Imagine my surprise to read that Anderson Cooper, who presents in front of millions and millions of people (indirectly) everyday, prime-time, has struggled with…. a fear of public speaking?  The same anxiety-inducing phobia that millions of people (including me) have had to, or currently, deal with every day? 

MJ: Have you tried conquering other fears that way?

AC: On a more ridiculous level, public speaking. Being on camera is easy for me, but speaking in front of several thousands of people, it’s a different skill set. Making speeches gave me a nervous pit in my stomach, so I forced myself to do it: I gave the commencement address at Tulane in front of 12,000 people. And it was fine.

I give Anderson tremendous credit for a) admitting a phobia publicly and b) for finishing his answer with the truth – and it was fine.  With practice and preparation, it usually is. 

The reality is that 99.9% of the time, all of the nightmare scenarios you envision the night before your presentation will not come true (with practice and preparation).  Additionally, when you present, you almost always feel much more nervous than he or she appears.  You really don’t appear to your audience to be as nervous as you feel inside.

Stay tuned, next post will be a summary of what to do when the fear starts creeping in….

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This is a great example of how to handle a tough interview.

Ted Olson, former Solicitor General under President Bush, appeared this weekend on Fox News Sunday, hosted by Chris Wallace.  The topic was Proposition 8 in California, and a recent victory by Mr. Olson’s legal team in Federal Court.

In terms of handling a difficult interview, Mr. Olson did an excellent job, no matter where you stand on the issue.  Here are a few reasons why:

1. Message – Mr. Olson’s message was clear, and he did not waver. Nearly every answer contained one or more of the following:  Fundamental Rights; Bill of Rights; 14th Amendment. 

2. Composure/Tone – No matter how hard he was pressed, Mr. Olson never lost his composure, raised his voice, or indicated any sign of being rattled. 

3. Pause - The pauses were not long, often only a second, but they were there.  It was obvious that Olson was thinking about what he was going to say before he said it.  In a few instances, when Chris Wallace was utilizing comments Mr. Olson made in the past, you could see Mr. Olson crack a very subtle smile, acknowledging the trap, and then going straight back to his message.

4. Preparation – There is simply no substitute for preparation, and it is clear that Mr. Olson had anticipated and prepared for every question before it was raised.

5. Backdrop – Sometimes you can control it, sometimes you do not have a choice; this backdrop was very flattering to Mr. Olson as it fit is appearance

6. Appearance - Mr. Olson looked the part – a seasoned, experienced legal expert who regularly argues before the highest court in the land.

7. Silence - Mr. Olson disagreed, but never interrupted.  Even more importantly, when he finished answering, he stopped.  This is one of the hardest, but most important, things one can do when dealing with a hostile interview – once you have answered, stop talking.

There were numerous other takeaways, including answering a question with a question, using an analogy that involved the host, and utilizing passion in a more subtle way than most of us are used to. 

After over 14 minutes of sparring, Chris Wallace paid Mr. Olson the ultimate compliment:

“After your appearance today I don’t understand how you ever lost a case in front of the Supreme Court.” 

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Recently, my wife and I made a large purchase.  I happened to show up directly after working out, so I was in gym attire.

Our experience involved two saleswomen, one who was a gem, and one who was rude and quite nasty.  The nasty saleswoman was condescending, treated us as if we were beneath her, and indicated through her behavior that she could care less if we ever did business with her, or told anyone about our experience with her.

One problem – I know her boss. I also know a number of her regular clients.

I have not, and will not say anything to her boss or her clients, and I will not use her name publicly, name her employer, etc.  I am no threat to her or her business.

The next person she treats like that might be.

The one thing that delivers an overpowering message to others – how you treat people.

Not just clients, spouses, employees, employers – everybody.  If you think that no one takes notice, guess again.  I have been told of job interviews blown because of the way a candidate treated the wait staff.  I was recently told of a service provider who was rude to the security guard of an office complex visiting a prospect – guess who didn’t get the business?   Elected officials publicly humiliated because of rude treatment of wait staff and poor tipping habits.

You never know who the person next to you on the subway is.  Or who your waiter knows. Or the gentlemen pumping your gas (for NJ residents!).  Or the sales clerk.

The list is endless, but the lesson is the same – every action sends a message, and you do not always have the benefit of knowing who the audience is.

An old favorite:

“Be careful of whose toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.”

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Umm. Over 20 times.  Umm.  The first (non) word of every answer. Umm.

One of the most visible personalities on the planet.  Millions watching you decide where to play, live.  Only 25 years old.  The hero of who knows how many young men and women.  A celebrity who seems to truly understand the power you wield over the lives of those who look up to you.

And the decision is….ummm

The President publicly courted you over seven times. The President! Thirty foot billboards. Six cities courting you. The eyes of the world on you, hanging on every word.  Umm….

