It is important to look good and reflect a positive outlook about your industry during an interview. It is equally important to know the most current facts about your industry seconds before the interview takes place. If you do not know the most current information you run the risk of looking foolish if a story has been released and you know nothing about it.

Let’s review. After the Kentucky Derby race where Big Brown won and Eight Belles had to be put to sleep, an interview was conducted by Bob Costas in the winners circle with David Novak, president of one of the sponsors who seemed unaware of the tragedy that was going on around him. He said, “Well, Bob, what a great day for the commonwealth of Kentucky and the world. On behalf of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver’s and A&W, Yum Brands is the proud sponsor of the greatest event in the world. Thank you very much.” (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/07/business/sponsor.php)  He expressed his joy and excitement about the win for Big Brown, yet seemed to ignore the sad moment of Eight Belles. Most viewers thought it was a PR move to avoid any negative feelings. The truth, he had no idea that Eight Belles had been euthanized. The result was devastating however. People were furious with him according to the International Herald Tribune, one viewer said, “Based on the YUM reps’ disgraceful smiling and product plugging - while Eight Belles was dying yards away from them - I’ll never buy ANY of their products again.” (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/07/business/sponsor.php)  Yikes!
           In hindsight it seems like an honest mistake. In actuality this type of blunder is easily avoidable. Any time you are going to make a TV appearance make sure you know what is going on around you. If you are doing a phone interview, go to Google and see if any news stories recently came out about your industry. If you are at a conference, ask for a newspaper, or simply pay attention to discussions going on that may affect you.

Question from a reader:

 TJ, why do you recommend that people never say “no comment”…there are plenty of times when we need to say that we decline to comment on something (pending litigation is a good example).

TJ Response:  

Barack Obama and his wife are great communicators and wonderful speakers. I like them both. But for the love of hanging chads, could somebody, PLEASE, tell them that “I” can not be the object of a preposition? Last night on CNN Michelle Obama said “for I” and then this morning on the Today Show Barack Obama said “for I.” What they said after that I couldn’t tell you because my teeth were still hurting so much. Come on, you are both Harvard Law grads. It is “for me, for me, for me!” It can never be “for Michelle and I” or “for Barack and I.” Now, me glad me got that off my chest.

Paulette Dean Daly, former wife of golfer John Daly, was asked yesterday if she had had an affair with the married baseball great Roger Clemens. Here was here response:

“You know what, I’m really uncomfortable talking about this. I’m just going to have to say ‘no comment’. I know Roger. I consider him a good friend. That’s all I’m comfortable saying.”

All of her “no comfortables” and “no comments” make her look guilty as sin, when it comes to this particular sin. Daly might as well have produced naked sex videos of her and Clemens. What she should have said was simply “Roger and I are good friends and I wish him and his family the best” and then shut her mouth. Don’t say “I’m not comfortable” and for goodness sakes, don’t say “no comment.” Ever!

So how did Barack Obama do in his handling of the Rev Wright Fiasco?

I give him an “A” for properly distancing himself from Wright’s past and current statements. I give him a “C” in terms of positioning himself against Wright for the future. And a “D- in terms of his ability to be positive and change the whole terms of the debate. Overall grade for handling this media crisis: “C+”

For starters, Obama did an excellent job of delivering sound bites using excellent emotion and absolutes in denouncing Rev. Wright’s inflammatory comments. Here are the best sound bites Obama said yesterday:

“…when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st century, when he equates the United States wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses. They offend me. They rightly offend all Americans. And they should be denounced. And that’s what I’m doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.”

“His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church.”

“And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought, either.”

“I’ve already denounced the comments…”

“…an exploitation of those old divisions…”

“Reverend Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks.”

“…when I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it. It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am.”

“…it is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to take this country.”

“But the insensitivity and the outrageousness, of his statements and his performance in the question-and-answer period yesterday, I think, shocked me. It surprised me.”

“But I feel very strongly that — well, I want to make absolutely clear that I do not subscribe to the views that he expressed. I believe they are wrong. I think they are destructive.”

“…what Reverend Wright said yesterday directly contradicts everything that I’ve done during my life.”

“All it was, was a bunch of rants that — that aren’t grounded in truth, and you know, I can’t construct something positive out of that. I can understand it. I, you know, the — you know, people do all sorts of things.”

All in all, these are high quality sound bites, filled with emotion, absolutes, and passion—all of them irresistible to reporters looking for a quote in a story. No fair minded person can seriously conclude that Obama endorses Wright’s world view.
When it comes to separating himself from Wright of the present, I give Obama an A+ for his sound bites.

But, where I fault Obama is not giving stronger and more memorable sound bites to inoculate himself from Wright in the future. I would have urged him to say something like this:

“I pledge to the American people that if I am elected president, I will do everything I can to make sure Rev Wright has no impact on my administration’s policies. I will make sure he never steps foot onto the hallowed grounds of the White House. Furthermore any member of my administration who invites Rev. Wright to the White house or even calls him for advice will be summarily fired.”

That is a sound bite that would be widely quoted and would allay people’s concerns that Wright might have influence in the future.

