CNN interviews presidential candidate Ron Paul. Paul begins with quick, short answers and then tells the journalist “Why don’t you go back and see what I said yesterday on CNN?” Paul continues to answer questions and later says “and it’s been going on 20 years that people have pestered me about this. CNN does every single time. When are you going to wear yourself out?”
Later in the interview, the journalist says “These things are pretty incendiary.” Paul responds “Because of people like you.”
While the journalist continues the discussion, Paul pulls his microphone off his suit jacket. As he continues the process of removing the microphone, he says “Goodbye.”
This exchange between CNN and a presidential candidate is not black and white. The person conducting the interview is to some extent awkward in how she delivers her string of questions. And she continues to question him on the same matter even though Paul feels he’s answered the question then and countless times before.
Paul’s critics may use this interview as more ammunition to question his character. Paul’s supporters may applaud him for toughness and dub CNN the “Clinton News Network.”
You don’t need to run a campaign for president to come across a confrontational interview with the media. Even small business owners thrilled about their upcoming media opportunity may without warning smack into a reporter determined to dig up a serious news story instead of delivering a “fluff piece.”
Be ready. Prepare yourself for any question about your business. Be equipped for any inquiry about your industry that has little or nothing to do with your company. If you find out ahead of time who is interviewing you, Google that person and watch the tone of some of their prior stories.
Maybe the reporter isn’t being reasonable. Maybe the reporter is playing a game of “gotcha!” But stay professional and let reporters sink themselves by appearing unfair and badgering. I once watched a local TV personality drill a local politician with one question after another. The journalist probably assumed viewers saw the questions as an attempt to keep the local politician honest. Most people I talked with thought the journalist went over-the-top, tried too hard to appear tough and frankly looked silly.
Journalists are not always fair. They may ask you the same question 20 times in a different way. You may feel ambushed. You may feel angry. You may think you answered the question 10 years ago. But don’t prematurely take off your microphone. Be the bigger man or woman. Take the high road. Always practice for the worst. Have prepared answers. Have prepared statements if you must answer the question over and over.
Some TV news people use the expression that something makes for “good TV.” Ending an interview before the reporter is ready makes “good TV” for some broadcast journalists. Your behavior, not your business, ends up making the news.
Some viewers may not have heard or been only slightly aware of the questions CNN asked Paul. Taking off your microphone early and appearing aggravated give media (and everyone on YouTube and social media) an excuse to play your performance over and over. Now the question you’re tired of answering is getting even more attention.
As of Monday, more than 96,000 people on YouTube watched Ron Paul’s clip with CNN.
It’s a cardinal sin but I still see it all the time: photographers shooting interviews of someone against a white wall. The white wall sometimes is built of bricks, which adds the sophisticated texture of a street alley. Others shoot against a green wall, technically known as a green screen. The weather forecaster lives against the green screen. He’s looking at a green wall behind him, not a wall of expensive, consultant-approved graphics, maps and numbers.
Some companies will produce a video for your business by placing you against a green screen. It’s pretty easy. Just stand in front of the green screen, talk for a minute or two about your company and watch your logo or other video magically appear behind you when you receive the final product. This approach also might save you some green.
You would never promote your business as a cookie cutter company. You stand out from the competition. You find ways to set yourself apart. Why play the role of weatherman and stand in front of a green screen like 30 other businesses did before you?
Green screens serve their purposes, but telling a business’ story is not one of them. Shoot your video at your business. Find an interesting background. Get visual. Show your place in action. What happens behind the scenes? Who are the characters who make your company click?
If your job is standing around in one spot all day with nothing more than a PowerPoint presentation, maybe you can justify green lighting a green screen video. But I bet even that type of boss has something more interesting to show potential customers.
An HR manager in a satellite office sends an email to employees about changes in building security stemming from a corporate office mandate. The tone of her email is hostile and employees feel like children being chided by a teacher. They didn’t do anything wrong but the email makes them feel that way by including warnings about things to avoid – all starting with “DO NOT…”
The tone of employee communications directly reflects the relationship an organization has with its employees. And in this case, the HR manager’s email indeed reflects the employer/employee relationship and a lack of established tone or voice of the corporate brand. (Turns out, we have never seen any evidence of an established brand voice for this company.)
Writing Tone
The tone of your communications piece is as vital as the content of the message. With so many different communication channels in the world today, including emails, memos, newsletters, social media posts, it’s easy for ideas and intentions to be misconstrued. If it can’t be shared with the world, don’t even put it in writing and send it out. Here are some helpful points to keep in mind. The tone of your business communications should be:
Accurate – Review all statements and facts for accuracy before sharing them.
Professional – Avoid personal remarks or inappropriate comments.
Positive – Avoid disparaging remarks, negative comments and using ALL CAPS which often comes off as yelling.
Polite – Don’t include rude requests or make demands. Treat others like you would want to be treated.
Open – Be as open as you can be in your communications. Being vague or unclear can cause miscommunication or start rumors.
Consistent – Sending mixed messages can make you appear disorganized or dishonest. If there’s a change in message content, it’s important to address the previous communications in your new piece.
Clear – Jargon, slang and acronyms are okay if you are sure that your audience will understand your meaning.
