In this clip, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, when pressed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN to describe differences between the economic policies of Senator McCain and Senator Obama, stumbles, painfully. To make matters worse, he actually puts his train of thought into words, which sounds awkward and uniformed. To make matters worse, when he finally raised an issue, Wolf was able to swiftly counter the issue.
The real shame of this is that Governor Sanford is an intelligent and articulate elected official, and due to the instant access to everything that runs on television, this is the clip that will appear for a while you "Google" (or "Yahoo" or "Ask") his name. This did not have to be the case. The lesson here is to always implement the 3 P’s of public speaking — Prepare, Practice and Proceed. The reality is that we all freeze or draw a blank on occasion, and that is ok — with preparation and practice you will ALWAYS be able to maneuver your way out of a "mind blank."
Whether you are running for President or local school board, whether you are the CEO or a front line employee, every time you speak you are representing your organization, your personal brand and yourself. It is critical to prepare and practice EVERY time prior to speaking. Ultimately, the entire package of "you" - what you say, how you say it, where you say it, when you say it, what your body says, and the list goes on and on, — is the message, each and every time your mouth opens.
In this age, when YouTube allows for the instant posting of each and everything someone says, you owe it to yourself to prepare and practice, even if only for a few minutes (my advice would be substantially more time due to the fact that the ability to communicate effectively is not given nearly enough attention). Failure to follow the 3 P’s usually results in failure to deliver your message.
This clip has run rampant on the ‘net for the past 48 hours. In it, Fox News Contributor Liz Trotta, commenting on the Democratic Primary, when criticizing Senator Clinton, “Some are reading [Senator Clinton’s comments] as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama…,uhh,…Obama… Well…both if we could!”
There is a whole lesson on hypocrisy here if you listen to the whole clip, as Trotta spends her time deriding Clinton, and when talking about Clinton’s RFK gaffe this week, says “Whether she meant it or not, she’s tone deaf!” Remember, you are the message, and if you accuse someone of something, you better make sure you aren’t guilty of it yourself.
From a public speaking perspective, it is obvious that Trotta’s thoughts had jumped ahead of her mouth, which happens to everyone, and is one of the main reasons that when speaking in public you take your time with words and PAUSE so that slips like this do not happen.
For all of those who believe that talking heads and pundits can get away with saying anything, watch how this plays out….
This clip speaks for itself. This is another example of the changing dynamic new media and new mediums have brought to how we receive information. Clips like this no longer go away altogether, or appear only on a "Banned on TV" VHS tape or DVD.
Joe Roberts is the 55 year old Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly. When you Google "Speaker Joe Roberts gets technology" nothing relevant comes up. That’s a shame, because he definitely “gets” technology.
Roberts has come up with an innovative, and long overdue, use of the video medium, and YouTube, to create a video press release.
This is not a campaign video - it doesn’t appear that Roberts is running for election this year. What it is a successful attempt to bring press releases into the 21st Century. How is this different than a traditional press release?
Let’s start with the some of the most important points — it is much more personal and considerably more authentic. It allows viewers to watch your movement, read your body language, your eyes, and the inner dialogue that is often visible but rarely written about. Accountability - it requires you to directly own what you say — no more blaming an aide or a journalist for a misstatement.
You have to interact with another medium, the camera, as well as the person operating it. If forces you to focus your message — appearing scattered or too detailed in this medium is a guarantee that viewers will tune you out.
What are the risks in doing this as opposed to issuing another press release? It makes messaging and presentation more important than ever. What are some of the benefits? People are more likely to listen and pay attention. Your delivery and message give you a real opportunity to stand out from the information blast that comes at us every day — not to mention that your release won’t be removed from the fax and thrown in the garbage (the reality for the vast majority of press releases).
Political leaders should take heed — if you want to be effective, if you want to get your message across, this is what the future looks like.
Kudos to Joe Roberts for having foresight, the initiative to take a dying medium and breathing new and creative life into it, and for having the guts to take a risk. It worked.
Are you tired of having one way conversations with people where you feel that you are talking “at” people, or that people are talking “at” you? Are your afraid that your message will never break through the clutter of information that comes at us 24/7? Interested in how people feel about your issue, or issues?
Queen Rania of Jordan illustrates the way to prevent that from happening. She is not running for office. She is not “pitching” anything directly. She is not “pushing” information on people. Instead, what she is doing is engaging in an interactive dialogue — and not on the easiest or least controversial of subjects.
Her message is crystal clear — clear up perceived misconceptions concerning the Arab community. The jury is still out on how successful the project will be, as this is only the first installment, however Queen Rania should be commended for even making the attempt.
Yesterday the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, testified before the Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, and today before the Senate Banking Committee.
There were two very serious issues on agenda, the Bear Stearns bailout and the possibility of recession.
