, instead recommending: “The logical conclusion follows, that …”. Or “From based on the presented arguments, one could draw the conclusion, that …”. Or “It should be noted, that …”.