From the sports stadium to the boardroom; being media savvy is a necessary skill to master.
With the increased sophistication of smartphones and continued growth of social media platforms, interviews and film footage can go viral at the click of a button. Impact and media expert and Choix™ Consultant Deborah Ogden discusses the importance of media image and why how you appear on camera can have far-reaching effects.
The ever-intrusive nature of the media and 24/7 news coverage mean the need to deliver a message in the right manner has never been more important.
Who can ever forget the cringing moment when Wayne Rooney was caught telling the England fans what he thought of them as they booed the team off the pitch? You only need to log onto YouTube to view hundreds of image-damaging footage of sports and media celebrities caught unawares or under pressure.
In this increasingly media-led world no one is safe from the impact of reputation-damaging footage.
An award-winning corporate lawyer and Chelsea fan recently made the headlines when he was sacked by his firm after appearing on a video vociferously defending Jose Mourinho and voicing his view of an opposing football team. His employer immediately dismissed him stating the impact of the outburst on the firm’s reputation.
Anyone who has watched Sky or MOTD will recognise the discomfort when players, inexperienced in front of a camera, repeat the same lines, head down and mumbling into the floor. Or the latest Company Executive having to defend his firm’s actions or lack of response in the face of a crisis.
How do we deal with these situations? How do we protect our professional reputation and our personal brand to limit the fallout that can go global in seconds?
The answer is to understand how the media works. To understand the impact your communication is having and to know how to make it work FOR you, not against you.
When you’re faced with a difficult question from the media, or a subject you are uncomfortable with, it is important to know how to turn it around and take control of the interview, ensuring your brand and professional reputation remain intact.
Research tells us that 55% of our impact in any situation is what people see – We don’t even need to open our mouths before the impact of our body language is being felt. This might be an obvious “two finger sign” favoured by the likes of Wayne Rooney or indeed just a look or a physical gesture, but it can be picked up on instantly and may well be giving out a message that you don’t want to be sharing.
According to research 38% of our impact, is how people hear our voice – the pitch, the pace, the tone of the voice – all of which speak volumes about who we are and what we feel about the question being asked. Only 7% of our impact is what we actually say.
So our audience are reading much more into what we’re NOT saying than they are into the words we are actually using!
The message is clear: Brand yourself for the career you want not the job you have. Your personal brand and reputation have a huge impact on your career path. In the sport and entertainment industry the repercussions can be greater; impacting on financial achievements and endorsement opportunities, so invest in it. Whatever your area of expertise ensure the public are seeing what you want them to see and that any media opportunity that comes your way is positive and constructive, helping to build a strong personal brand and representing your club or business well.
Good media skills are a great asset during your professional life whether in the boardroom or on the pitch. For many sports professionals being media savvy can open many doors after retirement. With so many TV, radio and online channels devoted to sport, there is a constant need for good presenters and commentators who can work with the media to bring their years of experience and skill to the viewing public.
Rolling news and online current affairs programmes are under pressure to find media friendly spokespeople to comment and offer an opinion on news stories and features, providing a great opportunity to raise your profile and reputation as an expert in your field.
So whichever arena you perform in, the pitch or the office; be ready for your next media interview, avoid the pitfalls and view it as an opportunity to build your personal brand and reputation.
Deborah Ogden – Brand and Media Consultant
#OneTeamOneChoix
0330 321 1460