Marwell & Schmitt's Influence Tactics - Punishment - Bill Gates; The Next Outbreak? We're Not Ready

I like to hear the opinions of men like Bill Gates because I feel like they have a global view of what is going on in our world much more than I do.  I don't travel the world or have relationships with the movers and shakers of the world.  My influence is limited to a very local, personal level.  Yet, what happens on a global scale could impact us all.

Bill Gates' talk on the possibilities of the next outbreak is a good example of Marwell & Schmitt's Influence Tactic of punishment.  You get the feel for where this talk is going through the title and you understand that there will be punishment and fear woven through his speech.

Mr. Gates begins with a story from the past of the fear of a nuclear attack and the measures put into place to deter such an attack.  He believes that the next event that will kill millions of people won't be a nuclear weapon but a micro-organism for which we have built no defense system.  We are not ready for the next epidemic.  He then goes on to tell of other epidemics and the loss of human life attached to each.  He talks about the measure that could have been in place to help with such an event, measures that are still not being implemented.  He calls this a global failure.

Mr. Gates alludes to the hollywood version of an epidemic where handsome scientist move in and save the day and he warns that that would not be the case in real life.  He warns that the failure to prepare could allow the next epidemic to be dramatically worse that the recent Ebola outbreak.  He mentions bio-terrorism as a means to spread a virus as well as the mobile nature of society today. He shows a model of how the Spanish Flu spread worldwide killing over 33 million people in less than one year back in 1918.  This gives proof and credibility to his current epidemic fears.

Mr. Gates next talks about all the tools we currently have to build a defense system against the next outbreak.  He appeals to our sense of being overwhelmed by the enormity of this defense system by making it sound like it is something we have the tools for and can do right now.  He compares preparing for an epidemic like we prepare for war.  Mr. Gates believes the cost for developing this defense system could be very small compared to the potential harm such an epidemic would cause. He warns that time is not on our side so we need to get going.

Mr. Gates believes that if we start now we can be ready for the next epidemic.  The punishments for not being prepared for the next epidemic will be a catastrophic loss of life, trillions of dollars lost to the global economy, and millions more in debt.  He uses easy to understand statistics which appeal to his audience on a cognitive level.  His use of a personal story from his childhood helps with the affective consequence and puts his audience in touch with what he is saying on a affective level.

Mr. Gates uses process premises skillfully as he appeals to our need to feel safe and to feel a sense of power.  The main emotion he uses is fear, fear to motivate us to avoid the eventual and absolute consequences.  He is skillful in his use of attitudes as he describes the attitudes of the past generations and the need to shift our attitudes to the current threats of the world.  He employes cognitive dissonance as he talks about the economic loss and the uncertainty of predictions of future events. At the same time, he gives his audience the sense that we can do this, we can avoid this future disaster and develop a defense plan that will ensure our security and reward us with victory over this invisible threat.