Frank Luntz

Guide Note: Frank Luntz is an American political consultant, pollster, and author. He wrote the book Words That Work, which addresses the issue of effective communication skills.

Frank Luntz directed over 500 focus groups in a five year time period to better understand how people communicate. He then used the knowledge gained from those groups to create his own form of speech, coming up with terms like "energy exploration" and "deep sea energy exploration."

During the 2000, and 2004, Presidential Election Luntz caused global warming to be discredited by comments he made about the scientific data surrounding the issue.

Luntz has since distanced himself from the Bush Administration and admits that he feels humans have contributed towards global warming. However, he still stands by the recommendations he made during those time periods because the scientific data was not sound.

Frank Luntz has carried out focus groups overseas for the Irish state broadcaster RTE, for the BBC, and one between the ruling Australian Coalition and the opposing Labor party.

Luntz faced criticism in 1997, when he was reprimanded by the American Association for Public Opinion Research after he refused to release data from a poll he conducted. He cited that it was because of client confidentiality.

In 2000, Frank Luntz was censored by the National Council on Public Polls after he appeared on MSNBC and mischaracterized results from a poll he conducted in 2000, during the Republican Convention.

In 2004, Luntz was dropped from the live coverage of the presidential debate covered by MSNBC.

Luntz appeared on Today on April 16, 2008, to discuss the language the presidential candidates used during the 2008 Primaries. Fast Facts:

1. Name: Frank I. Luntz
2. Born: February 23, 1962
3. Attended the University of Pennsylvania
4. President and CEO of Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research
5. 2005: Carried out a focus group on the Conservative leadership race on the BBC
6. 2007: Carried out a focus group with the Irish state broadcaster RTE
7. 2007: Australian focus group between the ruling Coalition and the opposing Labor party.