Media-Savvy

Recently President Bush held a press conference and was asked if he had heard that gasoline prices could soon hit $4 per gallon — a prediction that had been broadcast widely on news reports and splashed across front pages nationwide.  Whether he knew the answer or just hoped that the question would go away, his response was a shaky, “Oh yeah? That’s interesting, I hadn’t heard that.”  Not too media savvy.  At that point, whatever the original reason for the press conference, it was lost as the volume of that sound bite drowned out any other effort to stay on message.  This was a case where there probably should have been a bit more media interview coaching by a trusted staff.

It’s a wake up call for any encounter with the media or delivering any internal presentation.  Inevitably you will hear questions that you would rather not answer.  And pleading ignorance will only sour your entire message.  So once again the solution is preparation, but not just rehearsing your own lines, let someone be brutally honest with you by throwing out the questions that you might not want to hear.  This requires putting your ego aside and allowing you to formulate the right responses.  This is NOT something that you can do looking in a mirror by yourself.

It’s also essential that you pretend you are the one asking the questions and do some research.  You have access to all the same information that anyone else does via the internet.  We even tell people to listen to gossip.  You don’t have to react to it, just know what’s out there.  You can prepare to be interviewed and present like the pros (in some cases apparently, better than the pros) if you keep your eyes and ears open to what you can expect from others.

When historians, or just Monday morning quarterbacks, do their post script on the outcome of the fight to be the Democratic nominee this year, I predict that attention will turn to what the candidates didn’t say, as much as what they did. As Hillary Clinton continues to look for the “March Miracle” she has no doubt been told the best way to be prepared to be interviewed was to know the points you’re trying to make and get them in no matter what the cost. The problem with that strategy is that anyone runs the risk of looking combative, pushy and whiny — a distinction that Hillary in particular, has been battling throughout the campaign.

Obama’s approach to media exposure in an environment such as a debate or appearance on a news show, is to let the questioner come to him with a subject, answer the question and then stop! Granted, that is the luxury of being a front runner, but it’s also very a media savvy strategy to know when to make your points and when to shut up. This is especially the case in our sound bite obsessed world, where an out of context ramble can be deadly and can ultimately jeopardize you getting your message across.

When we do interview media training we live by the 30 second rule. There is very little you can say that is worth more than a 30 second answer. Not only does this keep you from droning on, it means that will have to stay focused on answering the question and that’s it — no time for making extra points that are off message. Sure no one is perfect and even the most rehearsed politicians, celebrities and executives can get carried away with themselves from time to time, but knowing that less is probably more, is more often than not the surest way to your win your own campaign.

Everyone needs a story (or two) .

It’s as important as what you do, what you wear or what you look like. When we do media interview coaching for an actor or actress to go on the Letterman show, the first thing we do as part of our media strategy is to ask them to start telling us stories. Stories about their families, friends, first jobs, their latest movies, whatever. Believe me not all of what we hear from the biggest stars are gems. Some are dreadfully boring with very little punchline. But it’s a game of numbers the more they come up with the greater chance that we will find one worth repeating. Sometimes it can take hours to come up with six or seven good ones, but when they hit — BAM you know it’s a homerun!!!

The same theory applies to anyone who gets up before strangers you are trying to impress, whether it’s at a cocktail party or in front of 1,000 people — you need to get your stories down. You know the ones that work time after time.

Here is a game that everyone should play who is even considering media coaching. Watch your favorite talk-show, Leno, Letterman, Ellen and try and come up with a story that you think would be a hit on one of those shows. When you find it, I’ll bet you can adapt it as your own anecdote for any presentation. Try it out on your wife, husband or a friend or better yet try it out in this blog and we’ll tell you what will probably work as a story that makes you interesting, engaging and the kind of person that someone would want to know more about. It’s the first step in getting “booked” on the road to your own presentation success.

Media Savvy is a 10 year old media training and consulting company specializing in preparing people from all walks of life to go into the spotlight and come out shining.  While there are thousands of blogs about the media out there, the Media Savvy blog is designed to put a critical eye on who is saying what and why their message is getting through or not.  We’ll take a daily assessment of how those who should know about delivering their messages, often stumble and fall flat on their public faces.  It’s perspective that you can’t get at the water cooler, but after reading our viewpoints, you might want to run back to that cooler and impress the crowd with how wise and insightful you are.So join us and talk back — the TV won’t listen, but we will.