A large portion of my professional life is spent managing “issues”.
This can be in the form of overseeing a full crisis communications plan, or by crafting a two-line response strategically designed to refocus the public’s attention.
This involves working with corporate spokespersons, most commonly senior management or the board of directors. It requires practice on their part and the ability to provide important feedback on mine.
Some communication professionals take the sandwich approach to feedback, delicately placing negative points between two pieces of cushiony compliments. I, on the other hand, am known for a direct style.
I call this a Tough Love approach to spokesperson training. Similar to the parenting method, it demonstrates that while they (in this case, my clients, not children!) are still loved, they won’t be enabled when making poor choices. Continuing this parenting metaphor, my job is to “raise” clients who are confident and proud, protected from dangerous situations, and accepting of the responsibility they have been given.
The following are five situations that can require some Tough Love feedback:
- Comment: “The audience wasn’t smart/sophisticated enough to understand what I was saying.” Tough Love: The responsibility of a corporate spokesperson is not only to deliver the message but to make sure the message is understood. Using heavy jargon or speaking for long periods does not make you sound smarter. Rather, it risks sounding arrogant, unaware of others, and less interesting. Don’t forget your job as a spokesperson also includes responsibility for building a connection with the widest number of people about your subject.
- Comment: “I was misquoted.” Or, “They only used part of what I said, and it made no sense.” Tough Love: The responsibility to ensure you are being quoted correctly is a shared one. Did the media attribute to you something you didn’t say? If so, that is something that can be argued. But most of the time, the media only used a portion of what you said because you forgot your responsibility was to speak in 10- to 15-second soundbites. As a spokesperson, you are trained to know that a 60-second answer will not be used in its entirety when the full news story is a minute thirty! When this is overlooked, the media is left with the task of selecting which section to pick out of your overly long response, and sometimes they pick wrong. Another possibility is that you used too many acronyms and industry jargon, sending the media on a fishing expedition to find something from your interview that can be understood by the public…. Unfortunately, what they found didn’t quite match what you were trying to say.
- Comment: “I spoke the entire time and got out all my key messages.” Tough Love: It’s fantastic that you stuck to your key messages. How do you think they felt about what they heard? The responsibility of a spokesperson is to listen as much as talk. Listening while talking is a talent built on the desire to seek as much information as you share by constantly looking for signs from the audience. Skilled communicators understand the value of connecting with the audience. Communication that flows in only one direction may be OK if you are informing people about something that requires no dialogue, such as an announcement of quarterly earnings or a list of people who passed or failed. But when standing in the front of a room to build consensus or champion new ideas, speaking must include the expressed goal of finding connection, building solutions, and identifying allies to take your messages further.
- Comment: “I thought it was fair to presume ______ because ____. How could I know this would be offensive?” Tough Love: The responsibility of the spokesperson is to ensure they themselves do not become the story. A poor reaction or response, even if it comes from a place of unconscious bias, can create an entirely new saga. People use their own viewpoint or experience to determine what is normal to them, and this becomes their de facto baseline to start a conversation. The flip side of this is anything different is ‘not normal’, or worse, ‘wrong’. How can a person who is of a different gender, ethnicity, ability, or simply a person who has experienced anything you have not, share your exact values or perceptions? There are many types of unconscious bias. A strong spokesperson has done their homework on this, starting with themselves and their company.
- Comment: “But that wasn’t what I meant when I said that. This person/group needs to understand that before getting so hurt.” Tough Love: It is no longer acceptable to focus on intent; rather, focus must be on the outcome. Spokespersons, at one point or another in their career, will need to apologize for what they said or what was said by their company. When crafting this statement, remember not to focus on you, like this: “We are sorry, but that wasn’t our intention; we didn’t know better; we will change and work harder.” Ensure the apology does not include excuses positioned as clarifications. Tip: craft a statement that has no “but” or “if” in it. Real apologies start with an understanding of, or a commitment to learning about, the impact on someone else. It should set the groundwork for what needs to be done to improve and, if possible, suggest check-in points to solicit feedback on a journey to improvement.
Learn more about spokesperson training here. Interested in booking your Tough Love Spokesperson Training session? Reach out here.