Pausing before answering the questions tonight would have a dramatic impact on your delivery.  Practicing your key line – “I’m taking my game to South Beach” – about 1/1000000 of the time you practice your craft would have made a dramatic difference.

The eyes of the world will be on you tomorrow, the next day and continue for a long time to come.  You are a leader, period. You are a role model.

Great leaders realize the power of their words, and it is clear you understand that.

There is also tremendous power in how those words are delivered.

There is no question in my mind that you can become a great speaker — if you put even a little work into it, the difference will be tremendous.

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11 More Steps BP can take right now:

(1.) Actions speak louder… Stop Talking – Communicating is always preferable to silence, except when it is covering up inaction or irresponsibility. If you have nothing good to say, say nothing. Following Mr. Hayward’s latest testimony before Congress, the public is no longer listening;

(2.) The whole truth…What You Say - “We are a responsible party. Our obligation is to deal with the spill, clean it up and make sure the impacts of that spill are compensated. And we’re going to do that.” The two words that followed, both from BP CEO Tony Hayward and BP America President Lamar McKay undermined that entire message:  “Legitimate Claims.”  This word combination completely neutered the effectiveness of the earlier message and has been derided repeatedly in the media.

(3.) And nothing but the truth… How You Say It –BP America President Lamar McKay, in an exchange with Senator Maria Cantwell,  looked and sounded a lot more like a defendant on trial than the President of one of the world’s largest companies.  BP CEO Tony Hayward was abrupt when answering questions in front of the House this week, answering some version of “I don’t know” 66 times… Not good.

(4.) So what to do… Restructure Leadership, Immediately— If the faces of the disaster don’t change, the reputational damage won’t change. Right now, the “faces” are damaged wildlife, angry elected officials, and current BP leadership. As of today there are conflicting reports as to who is in charge – not exactly reassuring to the masses…The change that came today comes on the heels of a similar change last week that caused a great deal of confusion.  BP handled today’s switch much more effectively. – STEP TAKEN

(5.) Your local heroes…Major Relief Fund – directed by local officials – The locals are saying they can do it better – let them try. It will at least re-direct some of the attention – the best case scenario for BP right now.

(6.) Sacrificial lambs… Show some sacrifice –So far, the sacrifice that BP gets credit for are the comments from Mr. Hayward and a fund that was set up after meeting with the President.  Appearances matter.  Put A LOT of money into local nonprofits now. Reduce headcount and replace with affected locals. Invest in these communities for things having nothing to do with the environment.

(7.) No good deed… Non Profit Support –When you input the term “BP charity” or “BP nonprofit” into Google News, very little comes up. Not good.

(8.) Retrain or repurpose… Retraining Stations - There are now entire industries that may no longer exist. Set up retraining stations to work in oil and gas exploration and give those displaced apprenticeships and permanent jobs; Start the retraining now

(9.) Fish & Fowl Friendly… ASPCA, etc. –Give EVERY major animal rights and environmental organization you can nonprofit funding, fly them down, and get them on the ground on your dime to help. As of yesterday some animal rights groups have begun to file suit – this could have been avoided.

(10.) Accept Blame – Direct any and all blame inward. Someone internally needs to comment on how BP handled this from the jump – taking the heat. Americans are very forgiving, but only if given the opportunity.

(11.) Message Discipline – The CEO was photographed, days after being ripped for his testimony on the Hill, watching a prestigious yacht race.   After being criticized for his handling of the entire disaster and the perception of a lack of caring for those affected.  He may very well have deserved a break, but there should have been some thought put into taking the break publicly, at a prestigious sporting event. Everything sends a message, and this sent a big one.

(12.) Pipeline Meltdown - Focus on the hole in the pipe, not in your communications – Another recent communications disaster resulted when BP decided it was a good idea to tell everyone that the company is going to use profits from any recovered oil to help the ecosystem that is now in chaos. Profits; repeat Lesson 1 – Stop Talking!

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1) Your clothing; your hair; your makeup; your shoes; jewelry;

2) How you exit the car; your stride; where your eyes are focused; facial expressions; body language

Once you enter the arena (and a legislative body or courtroom is an arena), message development continues:

How you approach the legislative body; how you sit (or stand); who you sit with; where your hands and arms are; facial expressions; what material you have….

At this point, the beginning of your message, like it or not, has been developed.  Now the verbal component of your message begins, and the nonverbal component continues.

Tony Hayward, appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee, was well dressed, his body language entering the hearing did not set a bad tone, and his decision to sit center stage by himself, without attorney’s or staff, sent a powerful message of responsibility and openness.   It was a great beginning.

As has been the case throughout this disaster, it quickly went downhill.

