Speak to Lead

Listening to media pundits: heard any ultracrepidarians lately?

Ultracrepidarian. How could I have spent over 30 years dealing with the news media and not been aware of this term? Thanks to my 365 Amazing Trivia Facts Calendar (Workman Publishing), I've now been enlightened!

Ultracrepidarian: a person who voices opinions beyond his or her scope of knowledge. 

The U.S. debt ceiling crisis has provided experts a media interview heyday. But were the "experts" expert? Or were they ultracrepidarians? Or an accountant waiting for a job interview?

I recall sitting in the green room of a network affiliate here in Washington, DC. I was with a client awaiting her appearance on the morning show. Suddenly a producer rushed

Media training: Storming out of a '60 Minutes' interview

Ragan's PR Daily post Watch interview subjects storm out of '60 Minute' interviews by Kevin Allen contains a video (also included below) featuring some of the walk-off highlights from '60 Minutes' history.

If you or one of your clients is being interviewed by '60 Minutes' and feels an urge to get up and walk off, here's some advice from Steve Kroft. Note his answer to the following question:

Q. When [someone walks off] do you feel the promise of a great story happening before your eyes, or do you feel a sense of failure?

A. I think it depends on the point at which they walk out. If they walk out in the first 10 minutes of the interview, you don't have a piece. If they walk out toward the end of the interview, then you've got a lot of material and you've got a piece. And you don't have to write the ending! 

So what's the message? Well, first of all if you've been properly prepared for the interview, you won't have to walk out. But if you haven't been prepared (If you aren't prepared is it hubris or stupidity that is causing you to do the interview?) and are doing poorly, better to cut your losses early.

 

Media Interviews: Getting Off Message - 5 Reasons Interviewees Stray from the Message

If you are about to do an interview, or are coaching someone who is, keep in mind these situations that can cause you to go off message.

1. Not having any messages. Hard to stay on message when you don't have any. Who would do that? Someone who thinks an interview is just a reporter-asks-a-question, interviewee-answers-it situation.
2. Forgetting (or never having had) the result they want from the interview. If you keep the result in mind, you'll be more likely to do what you need to to get that result, namely, staying on message.
3. Reacting when the reporter pushes your hot buttons. (See my post, Why News Guests Screw Up-Part 2)
4. Not comfortable with the messages. Unless you feel comfortable with the messages, off message will be the more familiar and easier place to be. That's why it's important to personalize and practice the messages.
5. Failure to learn and rehearse methods of transitioning back to message if you start to get sidetracked.

Success in interviews depends on knowing the result you want, having messages that are relevant and interesting, and staying on them.

Media Training: Why Jackson, Gramm & Other Experienced News Guests Screw Up-Part 2

In Part 1 we discussed the problem of you becoming your own worst enemy in an interview situation

Here are the 5 conditions that can trigger the you-as-your-worst-enemy response. And what you can do to avoid or minimize the impact.

1. Being tired physically. It's no secret that people are more accident prone when physically tired than when rested. Mental acuity and emotional resilience are decreased. The likelihood of a misstatement, inappropriate comment, and testy response is increased.
   
   What to Do: Arrange your schedule to include rest time, especially immediately before a key interview. If crossing several time zones, arrive earlier. If you do choose a tiring schedule, commit to staying on message relentlessly, and keep the interviews short.
   
   
2. Growing tired of the message(s). Not much of a problem if you're doing only the occasional interview. But as the number increases and the time between the interviews decreases (gotta love the rapid fire pace of satellite tours), it's easy to get tired of what you're saying.
   
   You have a strong desire to change the message. An urge to be spontaneous. I hate spontaneity...unless it's been written out, memorized, and rehearsed.
   
   What to Do: Remind yourself--before each interview--of the result you want. If you stay result focused, you'll stay on message.

Media Training: Why Jackson, Gramm & Other Experienced News Guests Screw Up-Part 1

Why do experienced news guests screw up?

Last week we saw two prime examples.

Jesse Jackson expressed an intention to castrate Barack Obama (view previous post).

Former Senator Phil Gramm, a top economic advisor to John McCain , told us the only recession was a "mental recession" and called Americans "whiners." (He later said he was referring to the news media.)

