Author RSSMedia Interviews: Avoiding the Evasive Answer
I admit it, I'm a news junkie. Have been since my teen years. I can't help it. But, my general love of politics and governance got modified about twenty years ago when, after a career in network television, I started training people in business, governmen...
Media Training: Barack Obama and the Hypothetical Question
When President Obama held his second prime time news conference his goal was to project and sense of hope that things economic were starting to look better. "What I'm confident about," he said, "is that we're moving in the right direction." I'll leave it ...
A Lesson From Ben Bernanke
Since I don't know very much about economics I didn't expect the 60 Minutes story on FED head Ben Bernanke to increase my understanding of the stock market, the credit church or derivatives, but I was curious about how Mr. Bernanke would answer his Snell'...
A Lesson From Tiger Woods
With a title like that you would naturally expect this lesson to be about golf, and you'd be partially right. It is and it isn't. It's about golf, but it's not about swing thoughts or how to error-proof your putting. Instead, this Lesson from Tiger Woods ...
The PRs of Media Interviews
An executive of an electric utility (let's call him Miles) appearing on television to talk about a rate increase his company had just requested from the state Public Service Commission. His Communication goal: To justify the increase. Miles: "When you go ...
A Lesson From Arnold Schwarzenegger
Watching Arnold Schwarzenegger on ABC's This Week, I was reminded of the New Yorker cartoon that's been on the wall of my office for the past fifteen years. It shows a bearded professor talking to a middle age couple at a garden party. The caption on the ...
A Lesson From Bobby Jindal
Given his reputation within the party, it wasn't surprising to see Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal selected to give the Republican response to President Obama's first appearance before a joint session of Congress. What was surprising was Jindal's deliver...
Three Keys to Making Dynamite Presentations
Every day all across the country people make business presentations and many of them are less than wonderful. Some are downright awful. To put your presentations on a positive track, you need to follow four basic keys. 1--Think of your speech or presentat...
The KISS-Plus Formula for Dynamite Presentations
Whenever you're talking or writing to people who don't share your expertees, it's best to follow the advice of the country politician who always 'put the grass down where the goats can get at it.'
Sounds simple enough, but while we all know the KISS...
Churchill, Demosthenes and You
Most people have decided before they graduate from high school whether or not they are cut out to be A Speaker. If your early experience in front of audiences was successful, odds are you continued to seek out opportunities to speak, continued to get posi...
A Lesson From Sarah Palin
As you may recall, during the 2008 presidential and vice presidential campaigns, Governor Sarah Palin didn't do many interviews and some of the ones she did didn't turn out very well. I'm thinking specifically of the one she did with CBS News anchor perso...