The Fed Chairman, regardless of who occupied the seat, has always had the power to move international markets dramatically with one statement. Communications and messaging skills are crucial for this position, as how you say it is sometimes, if not always, as important as what you say.
Watch the two clips from the past two days. Chairman Bernanke is clearly reading prepared remarks, making very little effort to make any eye contact at all.
The Chairman crossed his arms, uncomfortably, for the majority of his testimony. His voice is a flat line monotone, with absolutely no inflection in it at all.
The fact is if you listen to the testimony the news was not all negative. There was some reassurance in the words written before him; however the verbal and non-verbal cues were far from reassuring.
Imagine this same presentation, but rather than a monotone, there was inflection, solemn where necessary and upbeat where appropriate (and there were definitely appropriate times).
Rather than sitting with arms crossed, arms open, being a bit more expressive. If the Chairman made eye contact, took time in between thoughts, repeated key messages — such as ‘I remain confident in our economy’s long term prospects.”
To quote from a legend of public speaking success, Roger Ailes, “You are the message.” When you are sending a different message than the words you are speaking, you are not delivering the message you think you are.
When you establish your brand and message based on a trait - such as experience - the worst thing you can do is to bring that trait into question. More than anything, this is a great example of coming off message, especially at this point in a political horse race.
While this is a political clip in the middle of a heated campaign, this rule goes for everyone, no matter what your position. Take great care in establishing your message, as it is crucial and as long as you take to create it, it can be ruined in a matter of minutes. Just ask Eliot Spitzer.
This clip ran on Jim Cramer’s show “Mad Money” on CNBC within the past two weeks. For those unfamiliar with the show, Jim takes calls and emails from readers asking his advice on different securities and financial instruments.
Unfortunately for those listening last week, a lot of money was lost. Within a week of Jim saying that Bear Stearns would a) not go bankrupt b) probably be taken over and most importantly c) do not worry, or sell, Bear Stearns stock, the company, well…everyone now knows what happened to Bear.
This could potentially be a disaster for Jim, as his reputation is one of looking out for the individual investor, the “little guy”, and even though his show and books carry all kinds of disclaimers, the fact is that when takes as emphatic a stand as he did on Bear, fans will listen, and this time it cost them….a lot!
From a messaging standpoint, the problem was that Cramer did not remember his audience and the potential downside that they could face, when everyone was dealing with limited information. Less emphatic an answer, less damage, and less loss of credibility in the long run.
What is even more interesting is this clip from the Today show following Eliot Spitzer’s fall from grace. In this clip, an emotional Jim Cramer talks about his friend’s trials and tribulations — pay attention at the mid-point of this clip, about 1:23 in…
“I don’t want to come on and say he’s a good man, ’cause no one likes him now…”
Not a very convincing response. A sharp contrast to the Cramer commenting on Bear Stearns.
This is not a shot at Cramer at all. Cramer has built his reputation on consistency and honesty. However, Cramer notes in the second clip that “…this is awkward for me, it’s different than the market…”
Probably not very reassuring for his fans that stayed invested in Bear. If you are a public figure, you are your message 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Today at 11:30 am, embattled New York Governor Eliot Spitzer finally resigned after what seemed like an eternity since it was revealed that he has used, as recently as 30 days ago, the services of escorts.
It was bad enough when Mr.Spitzer, upon being faced with the charges on Monday, gave a very, very vague, unapologetic statement, and forced his wife to stand at the podium with him. I have been asked by numerous reporters over the past few days what damage control Mr.Spitzer could have possibly done, or how he should handle the crisis.
The answer is an easy one.
Resign. Immediately. End of story.
What Mr.Spitzer failed to realize was that he had fundamentally betrayed his brand, and his message, upon which he has staked his entire career. Spitzer was relentlessly on message, and his message was that of THE crime fighter, the white knight, the superhero pursuing any and all villains.
The standard crisis communications solution is to do exactly what he did, stand with your wife, whom you just humiliated, at a podium and issue an apology. What Spitzer failed to realize was that his indiscretion was different, the situation was different, and the only thing he could have done is resign immediately and hope to limit the number of media cycles in which he would be the lead story.
From a public speaking standpoint, Mr.Spitzer has evidently learned very little over the past few days as his lack of remorse or emotion in his speech(s), what appears to be his focus more on his position that on what he has done to his family, and what was really a political speech rather than a public apology can easily make one call his sincerity into question.
So what public speaking/message development lessons can be learned from this situation?
1. Never, never, never base your message and your brand on a lie or falsehood. Once you are branded a hypocrite, you have passed the point of no return.
2. Don’t apologize unless you mean it. The appearance of insincerity is worse than no appearance at all.
3. There are no textbook cases when dealing with a crisis. Every situation requires a different strategy, and not every situation has a solution.
