Media-Savvy

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.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Media Coaching, Media Consulting, Media Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.