Nationally televised news media provides the ultimate positioning platform for any professional. When you accept an interview with CNN, MSNBC or NBC, you need to be fully prepared. When you are not, it can position you in a negative light. Think Sarah Palin. When she came onto the national media scene, her folksy Alaskan style was considered “refreshing” to some viewers, yet to others, it revealed a woman who was not yet ready for prime time. Her credibility was compromised. For late night television hosts, Palin’s antics provided an unending supply of material for parodies and comedy sketches.
On Monday night, Anderson Cooper, host of CNN’s AC 360, interviewed Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer about her accusation that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s office used disaster relief funds to influence political favor. It was obvious that Zimmer is more experienced talking with local media from Hoboken than she is sitting front and center on the national media stage. She provided a teaching moment for anyone who aspires to be on national television. Observe and learn from situations like this. Here are a few teaching moments:
1. Know your key messages. Every media interview offers an opportunity to share your key messages. What are they? Are you clearly stating those messages to the audience?
2. Control your hands. It’s appropriate to support key messages with hand gestures. However, when your hands are flailing about, almost uncontrollably and repeatedly as you answer questions, you look like you’re unprepared and making it up on the fly.
3. Compose your thoughts before you speak. Zimmer started to say that she didn’t know who the head of the Dem…then stopped herself. We know she’s a Democrat. We know what she was about to say. We, the viewers, could finish that sentence. Oh my. By volunteering that partial information, she was dismantling her credibility as a Democratic leader.
4. Think before you speak. This is different from Number 3 above because it goes back to the source, the very beginning, the choice that Zimmer made before she stated her case and went public. This is ultimate power positioning at play. In the beginning, before anything is said publicly, ask several important questions: “What am I going to say?” “Why am I saying it?” “What are the consequences of saying this?” “Am I fully prepared to face the national media?”
The entire story is still unfolding and will continue to do so for weeks and months to come. Whenever breaking news happens, turn on the national televised media, sit back, observe what’s happening, take a few notes and ask, “How would I handle this?” Observe and learn.