| Me And My Big Mouth! A Special Report On The Value Of Media Training |
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By Chris Roycroft-Davis Founding Partner, MediaMasters (London) Ltd www.mmasters.co.uk How many people say: “I don’t need media training. I’m far too clever to say anything that will get me into trouble”? Don’t you believe it. Just look as these classic examples of the syndrome which TV presenter Denis Norden might call “engaging mouth before brain is in gear.” And they all come from people who are at or near the top of their tree. So beware. And be warned: People in business can’t survive without media training. Gerald Ratner, chief executive officer of Ratner Jewellers, astonished a televised business conference by saying this about some of his company’s best-selling products: “They are cheap because they are total crap. This pair of ear-rings is cheaper than a prawn sandwich.” The result? A speech which would otherwise have gone un-noticed became one of the main items on the TV news that night and dominated the papers the next day. Within less than a year £500 million was wiped off Ratner’s share price and Gerald the Jinx was out on his ear. Does Mr Ratner now wish he had been on a media training course? You bet. You wouldn’t expect a banking boss to say anything indiscreet, would you? Especially not when he’s addressing a committee of MPs at the House of Commons, live on TV. But just look at the extraordinary testimonial for Barclaycard that was given by Matthew Barrett, the chief executive of Barclays Bank: “I do not borrow on credit cards. It is too expensive. I have four young children. I give them advice not to pile up debts on their credit cards.” You can just imagine his marketing department wincing as they heard those words. If only he’d had media training. Selling lottery tickets is a pretty simple proposition. You let people know what fantastic prizes are on offer and you convince them with a multi-million pound campaign that “It could be you” who wins. So why on earth did Camelot chief executive Diane Thompson answer a question about falling ticket sales with a reply as crass as this: “People have realised it probably won’t be you. You would be lucky to win a tenner.” Oops! Not so much Camelot as Cringe-a-lot. Media training could have stopped Diane from making that mistake. Maybe the country’s top policeman can make a better job of getting his message across. “If we look at the murders in Soham, almost nobody can understand why that dreadful story became one of the biggest stories in Britain.” And nobody can understand why Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, didn’t lose his job for such gross insensitivity. Still, it can’t get any worse, can it? Oh yes it can… Consider this example of how to make a lasting impression on your customers. It comes from the brand director of Top Man, who was asked to describe his company’s typical customer. “Hooligans or whatever. Very few of our customers have to wear a suit for work. They’ll be for their first interview or first court case.” Ouch! You can almost hear Top Man clients marching down the High Street to Primark or BHS, can’t you? The cost of media training is small compared with the cost of losing customers. When your employees and their union are up in arms because their jobs are being out-sourced to India, then it’s time to pour oil on troubled waters and calm things down. The chief executive of HSBC, Keith Whitson, had a great chance to do that when he was asked about the benefits of using Asian call centres rather than British ones. “They’re quicker at answering the phone, highly numerate and keen to come to work every day.” Now that’s guaranteed to have the brothers up in arms. And it’s an admission that his bank’s customers have not been receiving the very best service up to now. Mr Whitson no longer has a desk at HSBC. Media training could have saved him from the sack. It’s in the world of healthcare that the greatest care must be taken over public statements, in case care turns into scare. The chairman of Walsall hospitals NHS Trust, Barrie Blower, met the daughter of a woman who had died at Manor Hospital and told her: “Agency nurses kill more people than they bloody save " it’s an awful bloody set-up but we’ve got to have them.” Full marks for twice managing to get the word bloody into your key message, Barrie. Media training would have stopped you from losing your cool. Barrie’s now the ex-chairman of the trust, by the way. So how can you make sure YOU don’t open your mouth and put your foot in it? Media trainers will tell you to follow one word: PREPARE. For if you fail to prepare, then you prepare to fail. Work out the three most important things you want to say, and spend some time writing them out and polishing them to perfection. Then make sure they are totally committed to memory. Don’t be afraid to go round saying them out loud. Practice makes perfect, after all. Think of all the questions you might be asked by a journalist and plan a successful and safe answer to each of them. I tell people I am media training that once you have mastered what you want to say, turn your attention to what you DON’T want to say. What are the three questions from hell that you’re praying the journalist won’t ask you? “How much longer will XYZ Ltd put profits before safety and keep selling the teddy bears that are filled with iron filings?” “Everyone knows XYZ has run out of money. How long before the company goes bust?” “What do you know about the affair the chairman is having with his secretary?” If you get bowled a damning question like that, the worst thing you can do is say nothing, or lamely mutter: “No comment.” Do that and you’ll be guilty in the eyes of the public, who are well versed in the proposition that there’s no smoke without fire. The first law of media training is that you have to have answer ready. If the basis of the question is untrue, make darned sure you say so and back it up with a killer fact. “It’s totally untrue that any XYZ products are unsafe. In fact, only last year we won an industry award for our super-safe range of bath toys.” If there’s a grain of truth in the question, but it’s been overplayed, then adopt a different approach. “It’s well known that every sector of our industry operates in a tough trading environment and XYZ can’t be insulated from that. But I can tell you that we have been cutting our costs, increasing our efficiency and working with our employees to guarantee the continued success of the company.” Maybe you’ve always suspected that the boss is giving Miss Jones a bit more than dictation, but you have might not have proof. So use the “I’d tell you if I knew, but I’m afraid I don’t” approach. “That rumour is news to me so I can’t possibly comment. But I will say that Mr Bangmore has just celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary by renewing his wedding vows.” Remember this: Even if you do have cast-iron proof that Mr Bangmore and Miss Jones are having an affair, you have a duty of confidentiality to your employer not to divulge what you know. My final media training advice is this: Don’t lie to a journalist. But recognise and understand the clear difference between lying and not telling the whole truth. May 16, 2007 Copyright MediaMasters (London) Ltd 2007 Chris Roycroft-Davis has been one of Britain's leading journalists for three decades. He is the former Executive Editor of The Sun, the UK's biggest-selling daily newspaper, and currently writes for the Daily Express and The Times of London. He is a founding partner of MediaMasters (London) Ltd, which specialises in effective communications through advertising, websites, corporate literature, branding, marketing and corporate identity. He is skilled in media training and helps business people get the best out of media interviews. Read more at: http://www.ArticlePros.com/writing_and_speaking/Public-Speaking/article-75507.html. |
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