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5 Sound Bite Mistakes
Copyright © 2002 - 2010 by Susan Harrow. All rights reserved.
In this new age of media 3.0 the media is more often searching
for experts when they have the need rather than pouring over
hundreds of useless press releases that don't have information
that is relevant for their audience. So even if you haven't sent
out a press release you could get that important call from the
media - if you've positioned yourself correctly on the Internet.
On the flip side did you know that now with YouTube and Time
Machine that what you say could haunt you forever? Once a video
of you is posted or something you said shows up on the Internet
there's no way to take it back. With the advent of technology
what you say will stay around in eternity and anyone can access
it at any time.
This is why it makes it so important that you pay attention to
what you say and how you say it.
That's right, your reputation, your credibility, your brand,
your livelihood could disappear with one bad article or one TV
appearance gone south. But it doesn't need to be so. Don't make
these five mistakes.
1. You waffle.
Many people I media train waffle. They meander off into a
tangent or blurt out a thought that just came into their head in
the heat of the moment, instead of carefully planning their
messages and delivering them. I just saw the movie Fair Game
about the Valerie Plame story. When Plame spoke to one of her
contacts overseas from whom she wanted information she was firm
as a mountain, soft as breeze, fluid as water. She was never
harsh, but she got her way. She knew her facts so when she spoke
to one of her own team members or someone whose cooperation she
wanted she quietly, but firmly repeated her request. You can do
the same when someone asks you a question. You calmly assert
your pre-rehearsed answer no matter how many different ways a
reporter or host ask you a question to elicit a different
response. Know what you want to say and stick to it. Stay firm
as a mountain, soft as a breeze, fluid as water.
2. You don't quote industry leaders or competitors.
It might sound counter-intuitive to quote your competition
or other high-stature people in your field, but it shows that
you are on top of what's happening in your industry. In an
Inc.com article titled 10 Tips for Giving an Important Speech by
Alyssa Danigelis, anthropologist, filmmaker, and National
Geographic explorer Elizabeth Lindsey said, "The more we talk
about the things that matter to us, and less about our
achievements, people breathe a collective sigh of relief." When
we focus on what's important to us in a sincere way it
translates to our audience. They get it. Quote people you admire
whose philosophy resonates with your own to help get your ideas
across in a novel way. They often say things that give a
different point of view given we are all entangled in our own
perspective. It's a way of broadening our own views and the
views of our audience.
3. You don't tell how you've helped people.
The most potent way to persuade people to buy or buy into
you isn't for you to talk about your achievements but to tell a
story about a person you've helped. I recently media coached a
client who said he wasn't a good story teller. As a doctor he
preferred to site facts so he would be more authoritative. But
the human warm fuzzy factor was a bit lacking. It's important to
use facts and stories to build trust. And it's also necessary to
tell stories that reveal our effectiveness human to human.
Facts show you have knowledge, and personal and professional
stories illustrate your understanding - how you do what you do
and how well your methods work. I suggested that he tell
dramatic or funny stories about people who came into his office
with an acute problem whom he helped quickly recover using both
his doctorly intuition and the product he was promoting. In our
next media coaching session he did this beautifully in
preparation for his NPR interview. Giving your audience a story
about how you helped another person is the closest thing to
giving them an actual experience of you.
4. You don't transform your wounds into wisdom.
Your hardships are the mistakes that others don't need to
make. Your wounds make you loveable. We all have an Achilles
Heel. Don't hide it, highlight it. Comedian Craig Ferguson said,
"I think that sometimes fear is god's way of saying paying
attention to this could be fun. I've learned from people who are
braver than I that fear is necessary, failure is necessary. When
I talk to people and they tell me how well they are or how well
they are doing I think they're crazy and they're failing. And
when I talk to people and who are telling me how they feel. I'm
not saying that misery is more authentic than joy, I don't mean
that. But I do think that sometimes self promotion can be
tiresome as I sit here talkin' about my book. Which is available
reasonably priced from all good outlets." What I love about
Ferguson is that he doesn't wallow in any sentiment. He moves
into the wound and the moves out of it with humor. And aren't
you interested in his book just from reading this one quote? I
was.
5. You're don't have your opinion ready.
Thought leaders have opinions. They back their opinions with
evidence or piggy back them with humor to soften a tough point
of view. Have your opinion ready. To become a respected thought
leader spend some time every week thinking about the issues in
your industry. Consider some of the trends that are happening.
Formulate your thoughts. Concretize them in writing on your
blog, Facebook, or in an article.
When a reporter who had interviewed me before called and asked
me my opinion of the new Conan O'Brien Show I told her I hadn't
seen it, but I still had an opinion about it. We laughed. Then I
transitioned from what I didn't know into what I did know -
which was Jon Stewart. I watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart
and think he's hilarious, smart and self-deprecating.
Even though he's super smart he's not a snob about it. She
really wanted my comments about the future of the talk show
format so I talked about that in relation to Jon Stewart.
As you can see I
got a paragraph at the end of her article - without knowing a
thing about the topic of her piece - Conan O'Brien. The important thing is to transition to what you know
and make the connection so you are serving the reporter and her
audience. Folk singer Joan Baez said, "I've never had a humble
opinion. If you've got an opinion, why be humble about it?"
Thought leaders aren't afraid to voice a strong opinion.
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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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