--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reagan's genius as a communicator lies in…" description: "\"Reagan's genius as a communicator lies in his use of ambiguity. ... Ambiguity is the mother of Teflon.\" — Robin Lakoff" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/robin-lakoff-58439_ambiguity_reagan-s-genius-as-a-communicator-lies-i_1957177.png" --- # Reagan's genius as a communicator lies in his use of… ![“Reagan's genius as a communicator lies in his use of ambiguity. ... Ambiguity is the mother of Teflon.” quote by Robin Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/robin-lakoff-58439_ambiguity_reagan-s-genius-as-a-communicator-lies-i_1957177.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/robin-lakoff-58439_ambiguity_reagan-s-genius-as-a-communicator-lies-i_1957177.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/robin-lakoff-58439_ambiguity_reagan-s-genius-as-a-communicator-lies-i_1957177.png) > “Reagan's genius as a communicator lies in his use of ambiguity. ... Ambiguity is the mother of Teflon.” [Robin Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lakoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reagan's skill was using vague language to let audiences project their own meanings, making his messages broadly appealing. **In simple terms:** He used vague words so people could fill in their own ideas. Key Takeaway Use clear language to avoid misinterpretation. Themes communication politics ambiguity leadership Mood cautious analytical Type political rhetorical When to use this quote - political campaigns - advertising - media interviews - public speaking Key Concepts rhetoric framing public persuasion Questions to Reflect On - How does ambiguity affect trust? - When is ambiguity useful in persuasion? A Different Perspective Vagueness can lead to misunderstanding or manipulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Teflon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teflon/) ## Related quotes > [Ambiguity around ambiguity is forgivable in an unpublished poet and expected of an arts student on the pull: for a professional comedian demoting himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-webb/ambiguity-around-ambiguity-is-forgivable-in-an-unpublished-poet-and/) [Robert Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-webb/) > [Whenever there's chaos, there's ambiguity, and where there's ambiguity, there's fear. And fear gets manipulated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/whenever-there-s-chaos-there-s-ambiguity-and-where-there-s-ambiguity/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [Love is durable. It's like Teflon. ...Trust is like fine china. Secrets destroy trust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/love-is-durable-it-s-like-teflon-trust-is-like-fine-china-secrets/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [“Teflon Panty Club”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/teflon-panty-club/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Humor has always been important to me. If there is a shield of faith that you can keep up against difficulties, humor is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/humor-has-always-been-important-to-me-if-there-is-a-shield-of-faith/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There comes a time in everyones life when they discovers whether they are made of Teflon or Styrofoam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-cormack/there-comes-a-time-in-everyones-life-when-they-discovers-whether-they/) [Kim Cormack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-cormack/) > [Anything called the Teflon Corner is not sweet for free-soloing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-honnold/anything-called-the-teflon-corner-is-not-sweet-for-free-soloing/) [Alex Honnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-honnold/) > [“Part of me aches to touch her now that she's so close. But the other part, the logical part, wants to coast myself in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-campbell/part-of-me-aches-to-touch-her-now-that-she-s-so-close-but-the-other/) [Stephanie Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-campbell/) > [Donald Trump very confident in his standing with his supporters and one who could do and say anything and have it not affect him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-gonyea/donald-trump-very-confident-in-his-standing-with-his-supporters-and/) [Don Gonyea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-gonyea/) > [Spirit is the key to everything we desire. It is our weather-proofing, our Teflon, our line of credit that assures if we just keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/spirit-is-the-key-to-everything-we-desire-it-is-our-weather-proofing/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [The National Rifle Association is always arguing that the Second Amendment determines the right to bear arms. But I think it really is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/the-national-rifle-association-is-always-arguing-that-the-second/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [“Sometimes I wish I could be like Teflon. I always admired that stuff. Water beads up on it and slides off, nothing sticks. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/sometimes-i-wish-i-could-be-like-teflon-i-always-admired-that-stuff/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“The moral of this story is not everything that's slick is non-stick, and not everything non-stick is slick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alton-brown/the-moral-of-this-story-is-not-everything-that-s-slick-is-non-stick/) [Alton Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alton-brown/) > [“Your brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-hanson/your-brain-is-like-velcro-for-negative-experiences-but-teflon-for/) [Rick Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-hanson/) > [Oxytocin is a Teflon hormone - bad news rolls off it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/oxytocin-is-a-teflon-hormone-bad-news-rolls-off-it/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) ## More by Robin Lakoff > [As children, women are encouraged to be "little ladies." Little ladies don't scream as vociferously as little boys, and they are chastised more severely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lakoff/as-children-women-are-encouraged-to-be-little-ladies-little-ladies/) [Robin Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lakoff/) > [All language is political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lakoff/all-language-is-political/) [Robin Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lakoff/) > [Language uses us as much as we use language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lakoff/language-uses-us-as-much-as-we-use-language/) [Robin Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lakoff/) > [To write or speak is to communicate. To communicate is to share meanings, make them ‘common’ to all participants in the discourse. (The etymological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lakoff/to-write-or-speak-is-to-communicate-to-communicate-is-to-share/) [Robin Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lakoff/) [Explore all 5 Robin Lakoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lakoff/) ## More Ambiguity quotes > [The position is clear - there is no ambiguity in Sinn Fein's position. We, along with all the other parties, have signed up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcguinness/the-position-is-clear-there-is-no-ambiguity-in-sinn-fein-s-position/) [Martin McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcguinness/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/during-the-cold-war-we-lived-in-coded-times-when-it-wasn-t-easy-and/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I blame my grandfather 100 percent for his oldest son's death. I don't think there's any ambiguity there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/i-blame-my-grandfather-100-percent-for-his-oldest-son-s-death-i-don-t/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [I think the relationship between social-dominance orientation in people and the extent to which they're made uncomfortable by ambiguity and novelty is really important.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-think-the-relationship-between-social-dominance-orientation-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Yet again, an ancient answer echoes across the centuries: Listen! Listen to stories! For what stories do, above all else, is hold up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-kurtz/yet-again-an-ancient-answer-echoes-across-the-centuries-listen-listen/) [Ernest Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-kurtz/) > [My path to wisdom began when I stopped pretending to know things I didn't know. When I explicitly admitted to the limits of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/my-path-to-wisdom-began-when-i-stopped-pretending-to-know-things-i/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [If there is a single tragic flaw that mars our biggest enterprises, it is conservatism - the failure to fail, and fail big, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-there-is-a-single-tragic-flaw-that-mars-our-biggest-enterprises-it/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I've always been drawn to ambiguity in pop music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-furman/i-ve-always-been-drawn-to-ambiguity-in-pop-music/) [Ezra Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-furman/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-believe-that-we-can-still-have-a-genre-of-scientific-books-suitable/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I am in the utmost perplexity, yand have wished a hundred times, that if there is a A God, nature would manifest him without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/i-am-in-the-utmost-perplexity-yand-have-wished-a-hundred-times-that/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There's a lot of ambiguity in life, and so often, our art is very neatly wrapped up at the end, when our lives never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-coon/there-s-a-lot-of-ambiguity-in-life-and-so-often-our-art-is-very/) [Carrie Coon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-coon/) > [“Man must not attempt to dispel the ambiguity of his being but, on the contrary, accept the task of realizing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/man-must-not-attempt-to-dispel-the-ambiguity-of-his-being-but-on-the/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Browse all 431 Ambiguity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Reagan's genius as a communicator lies in his use of ambiguity. ... 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