The sense of openness turned into 66 versions of “I don’t know.” The sense of responsibility turned into 23 versions of “I was not involved in those decisions.”  The sense of deep sorrow and guilt turned into both abrupt and hostile answers.  Body language and facial expressions turned defensive.

Granted, Mr. Hayward was in a no-win situation.  However, the responsibility to handle no-win situations and deliver the organization’s message effectively is the CEO’s responsibility, not that of the small people.

Oil is gushing into the Gulf every minute of every day, and any goodwill that BP may have garnered after meeting with the President left after Mr. Hayward’s performance.  Messages matter.

From Bloomberg Businessweek:

In his testimony yesterday, Hayward not only failed to convince lawmakers he was committed to making BP safer, he may have deepened suspicion of the company by repeatedly pleading ignorance to events that took place under his command, said Matt Eventoff, a partner at New Jersey communications firm, Princeton Public Speaking.

“Mr. Hayward’s comments today, saying ‘I don’t know’ 66 times, evaporated any feeling of responsibility,” Eventoff said. “Any goodwill that the company bought back yesterday eroded today with his testimony.”

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Leadership at BP really just doesn’t seem to understand crisis communication, at all.

I can’t even begin to make sense of this, and what BP thought they were going to accomplish by doing this tonight…completely contrary to what I believe BP should be doing.…

Courtesy of the Daily News:

BP says profits from spilled oil will benefit new wildlife fund

BY Meena Hartenstein
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

BP has a message for the oil-soaked wildlife off the Gulf Coast: we’re just here to protect you!

That’s right, the British oil giant – which has scrambled since April to stop the flow of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico – announced Tuesday that it has created a new wildlife fund to benefit from any proceeds BP makes on the sale of captured oil from the spill.

“We’ve already launched the largest environmental response in history, and BP is committed to protecting the ecosystems and wildlife on the Gulf Coast,” said Chief Executive Tony Hayward.

The announcement comes as BP finally seems to be making some progress – and potential profits – on containing the oil. The company announced earlier Tuesday that it had collected 14,800 barrels on Monday, up significantly from the day before, and front month futures for crude oil are at $72 a barrel. In addition to the oil being harnessed by the well containment systems, proceeds from oil recovered through skimming operations will also go into the fund.

So just how much money can the impacted critters expect to see dedicated to their cause? In keeping with what Americans have come to expect from the oil company since the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April, BP admitted it can’t actually predict that number. Instead Hayward released a statement that said, “We believe these funds will have a significant positive impact on the environment.”

Oil from the spill has washed up all the way from Louisiana to Florida, decimating unknown numbers of birds and other wildlife. The Coast Guard estimates the cleanup process could take years.

This latest olive branch to the Gulf Coast isn’t BP’s only attempt at PR damage control. Many Internet users have realized the company is also buying up keywords on popular search engine sites like Google, Microsoft Bing, and Yahoo! so that typing in the words “oil spill” now leads to BP’s very own internal press page.

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Nine steps to take now:

1. Stop Talking – I always advocate communicating over silence, as do the most crisis communication professionals.  After seven weeks, all efforts should focus on action; the public’s appetite for communication is gone.  At this point, the public is looking for heads to roll;

2. Restructure Leadership, Immediately — If the faces of the disaster don’t change, the reputational damage won’t change. Right now, the “faces” are damaged wildlife, angry elected officials, and current BP leadership. Commercials, apologies and new communication, at this moment in time, won’t change that – people have made up their minds; in order to get the public to even potentially buy into an message BP sends, it needs to appear that the culprits, real or imagined, have been replaced.

3. Major Relief Fund – directed by local officials – The locals are saying they can do it better – let them try. It will at least re-direct some of the attention – the best case scenario for BP right now.

4. Show some sacrifice – So far, the sacrifice that BP gets credit for are the comments from Mr. Hayward. Put A LOT of money into local nonprofits now. Reduce headcount and replace with affected locals. Invest in these communities for things having nothing to do with the environment.

5. Non Profit Support – When you input the term “BP charity” or “BP nonprofit” into Google News, very little comes up. Not good.

6. Retraining Stations - There are now entire industries that may no longer exist. Set up retraining stations to work in oil and gas exploration and give those displaced apprenticeships and permanent jobs; Start the retraining now

7. ASPCA/Etc. – Give EVERY major animal rights and environmental organization you can nonprofit funding, fly them down, and get them on the ground on your dime to help.

8. Fall on the Sword - Now is the time to direct any and all blame inward. Someone internally needs to comment on how BP handled this from the jump – taking the heat. Americans are very forgiving, but only if given the opportunity.

