Dealing with the Media and Public Speaking

by
Arch Lustberg, President
Lustberg Communications, Washington, D.C.

Leadership Kentucky
Drawbridge Inn, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky
November 14, 1997

Controlling the mic" is the objective. But remember that the interviewer has physical control; you can, however, take effective control. For example, you might use this: "Let me finish… or As I was saying before you interrupted me, … " or similar devices.

"Whether we like it or not, perception has replaced reality."

Competence and likeability are the crucial variables. And likeability is the winning one! In the ’96 Presidential election, Bill Clinton didn’t win; Bob Dole lost—he didn’t get the "intravenous feeding of charisma" he needed. Ronald Reagan won twice.

Here is the maxim with any audience: "Those who like you, forget them; those who won’t like you, ignore them; focus on the (usually majority) group that hasn’t yet made up its mind!"

Your communication tools that are essential are these:

MIND

FACE/BODY

VOICE

Your mind is your competence factor, your substance, it’s what you say.

Your face and body are your audience’s guide to your likeability. It’s the form; it’s how you say what you say.

(Communications studies show that your voice is by far the least important element in terms of the impact of what you say—although inflection, level, tone, etc., are areas you should also master and control.)

MIND.

Of course you first need to PREPARE!

There are some rules to know when being interviewed. The first and most important before you answer:

PAUSE. "Don’t move your mouth until your mind is in drive."

There are four things to do in the pause:

    1. Remain silent.

"We’re developing a disease I call intellectual dysentery."

    1. Lock "eye contact." The reason: We don’t think we’ll while we’re looking at someone. I like to look a) at the mouth, 2) at the brow, 3) at the nose. Every face has a place where you are "comfortable" looking. But when you’re ready to speak to someone, look at them.
    2. Understand the architecture of confrontation. It’s:

Become aware of them, eliminate them completely.

Never tell what you don’t do; tell what you do. Never deny the acquisition; "Don’t water the weed, pull it out by the root."
    1. Convert your answer into information. That’s your job: to inform. Figure out: What would the question have been if asked by a decent human being? Don’t get angry. Don’t lose your temper change your delivery; you become more likeable. You can thereby, "control" any confrontation. "The audience can only like you if you like them."

Step 1: Be HONEST.

Step 2:  Be POSITIVE/CARING

If you don’t know, don’t say. If you weren’t prepared, say so and say "Let me think." Everything has "a grain of truth in it—or someone perceives it as being so.

Create a half-dozen "LEAD-INS" for yourself. For example:

"Look spontaneous, not coached."

Don’t use "-ize." We’ve developed in this society a very high "pompous ass" quotient.

Simple + Brief + Clear + Concise=Easy to Understand. It’s what communication is all about. Churchill once said, "Short words are the best and short words when old are the best of all."

Avoid acronyms and jargon. Real people don’t relate to them. Get rid of the words… paradigm, infrastructure, eco-systems, utilize, replicate, exacerbate. Churchill wrote to F.D. Roosevelt requesting lend-lease, "Send us the tools and we will do the job."

There are three definitions of communication:
    1. "Communication is the transfer of information from mind to mind." It can occur by mouth, sign, music, painting, etc.
    2. "Communication is an information transplant." Your job: make that audience get your message."
    3. "An intellectual act of love"—Arch Lustberg (His own copyrighted definition.)

Be memorable. Think in imaginative terms. Be a storyteller. Give anecdotes. Use similes, metaphors, "word pictures." These are far superior to charts. "Memorability is the key to my training." Put what you do in memorable story terms! Clinton’s health care package lost because the Clinton’s got boring and "Harry and Louise"—the opposition commercials—were interesting.

The last step in simple and memorable is: PROUD. It’s the best lead-in there is. Don’t be ashamed to tell it proudly, but not boastful.

FACE/BODY

How you use your face is the key to your likeability. Remember that your face is the involuntary presentation of your emotions; it’s doing what your emotions tell you to do. My rules for using it.

    1. SMILE! When I make "intellectual love" to you, you must like me back. But it must be appropriate and genuine. The smile is a happy face.
    2. "Open Face"

a. Understand it.

b. Have to use it.

c. Practice it.

You have 3 faces to show:

1. CLOSED 2. NEUTRAL 3. OPEN

It’s used when we’re worried   Nothing moves but the  Remember this: Brow

and/or angry. When you see it, you  mouth. It’s the one most of lines are communication

don’t like me back.   us shows an audience. It’s   lines not age lines.

     the "face of the dead," the

     face of small talk. It’s the mask

     we put on so people won’t know

     how we feel.

If I like you but don’t like your message, the worst they can say is, "She really believes that crap." The key to success is the Open Face.

Open Body is the correlation to open face. It’s told by "gesture." The hands are "naked," so we tend to hide them. Some hand hiding positions:

    1. Hand over wrist hand over crotch ("fig leaf")
    2. Hands deep in pockets—"The Pee Wee Herman School of Communication."
    3. Hands clasped behind—The "Royal" posture
    4. Hands over chest—"The female fig leaf: You leave them alone."

Find a "place"/posture that’s comfortable—for you. The best is hands at your side. And remember: Nothing you do or wear should call attention to itself. They’re "psychological distractions."

A gesture is the communicator’s equivalent of a hug.

There are four ways to approach the presentation:

    • Outline
    • Notes
    • Nothing
    • Text (Manuscript)—the hardest of all!

Here’s how to put your manuscript on paper: In the text area, use a large font. Also use double space lines; triple space paragraph breaks. Every page should end with a period.

Some other rules:

  • Slide your pages from right to left—the first thing you see is the page #.
  • Use short sentences—no more than two (2) lines of type. Write sentences simply; but don’t write "simple" sentences.
  • Maintain the "rhythm of eye contact." Your mouth should never be moving while your eyes are down.
  • Never make a ‘speech’ again!"
  • "If you have to read it to me, mail it in."

Always remember these points

  • PAUSE, then look down.
  • SILENCE, then look up; prepare your next thought
  • EYE CONTACT, looking at someone, then talk. Finish each thought before looking down for the next.

While nervousness is good; stress is a killer. Practice diaphragmatic breathing. When the diaphragm flattens, the lungs fill.

To capsulize…

  • Be yourself; be real.
  • You can be in control.
  • If you can possibly enjoy yourself, it’s contagious.
  • Be likeable. Use the Open Face: "Hug me"
  • Tell a story

"Tell me and I’ll forget show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand."

—Chinese Proverb