How could two intelligent, articulate, media savvy guys get in so much trouble? Why does any spokesperson who "should know better" slip up?

The famous Pogo cartoon of several years ago suggests the answer. "I have met the enemy, and he is us."

In 3 decades working with the news media, I've observed 5 conditions that trigger most self-destructive media interview behavior. These 5 also

Media Training: Jesse Jackson's Gaffe or No Matter How Experienced You Are, Ignore the Basics & You'll Get Caught

On behalf of myself and all media trainers, I want to thank the Reverend Jesse Jackson for demonstrating what can happen when one ignores a basic Media Training 101 principle:

From the moment you step inside a studio, or the news crew arrives at your door, assume the microphone is on and the camera is recording. Anything you say can be used.

While sitting in a Fox News studio waiting to be interviewed, Jackson made a disparaging and crude comment about presidential candidate Barack Obama to another guest (see interview below).

The microphone was on. The camera was recording. Jackson was quoted.

Sadly, Jackson doesn't get it. In his apology to Obama he said, "...any harm or hurt that this hot mic private conversation may have caused..."

Private conversation?! In a TV news studio, miked up, sitting in a chair waiting to be interviewed?

Reverend Jackson, a suggestion. Instead of a feeble attempt to blame the media, why not try taking personal responsibility for your screw up?

Media Training: Interview Mistakes to Avoid - Lessons from Obama Adviser's 'Off the Record' Comment

Obama adviser Samantha Power, a Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize winner, resigned from the campaign today and apologized for referring to Hillary Clinton as a monster during an interview with a Scottish newspaper.

Where did Power go wrong, and how can you avoid the same fate?

1. Power: "[Clinton] is a monster, too -- that is off the record -- she is stooping to anything.... " Speaking "off the record" is like playing Russian roulette with bullets in five of the chambers. Trying to make it retroactive is playing with bullets in all six chambers. (Just ask Hillary Clinton. She tried it while first lady during an interview with women reporters, and failed.) Don't play Off the Record.
2. Just because you're intelligent and experienced (Power was a war correspondent for The Boston Globe and The Economist for 3 years.) doesn't relieve you of the need to know the result you want from the interview and know your messages. Then stay on message.
3. Power said she was tired from the red-eye flight. Fatigued persons tend to be more irritable and more likely to go off message and lose control. Don't schedule interviews when you're likely to be tired.

Speakers as Myth Busters: Destroy Myth with Truth (And Beware of Creating the Myth by Joking with Reporters)

This has little to do with speaking, unless you are referencing Harry S (or is it S period?) Truman. In that case here is your chance to be a myth buster.

I was taught that since the "S" was not short for a specific name (his parents gave him the S in honor of both his grandfathers), it was to stand by itself without being followed by a period. Made sense to me.

But according to a  Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum & Library article, that is a myth; Truman used the period when writing his name. 

The myth may have been started by Harry S. himself when he was joking with the press. A good reason to be careful about using humor when talking with reporters. They may miss the joke.

Media Training: Stand for Phone Interviews

For years I have encouraged clients to stand when doing a phone interview, for two reasons:

1. Standing--and often moving--enables you to project more energy in your voice. The reporter will perceive you as more interested in, and committed to, what you're saying.
2. Since most people don't stand when making calls, standing is a reminder that you are in an interview with a reporter, not chatting with a friend or colleague. You are more alert to staying on message.
   And now, after finding an old memo today while clearing out some files, I have a third reason:
3. You'll be able to react faster.

The memo was written by Andrea Meyer, a researcher for

Reporter's Problem--Right Facts, Wrong Conclusion

Sometimes reporters get the facts right, but draw the wrong conclusion. Slate Magazine columnist Jack Shafer's article, Howie Kurtz? This Is Rewrite is a great example I stumbled upon.

It's worth reading for a couple of reasons. First, for those of you of younger years, you'll get a historical perspective of a newspaper's rewrite desk in the days before cell phones, laptops, and the internet. Second, Shafer's critique of a piece by media critic Howard Kurtz shows the value of feedback from readers who come to the piece "cold." They may catch messages the writer misses.