9. Fall on the Sword, Pt II – BP station owners, who have little or no affiliation with the parent company, are victims as well. Defend them. Something along the lines of:

“Any anger should be aimed squarely at us. Most BP stations are owned by small business owners, your neighbors, and hard working people who have NO HAND in anything the company has done. Your anger, deservedly, should be pointed at BP, and we understand protests of BP; please don’t misdirect anger at station owners who have no connection to BP or any responsibility for the disaster.”

Unfortunately, the only formula for BP in terms of repairing damage to the corporate name is time – commercials and appearances won’t work.

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“We are a responsible party.  Our obligation is to deal with the spill, clean it up and make sure the impacts of that spill are compensated. And we are going to do that.” – BP America CEO Lamar McKay May 11, 2010

However, a number of comments that followed were decidedly off-message.  There will be myriad lawsuits filed in this case, and litigators are not going to have to wait for discovery to start developing story lines around key quotes.

One has to wonder what a juror will think after being exposed to these quotes from, or attributed to, CEO Tony Hayward :

“What the hell did we do to deserve this?” [New York Times, 4/30/10]

“The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” [Guardian, 5/14/10]

“I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest.” [Sky News, 5/18/10]

“We’re sorry for the massive disruption its caused their lives. There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” – CNN, 5/30/10

(collected by ThinkProgress.org)

Come on, this is America, of there will be frivolous lawsuits —   Shep Smith, Fox News, had pretty powerful comments about this one.

Referring to the 9 cleanup workers who have been hospitalized:

BP CEO Hayward told CNN that the sick workers, who blamed their nausea, headaches and chest pain on the oil cleanup at the beach at Grand Isle, probably got sick from food poisoning.

“I’m sure they were genuinely ill, but whether it was anything to do with dispersants and oil, whether it was food poisoning or some other reason for them being ill,” Hayward said. “You know, food poisoning is clearly a big issue when you have a concentration of this number of people in temporary camps, temporary accommodation. It’s something we have to be very, very mindful of. It’s one of the big issues of keeping the army operating. You know, armies march on their stomachs.

I am an advocate of the CEO being front and center when a crisis strikes; that is why CEO’s need to be media trained and have crisis communication plans drawn up prior to being in the line of fire.

What you say can and will be used against you in court and the court of public opinion.  Jurors are individuals, and members of the public. Hence, comments that can be interpreted as callous by the public can be interpreted as callous by a juror.  Jurors will determine what claims are legitimate.

What you say and how you say it matters. Case closed.

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Breaking News:  Elections in the US (and the UK) are NOT the only major elections that occur!

Next year, a major battle is shaping up in the Middle East — who will lead Egypt.  While Hosni Mubarak has led Egypt since Anwar Sadat’s assassination nearly three decades ago, there appears to be the potential for a very competitive race next year, with Mubarak’s son, Asst. Secretary General Gamal Mubarak, the front runner, and Nobel Prize Laureate Mohammed ElBaradei the face of the opposition.

One fact transcends all borders and elections — in a democratic election, the ability to “connect” with the electorate, through verbal and non-verbal communication, is paramount.

While both Mubarak and ElBaradei are highly visible throughout Egypt, both are extremely bright and highly articulate, neither man has displayed the ability to “connect”….yet.

A few (unsolicited) communication tips for Asst. Sec. General Mubarak:

1. Expression Matters – Mr. Mubarak’s facial expressions rarely change.  His mouth is constantly positioned the same way, as is his forehead (creased) – very serious, regardless of what he is talking about.  While I believe his serious demeanor can, at times, be an asset, if overused it becomes a hindrance;

2. Body Language Matters - See Tim Geithner; Mr. Mubarak’s chin is constantly lowered, hindering eye contact, putting the focus on his forehead, and really exaggerating the forehead “creases”; the simple “tweak” of raising his chin will make a dramatic improvement;

3. Movement Matters - On television, movement is exaggerated; Mr. Mubarak constantly moves his head, sometimes very rapidly, which causes a distraction to the viewer;

A few (again unsolicited) communication tips for Dr. ElBaradei:

1. Expression Matters – Dr. ElBaradei has a lighter, less serious demeanor (at times) than Mr. Mubarak;  however, when he begins to speak at length, his demeanor tends to change a bit, and his expression and tone goes flat; Dr. ElBaradei’s smile is an asset- he should use it more;

2. Length Matters – Mr. ElBaradei is much more effective in shorter sentences – he should focus on shorter, focused sentences with longer pauses in between thoughts; When he speaks at length, verbal “noise” tends to penetrate, as does a tendency to speed up dramatically;

3. Image Matters – This may seem insignificant, but Mr. ElBaradei’s suits tend to appear too big and his suit jacket tends to ride up his back when sitting and speaking; easily rectified but something that should be addressed now rather than in the heat of election battle;

I will be keeping a close eye on this race as it will be fascinating – more (unsolicited) tips to follow for both candidates…

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