How Quickly Can You Make a Point?

DWT* Prevention Inventor Makes Most of Opportunity
(*Driving While Texting)


By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

What if Fox Business Network invited you to pitch your business on-air to a venture capitalist. At the same time, of course, you have the opportunity to reach an even wider audience. You need to get their attention quickly. It's your most immediate challenge.

Well, FBN made that offer to Matt Howard, founder of Zoomsafer.

“Zoomsafer is software for mobile phones to prevent distracted driving.” As a famous chef might say: “Bam!” Howard nailed it immediately in his very first sentence. And, then he followed up with strong, relatable anecdotal detail. He told a very compelling personal story.

A “crackberry” addict himself, Howard related how he nearly hit a little boy while reading an email as he was backing his car out of his driveway. A near-tragedy was averted. Barely.

Howard’s pitch to a venture capitalist appearing with him on the Fox Business program was persuasive. He obviously understood how he had to connect fast and did it in less than a minute. (Click on video below.)

The VC was impressed. He told Matt Howard the $1.5 million he wants for his invention is out there.

Wonder how many potential investors and interested prospective customers contacted him after that appearance.

Honest Communication Is Not Optional

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

Cyber space is bloated with articles, blogs, video and audio criticizing and condemning businesses and their leaders, helping to form negative impressions. Online examples are easy to find:

The people at the top in general are the subject of a recent blog post entitled The Demonization of Corporate Executives.

A major air carrier, often its own worst enemy as pointed out in this space earlier this year (United’s PR Goes Down in Flames), is the subject of even stronger criticism in the blog of Forbes contributor and marketing expert Shaun Rein, founder of China Market Research Group. He does not mince words in this post: United Airlines' 3 greatest flaws.

When a passenger-filled JetBlue sat on a frozen tarmac for hours on end, the blogosphere went ballistic. One site defaced the JetBlue logo and its promise.

And, in the current angry environment over bailouts, when AIG chose to dish out millions in “bonuses,” the backlash was long, loud and predictable, as noted in this post: Why AIG is Getting Such a Bitter Reaction.

Executives complain they don’t know how to deal with it all. They actually do. It really comes down to wanting to. As pointed out in United Airlines' 3 greatest flaws, the airline’s statements about customer care rang hollow. They were only words, unsupported by the actions of management and employees.

Communication, first and foremost, is critical. Today’s CEO has got to be able to communicate effectively and honestly to a bevy of constituencies. What you say—promise—and how you follow through will answer the question of How Is Your Company Being Perceived?

This era of new media is a double-edged sword. Use it honestly, openly and authentically to protect your name and reputation.

Ignore it at your peril.

Rare Video of Abraham Lincoln

Our 16th President Talks about Effective Communication

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

Honest Abe was a master; an expert communicator whose special skills undoubtedly went a long way toward helping get him elected president.

He understood what it takes to connect with his intended audiences persuasively. We’ve obtained video of an exclusive interview with the late president on the subject of executive presence. The interviewer was Steve Wylie with the Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg, PA. (Click on the interview below.)

Interestingly, President Lincoln adheres to the techniques proctored by friend and associate Andrew Dietz, President of Creative Growth Group, and me in our Executive Presence Workshops.

Our workshops are predicated on what we call the “7 Laws of Gravitas.”

Law 1: Develop Clear Positioning
Be a “go-to” person with a distinguishable feel.

Law 2: Maintain Peer to Peer Ego Strength
Vigilantly seek to bring the dialogue back to peer-to-peer levels.

Law 3: Exert Leadership Influence
Gently and consistently expose reality.

Law 4: Offer Emotional Generosity
Sit on the same side of the table.

Law 5: Master Your Words
Be mindful of your verbal presence – crisp, concise,
clear

Law 6: Think On Your Feet
Employ frameworks and think “yes, and.”

Law 7: Mind Your Body
Move with energy, pause with power.

These “laws” help improve the communication and presentation skills of men and women on an upward track in an organization, up and comers whose jobs require them to interact with the senior level management of clients and prospects.

Sometimes a Sense of Humor is Required

Rick's Cabaret CEO Eric Langan


“Gentlemen’s Club” CEO Way Too Serious

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

You’ve got to understand the interview environment ahead of time and adjust accordingly.

CNBC’s Mark Haines (pictured at left) has a precocious personality and he enjoys using it. He often finds humor in things, perhaps where we might not first sense it. But this one was easy and you knew ahead of time Mark would have some fun with it.

Rick’s Cabaret is a chain of 18 clubs in 10 cities that are euphemistically called “Gentlemen’s Clubs.” Of course, we all know what that means.