Finally, I think Obama did a poor job of repositioning the issue to force the media to move beyond it. He should have said something like this:

“I have denounced my supporter, Rev. Wright’s extremist views in the most forceful manner possible, yet my opponent, John McCain, has not had to denounce the bigotry of his supporter, Rev John Hagee’s numerous bigoted remarks, nor has John McCain been asked to denounce his support, Rev. Jerry Falwell’s remarks that America deserved 9-11 because we are pro-choice. Why the double standard? I want the American voters to start demanding that the media end this double standard. Enough is enough.”

A statement like this would have forced the media to go on the defensive, changed the dynamic of the story, and forced Sen. McCain to go on the defensive, plus it would have reframed the entire issue in more neutral terms. It would also give Obama defenders a chance to feel like they are on the moral high ground and to move on the attack against the media and other political opponents.

Does anyone know of an expert in starting ad networks? I am looking to start an ad network focusing on web sites that deal with the following topics: speaking, public speaking, presentations, powerpoint and media training. If you know of anyone, please have them contact me at tj@tjwalker.com.

While I was at a cocktail party last night on 14th street in Manhattan, a publicist told me the following: “I don’t want to be on TV ever! I want to be behind the scenes. I’d hate to be a celebrity. They have awful lives. Nothing in their life can be kept secret. Please don’t ask me to ever be interviewed or to give speeches.”

Now, this attitude is an affront to my very being; and it’s a very rare attitude to hear from someone working in Manhattan in media circles. But, this publicist’s perspective is a completely normal attitude held by the vast major of Americans and other psychologically healthy people around the globe.

Two quick thoughts came to mind when I heard the publicist make this comment:

1. There is nothing wrong with valuing privacy rights above fame and fortune , and

2. It’s insanely hard to actually become famous. You don’t become famous with one interview or speech or even with 1000.

Personally, I’ve been interviewed thousands of times and/or interviewed people thousands of times. Yet I am hardly a celebrity. The only way I could get in People Magazine now is if I were to kidnap Britney Spears children.

In a fragmented media world of thousands of reality shows, and a gazillions of web sites, it’s actually harder to become a celebrity these days—not easier. And part of the process is sitting through numerous profile interviews.

One of the central elements of the celebrity manufacturing machine is the full profile interview. In a full profile interview, you often sit with a reporter for several hours; sometimes over several days or even weeks. This type of an interview is much more revealing and personal than, say, a quick interview regarding a new product launch. Unlike an interview where you are a spokesperson for a product or a company, in a profile interview, you are acting as a spokesperson for your own life. The pressure is greater in interviews like this. There is also more time for self-doubts to set in like, “Oh my god, the reporter is asking me what music is on my iPod—I’ll look like a fool if I confess I have nothing more recent on my iPod than Led Zeppelin.”

The rules of how to handle yourself in a media interview still apply during a profile interview, but it requires greater discipline due to their often lengthy nature. There are more opportunities to get too cozy with the reporter and start saying foolish, quotable things. You must still have a focused message and deliver compelling sound bites. But you’ve also got to be really interesting as a person, or the whole interview could get spiked.

So how would I let myself be profiled? See for yourself. I recently sat for several hours over a couple of days with a feature writer in Charlotte, NC.

http://www.mediatrainingworldwide.com/press-charlotte2.pdf

According to the New York Times today, “Nokia, based in Finland, said it surveyed 9,000 consumers last year and concluded that by 2012 one out of every four consumers will create, edit or share entertainment with friends, instead of getting it from traditional media outlets like television or movie studios.”

The significance? It means the ability to speak–on camera–is going to go from being seen as a luxury skill to a basic, essential skill. 35 years ago, an executive graduating from a top law or business school who knew how to type was viewed as having a special, obscure talent. These days, anyone graduating from any school who can’t type is considered an unemployable fool.

Will the ability to speak clearly and confidently in front of a video capture device some day be considered as basic a skill as today’s typing?

Absolutely! So you better get used to it.

Sometimes a reporter will call under deadline and your goal is to get as many quotes in the article, while at the same time, eating up the clock to make it unnecessary and undesirable for the reporter to call your competitors for a quote. Below is a link to a story where I was interviewed for a story by Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2008/04/21/ceo-corporate-image-lead-manage-cx_mk_0421tv.html

In this particular case, the reporter told me that he was posting the story in just a few hours. I therefore deduced that he didn’t have lots of time to call every media trainer around. I didn’t have a message I cared about getting into the story, but I wanted to get lots of real estate in the story–and make sure my competitors didn’t. So in this case, I broke the normal procedure by taking the call and doing the interview immediately. I went into full sound bite mode in an attempt to overwhelm the reporter with great choices for column filler.

Below are my actual quotes that made it into the story along with an analysis of the sound bite elements that made them quotable for the reporter:

“It’s not like when Lee Iacocca (#1 pop culture reference) could buy (#2 action oriented) an ad on three networks (#3 specific example) and hit (#4 action-oriented) the whole world (#5 absolute) in 1979 when everyone (#6 absolute) would see it,” Walker said, adding that this is the one task a CEO can’t simply assign.

“A CEO can delegate (#7 action-oriented) sales, accounting (#7 action-oriented), marketing (#8 action-oriented), but the one thing (#9 absolute) that the CEO cannot delegate is speaking (#10 action-oriented) on behalf of a whole organization (#11 absolute) to the entire world (#12 absolute).”
 

One dozen sound bite elements–in under 5 minutes. That’s how you don’t end up on the cutting room floor.

I need someone who can make “The wisdom of Your Audience” come alive with pictures. Please send me suggestions tj@tjwalker.com