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Be A TV Star: 8 Tips To Make The Most of Your TV Appearance
Copyright © 2002 - 2010 by Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.
"The Escape" production crew interviewed me the afternoon of
Friday June 8 at the Bay Club and shot some "B-roll" footage
of me training clients. The actual race was on Sunday June
10 with an approximate start time of 8 am. I finished by
Noon.
*SUSAN'S NOTE: "B-roll" means background shots to be used
when the story is edited to illustrate the commentary and
give "backstory" to bring the audience quickly up to speed
to the present on-screen story.*
1. Make Sure Your Story Has *Human Interest*
To my shock and surprise, there were only two *human
interest* stories, thus I had a better chance of getting
more air time. Contrary to prior broadcasts, they followed
me through the whole course with interview questions!!!
(This is after spending 3 hours with them on Friday before
the race).
*SUSAN'S NOTE: Any kind of dramatic visible change is ripe
for TV coverage. Change that can be seen instantly (in this
instance going from fat to fit) is easily understood
visually. And it's a success story anyone who has battled
even a few pounds is interested in).*
2. Bring Or Wear Your Props
Also, at the finish line they took an extreme close-up of
the www.XBigMan.com wording I had plastered all over my T-Shirt. I then said: 'Let me explain what this website is all
about,' and told the signature story of my own weight loss.
*SUSAN'S NOTE: Very smart move. Wearing a curiosity
provoking prop gives a natural segue to talking about the
points you want to cover.*
3. Always Video And Audio Tape Your TV Appearances And
Speaking Engagements
The day after the race, I got an urgent call from the New
York TV producers. I had mentioned that I do motivational
speaking during the interview. Did I have anything on ape?
I did a 40 minute keynote pep talk to a rookie triathlon
group the night before the Friday interviews and taped it
anticipating such a request. However I did not feel it was
my best effort as I was stressed and tired from all of the
race/media/baby walking duties. I told the producer this and
the exact reply was: 'Don't worry Mark, we will only make
you look great!'
*SUSAN'S NOTE: Other producers want to see how you and your
stories translate on TV. They are looking for raw talent,
not someone slick and polished. In fact, they want someone
just the opposite--someone who has verve and speaks
spontaneously in a way that anyone can understand.
By the way, one of the complaints about the a group of
contestants on the hit show *Survivor,* was that they were
*too media savvy* which really meant too careful and
guarded. That is not to say you shouldn't practice your
sound bites and know your message, it means that you need to
preserve your own honest emotions and expressions. Be
genuine.
An Aside: Another reason to tape all your appearances and
speaking engagements is if your audio/video tapes are good
enough you can later sell them as products on your website,
and at your next speaking engagement.*
4. Act In A Heartfelt Way And You Will Be Automatically
Compelling
As for the race itself, I got very sick throughout the
course and struggled. This added to the drama: Will Mark be
able to finish? I did finish strong and did a Lance
Armstrong (The cyclist who recovered from cancer and
competed in the 2000 Tour de France). When I was being
interviewed by NBC at the finish line I ran over and kissed
and hugged my wife and took Sterling (my daughter) and held
her up and kissed her and said: 'This is my real reward' and
'My dad was an Ironman for me and now I hope to be an
Ironman for my daughter.' Of course, I was operating on
heartfelt emotion throughout the interviews. I would have
done what I did camera or no camera. However, it made for a
great scene and sound bite and I got to close out the show.
*SUSAN'S NOTE: Adversity creates tension and drama. In
addition, the audience connected to Mark because they all
understand what it's like to do something for a loved one --
especially a small child. A heartfelt message with strong
emotion increases your chance of extra media coverage.*
5. Embrace The Opportunities That Present Themselves
A woman from Los Angeles who saw me on NBC is flying herself and her sister up to San Francisco to train with me. These sessions will pay for a good portion of the website. Other
people from around the country are contacting me about e-training (which I may or may not do). A guy from a video
production company saw me and we are talking about a ideo.
*SUSAN'S NOTE: All kinds of things can happen that you could
never predict when you begin to do publicity. That's part of
the richness that makes PR so exciting E-training for
working out? Who would have thought?*
6. Prepare To Make The Most Of The Results Of Publicity
Before the show I rushed to get a website up that offers a
subscribe/unsubscribe to my *Weekly Enlightenment* e-zine
and archives. I plan on using this to market my book and
provide media information. My project manager tells me that
22% of visitors to my site opt to subscribe. A high
benchmark *opt in* subscribe rate is 4%. No one has
unsubscribed. As a matter of fact my e-zine encourages
people to forward the e-zine and subscribe others. The word
of mouth and the speed of the Internet will spread my
message faster than the sound of a mouse-click. The best
part is this site will be ready for when I do Hawaii
Ironman, Oprah and Cristina (the Spanish language equivalent
of Oprah. I am very fluent in Spanish and my Univision
contact is working on this, after I provided the idea!)
*SUSAN'S NOTE: Make sure you've tested everything on your
site thoroughly so it can handle a rush of visitors without
crashing. You don't want to lose all the connections you can
make from your publicity because of some technical snafu.*
7. Do Anything You Can To Help The Producers Do A Great Show
All told, I ended up with a few seconds shy of 4 minutes of
NBC national airtime, more than anybody on the show
including the winners of the race and NFL quarterback Doug
'I can't swim' Flutie (the media people told me he wasn't
being as cooperative as they would like; I probably looked
like a saint compared to him and I am sure that helped).
More people will continue to see the broadcast through
videotape. And I now have a professionally produced, very
compelling story about me that I can send to many other PR
outlets. I have already contacted NBC about permission to
use the video on my website.
*SUSAN'S NOTE: It goes without saying that you will be
gracious and accommodating. Volunteer to do anything extra
you can to help out and you will be remembered. Then send
out that video tape ASAP to the shows you want to be on next
-- and remember to present a new and different angle. Every
producer wants his show to be the first of its kind, not a
copycat of a competitor's.*
8. Work All The Angles
I am already anticipating my next steps: getting sponsors,
leveraging the tape to get into Hawaii Ironman (even bigger
TV audience) and of course Oprah. By that time I will have a
book ready.
I am very confident this will all happen! It has taken me
years but all of the Toastmasters training (I co-founded a
Bay Club chapter with Patricia Fripp), the classes such as
yours, and the never say die attitude are paying off. It is
like striking oil...long time drilling and then suddenly a
gusher!
To subscribe to Mark's newsletter put "subscribe" in the
subject line and
enlighten@xbigman.com Mark C. Davis
(415) 901-9354 mark@XBigMan.com,
http://www.XBigMan.com
*SUSAN'S NOTE: I couldn't have said it better myself.
Wishing you all a Yosemite sized gusher.*
Get insider secrets on publicity and marketing by
subscribing to Sixty Second Secrets. Packed full of powerful
techniques to promote yourself on and off the web. Exciting
ideas and stories from successful people.
http://prsecrets.com/joinlist.html
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Susan Harrow, CEO of
http://prsecrets.com, is
a top media coach, marketing strategist and author of
Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins),
The
Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah, and
Get a 6-
Figure Book Advance. Clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, bestselling authors and entrepreneurs who have appeared on
Oprah, 60 Minutes, NPR, and in TIME, USA Today, Parade,
People, O, NY Times, WSJ, and Inc. |
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