Before you push the send or publish button, review the tone of your piece to make sure that it represents your intentionsand is consistent with helping to build a compliant culture that achieves your company’s strategic priorities and objectives. Also, ask at least one colleague to review your piece before you send it.
Does your company have a distinct writing tone that reflects your brand’s characteristics? What steps does your company take to make sure communications reflect it?
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The job interview is the face of your employment brand to prospective employees. It can either breathe life into your brand or extinguish any sparks that attract an applicant to your company in the first place.
A woman gets a call for an interview with a company where she applied for a job. She asks the recruiter who calls her what the title is of the person who will be interviewing her. The recruiter doesn’t seem to be certain. Red flag no. 1. She also asks the recruiter if she will interview with anyone else and she is told no.
Now it’s interview time. There are a total of six people sitting around a board room table waiting to interview her. Red flag no. 2. They say their names without any explanation of what they do. Red flag no. 3.
The woman who appears to be heading the interview (the only person the applicant thought she would interview with) gives a bare bones overview of the company.
The people around the table take turns reading awkwardly-worded questions. Red flag no. 4. The first question is one that appears to be out of sequence: Give an example of when someone in the same room said something that was unpopular and what was your reaction?
The interview continues and some of the questions include several questions in one. And sometimes the interviewers seem to be confused by them. Red flag no. 5.
The woman leading the interview indicates they are pressed for time and have to finish. There is barely time for the applicant to ask questions. What number red flag are we on here? At this point she is left with more questions than answers. On the way back to the lobby with the interview leader, the applicant asks a question to determine this person’s role. (She didn’t have time in the interview and the woman never volunteered information about herself.) She confirms the applicant’s suspicion: She isn’t even an employee – she is a consultant! Red flag no. … Oh forget it.
The applicant walks away from this experience with a bad taste in her mouth. The more she thinks about the interview, the angrier she feels about the whole thing. She is turned off. The interview extinguished any interest she had of working for this company.
She describes the process as robotic. The questions didn’t give her a chance to get to her experience and the essence of who she is. She didn’t get to know much at all about the people interviewing her. She didn’t get a feel for the culture and what makes the company a great place to work other than its cafeteria and on-site fitness center.
What should this company have done differently? Trained their employees to interview or at the very least provide some guidelines. Offer key messages that reflect the employment brand. And those awkward interview questions! Sure companies have key competencies or success factors they seek in their applicants, but clearly worded interview questions could have done a much better job gauging the desired skills.
Please share your thoughts. What does your company do to ensure the job interview process is an authentic reflection of its employer brand? Do hiring managers have the tools they need to conduct effective interviews?
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Part 3 in a series: Keith speaks to the Phoenix Public Library’s Leadership Academy participants about why if you put on way too much makeup, he may Tweet about you.
Part 2 in a series: Keith spoke to the Phoenix Public Library’s Leadership Academy participants about embracing and responding to social media comments that are not always positive. Here is some of what he said:
Keith spoke to the Phoenix Public Library’s Leadership Academy participants on the topic of “Innovation in 21st Century Organizations.” Wow! That’s a mouthful. But here is some of what he said about social media.
A marketing coordinator pitched me a story about a doctor who had appeared on Good Morning America (GMA) and other popular TV programs. (I assume the “other popular TV programs” were news broadcasts, not reality TV or primetime sitcoms.) I had heard of Good Morning America. That’s a national broadcast. That’s pretty cool. I get it.
The marketer put his client’s past appearances in the very first line of his pitch. So I also assume he thought a Good Morning America mention was his strongest selling point to immediately grab my attention and persuade me to read more. Actually, it’s not uncommon for PR pros to try to impress reporters with a resume of appearances. But information such as this never really impressed me. It made me hesitate and ask myself a question: Do I want to air a story that’s already been aired?
When you pitch clients, I figure you’ve already ensured they won’t put viewers to sleep or talk in a language forcing us to consult our dictionary app. It’s not important to me the client already passed that litmus test with Good Morning America. It’s not important to me GMA considered the client’s story newsworthy. What I do know is when TV producers and managers hear the story already aired elsewhere, they often make a face as if tasting bad medicine. Sometimes they’re willing to swallow it. Sometimes not. But when I looked down a conference table of cynical journalists, I didn’t want to hear “Yes. I saw that story on [fill in the blank.]
Maybe a GMA appearance deserves a mention somewhere in the pitch but not the first line. And maybe not at all. I’ve lost count of the number of times marketers or clients themselves tried to seal the deal with me by name dropping previous appearances. Instead they sealed their fate.
The pitch for the client with the GMA appearance under his TV belt actually was successful with me. But that’s because the issue was new and fresh, not because I was wowed at the very chance of being in the presence of someone who appeared on a national stage. Choose carefully when deciding when to name drop. Most journalists understand they’re probably not your first. But they like to think they are. And often the last thing they wish to hear is you shouting out someone else’s name.
Tell us what you think. Do you name drop? How well does it work?
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It’s a cardinal sin but I still see it all the time: photographers shooting interviews of someone against a white wall. The white wall sometimes is built of bricks, which adds the sophisticated texture of a street alley. Others shoot against a green wall, technically known as a green screen. The weather forecaster lives against the green screen. He’s looking at a green wall behind him, not a wall of expensive, consultant-approved graphics, maps and numbers.
