If you are a public figure, sooner or later, someone is going to ask you to put on a funny hat, ride in a tank, walk on the beach in a business suit, or do something that will look ridiculous on TV or the front page of a newspaper.
On the January 29, 2007 front page of the New York Times is a photo of Prince Charles shooting a basketball in Harlem. To Prince Charles’ credit, he made a basket and scored on just his second attempt—with a crowd and media watching him.
It is only a matter of time before job resume videos become as commonplace as cell phones. Here are some dos and don’ts to keep in mind:
Do:
Showcase yourself talking either to the camera or another person where you showcase your strengths.
Pay attention to your clothing and grooming.
Special effects aren’t important but lighting is. Make sure you don’t look like a star in a horror film.
Take as much time as you need to give a prospective employer a strong sense of your specific accomplishments.
I placed an ad on Craig’s List looking for an additional marketing and sales representative. But in the ad, I asked applicants to leave a voicemail message for me BEFORE sending a resume. Below is a transcript of an actual voicemail message I received:
“Hi my name is (name deleted). I’m calling about your sales and marketing position. I’ve checked out your website and am very impressed with your videos and training tools. I think I would be a great asset to your company and I think I would really enjoy helping people speak more better. Please call me back at ###.â€
No self-respecting speaker stands behind a lectern on top of a platform or in front of an audience. Good speakers move around the platform. But GREAT speakers use the ENTIRE platform. That means they don’t simply pace back and forth or move in a five square foot portion of the 25 square foot platform.
Great speakers will go to the far back right of the stage and the front left corner too—and everything in between and to the other extreme. The key to good stage movement is to move naturally and to move as if you were in the process of re-living a specific experience or feeling. Or moving to get close to a specific audience member.
So how did President Bush do? Most observers forget, but the State of the Union Address is typically the best speech President Bush gives in any year. The format of the large set address is ideal for Bush; it masks the flaws that he usually shows during press conferences, media interviews and more mundane speeches.
Mechanics
When is it appropriate to criticize someone or an organization when you are giving a presentation? I have a simple rule of thumb that has worked well for me:
Feel free to criticize if someone is paying you good money. If no one is paying you money, then don’t criticize.
In my experience, most people don’t want criticism or like criticism. Sure, people may say they want candid feedback, but they don’t. The one exception is when someone has sought you out because of your expertise and knowledge, preferably there is not a previous personal relationship, and then they pay you money to give criticism in a specific, targeted fashion.
“Grey’s Anatomy†star Isaiah Washington was accused of hurling nasty slurs toward one of his co-stars in January 2007. Washington defended himself this way:
“No, I did not call T.R. a faggot…never happened, never happened,†he said after the 2007 Golden Globe Awards.
Well, this was a forceful denial and stated with sound bite absolutes. But there was only one problem. Within 36 hours, several of Washington’s colleagues went to the media and directly contradicted him. When numerous people independently say that you said something nasty and they all claim to have personally heard you, guess who is more believable?
Here is a strategy that doesn’t work well on live TV or radio interviews, but does work when you are returning a reporter’s call by telephone and you already know what the topic of the interview is:
Call up the reporter and say something like “Sally, before we get started, I just want to point out that when it comes to (the topic at hand), I really think that … (Your first message point)… (Your second message point)…and… (Your third message point).â€
Joel Osteen is as “natural†a speaker as I have ever seen. He is the pastor of a Houston Church that has tens of thousands of people watching him in-person at an arena and millions more via television every Sunday. If you have ever seen Osteen, you know that his speaking style is as natural as your best friend talking to you over a beer in a cozy neighborhood restaurant.
Osteen must be a born speaker, right? Perhaps he was a child prodigy like the Reverend Al Sharpton who began preaching at age four?
Wrong!
I was called by a reporter from a major national trade publication who was doing a story on media training and sound bites. The day he called was a national holiday, but I happened to be taping some video training segments when the call came in. I told the reporter that it wasn’t a good time and he said, “TJ, no problem, just call me back anytime in the next week.â€
My response was, “I’ll call you today. How late will you be there?â€