When you’re on live TV announcing your company’s biggest job losses in years, it’s not the best idea to smirk or interact with someone off-camera.
Yesterday, it appeared Warren East of Rolls Royce did just that.
CEO of the Derby-based company since 2015, East was being interviewed by the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire about the potential 9,000 job losses in its civil aerospace division. Midway through, he repeatedly glanced away from the camera (laptop) to look at and communicate with someone else in the room.
Watch the video below, courtesy of The Metro and BBC News (click twice to play).
Some comments on Twitter yesterday were on the side of arrogance – this is a man not in touch with the gravity of the situation for thousands of his employees – while others said it was careless to be distracted whilst being interviewed. I won’t delve into the other, less-polite mentions.
(Thanks to CEO publicist Nina Sawetz for flagging up the clip. In addition to the smirk, she rightly points out “don’t have someone distracting you“ during a live interview. Pretty basic, no?)
A few media interview tips:
Practice makes perfect – like crisis comms, practise challenging interviews (helpful if the journalist is someone external to the business, to sharpen the experience);
Non-verbal communication – body language, how you hold your hands, facial expressions, where you look and smiling at inappropriate times are all important;
Talk in (some) soundbites – keep the main phrases you want across front of mind. Be conscious of overkill – i.e. ‘strong and stable leadership’ – so find a balance of having key ‘soundbites’ already rehearsed in your head;
Give yourself time – rephrase the question back to the interviewer, and don’t forget to breathe. Go at your pace and try not to match the interviewer’s tone or pitch. This isn’t a competition;
Be yourself – Yes, you are representing the business or organisation, but talking like a robot will not be appreciated. Be personable, authentic and empathetic, if possible. This may be challenging for some, but is why media training is there.
The evolution of comms
In recent years, communications has had more influence within the c-suite. Businesses, brands and their stakeholders are coming around to it being more than ‘mwah-mwah’ PR schmooze and newspaper cuttings.
Investing in well-rehearsed media training – along with other key skills such as crisis comms and brand personality – is part of the journey of communications’ strategic role, with measurable results and demonstrable impact.
However, it’s not just for CEOs. Anyone likely to be a spokesperson for your brand, business, organisation or community should have a decent understanding of how they speak and act on camera, on radio or during live events can have real impact – causing financial as well as repetitional damage (see more examples below).
Media skills training helps prepare these individuals to get their organisation’s key messages and values across in a variety of media opportunities, ensuring they’re as prepared as they can be for tough questions, unexpected revelations and the subsequent media coverage.
More ‘great’ examples of missing media training:
Remember the mic is on – Gordon Brown’s “bigoted woman” and “We’re in the money” by the Sainsburys CEO.
Think before you tweet – wiping $13bn off your company’s share price. Musk did similar in 2018, resulting in him stepping down as Tesla chairman, but remaining as CEO.
Don’t bring it back to you – BP CEO: “I want my life back” after 11 deaths at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
What do you think?
Is media training overrated? Should CEOs know better? Have you had a ‘challenging’ media experience with a key stakeholder? Please keep the circumstances anonymous if you are sharing, or contact me directly. I’d love to hear more.
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/@sammcghee