Persuasive Speaking: Reputation Protection Part 3 - Five "Quick Fixes" to Safeguard Your Client

In Part 1 (Do Speakers Need a Reputation Czar?) I pointed out that many high-profile speakers end up looking bad because their personal staff and public relation advisers fail to make sure the speaker is ready for "prime time."

In Part 2 (Why Staff & PR Pros Fail to Protect the Speaker) I identified six triggers that produce poor counsel.

Here then are 5 tactics you can do to protect your speaker's reputation:

1. Be clear about what the speaker wants to accomplish in the speech or interview. Thendetermine what conditions you'll need for that to happen. In Secretary Geithner's Wall Street presentation, for example, a major goal was to reassure investors that the administration's rescue plan would work. A necessary condition to get investor buy-in was a detailed plan. Instead, investors got generalities. 
2. Become the audience. Ask the questions they'll be thinking: So what? Who cares? See your speaker's actions through the listeners' experiences. Perhaps using the corporate jet does save money for General Motors in terms of the CEO's time, but that's not part of the listeners' experience.  Note: If you're too close to the speaker and having trouble thinking like the audience, bring in someone who can. 
3. List your speaker's vulnerabilities. As you think like the audience, you'll discover soft points in the speaker's thinking or inconsistencies in his or her actions. Write them down. Then decide how to eliminate or neutralize them.
4. Know your speaker's comfort level and don't exceed it. For example, in Governor Jindal's response to President Obama's Address to Congress, the staging required him to speak directly into the camera for several minutes while standing in place. That unnatural staging would have been hard for even a good actor to pull off, let alone Governor Jindal. 
5. If something doesn't work in rehearsal, change it. In these high-profile situations, rehearsal time is often short. If your speaker is still having trouble with a word, phrase, or movement after two or three tries, change it or move on. Trying to "get it right" is unlikely to succeed and will lead to heightened frustration.

  Applying these five tactics well will help your speaker accomplish the desired objective.