Business is good at Rick’s, despite the recession. When CEO Eric Langan was recently interviewed by Mark, Haines predictably reached for some double entendres, noting that the clubs report 48% of their money comes from service revenues. “What would those be?” asked Haines, tongue squarely in cheek. Not even a smile from Langan, as he described the availability of “private VIP rooms.”

Moving on Haines said he was surprised only 12% of revenue was from food sales, and wondered if customers just are not hungry. Langan, ever the straight man in this exchange, replied that food is a loss leader. Haines said, “It’s tough to chew with your tongue hanging out!” To which Langan dead panned: “Yeah.”

Throughout, it was clear all of this was flying right over the strip club executive’s head. Langan probably lobbied for this interview and certainly had to know it could/would be handled in a lighter way. And once he knew Mark Haines was the interviewer, did anyone consider doing some due diligence on Haines’ MO? Langan didn’t need to compete with Haines, but certainly he should’ve heard the humor and made the interview more fun for himself and his target audiences, who undoubtedly would’ve enjoyed the humor, too.

Haines (and viewers, most likely) had their fun anyway, unfortunately mostly at Langan’s expense. (See for yourself; just click on the video below.)

Appealing to Stockholders: “Make A Couple Billion Dollars”

Priming the Deal Through Target Audiences

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®


A very important vote’s scheduled for this Tuesday (July 21st) at the NRG Energy stockholder meeting. Utility holding company Exelon has its own slate of directors up for election to the NRG board. Exelon has been on a months-long campaign to buy NRG and keeps getting turned away.

But the door remains open. Exelon has continually increased its offer, and NRG has indicated the latest proposal this month was a "step in the right direction."

Of course, Exelon wants and needs the blessing of a majority of NRG shareholders and their help to increase Exelon’s influence on NRG’s board of directors. And, it’s those stockholders Exelon has been targeting, including in one of the company’s latest opportunities placing Chairman and CEO John Rowe on CNBC:



Exelon CEO John Rowe

“…we think the synergies that we can offer…make a couple billion dollars for the
shareholders in each company, and that’s a rare thing. NRG is betting on a
growth strategy. Most of those growth strategies in our business don’t work…this
is not only a conflict about price, it’s a conflict about views of the entire
industry and it really just comes down to what the investors believe.”

NRG is a global wholesale energy company. Exelon is the most prolific user of nuclear power producing electricity in America. NRG has nuclear generation facilities in the very attractive growth market of Texas, as well as natural gas, oil and coal plants throughout North America and in Europe and Austrailia.

Together, the two companies would create the largest U.S. power generating concern. When Rowe talks about making “a couple billion dollars for the shareholders in each company” on CNBC, it’s a very persuasive argument targeted at industry analysts, the NRG board and stockholders he needs in favor of the merger. (Click on video below for the key segment of the interview.)

Let the Media Help Say It for You

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

It’s the National Retail Federation vs. Wal-Mart. Despite the federation’s 2500 membership roster, this has the feel of David vs. Goliath.

So, when you’re at an apparent disadvantage of that degree, what can you do? Get some help from the news media, of course.

These two seemingly aligned organizations are on opposing sides of healthcare reform. Wal-Mart, often at war with unions and their attempts to organize the massive retailer’s workforce, has “partnered” with one of its most aggressive and long-time antagonists, the Service Employees International Union in favor of employer-mandated healthcare. The federation says that would be a job killer and put many retailers out of business.

The federation’s Sr. VP for Government Affairs, Steve Pfister, recently carried that message to target audiences watching Fox News Channel’s Your World, and took advantage of some questions from substitute host Stuart Varney.

Varney: “Maybe Wal-Mart did because it knew it could do it and it would put unbearable pressure on its direct competitors.”

Pfister: “Well Stuart, you said that, I didn’t, but I think there might be some truth to the comment you just made.”

And Varney said it for him, giving Pfister an opportunity to simply second that emotion. Then Varney opened another door of opportunity for the Retail Federation executive.

Varney: “Do you think they are trying to buy and curry favor with the unions; a good PR move, for example.”

Here Varney is alluding to the effort by unions to get federal legislative relief to sidestep secret ballot votes in shops they try to organize.

Pfister: “…in terms of currying favor with the unions, in addition to healthcare reform, I would submit to you that the SEIU’s number one priority as well as the rest of organized labor is the card check issue, and I’m not going to suggest that there’s a quid pro quo because I think that would be fool hearty to try to cut a deal on providing healthcare coverage to ward off card check…”

Pfister’s not-so-subtle message to Wal-Mart: if you think you can stop union efforts on card check by aligning with them on healthcare, you’re fooling only yourself, at the expense of your fellow retailers. (Click on the video below to see this segment of the interview.)

While news people often ask questions that seek conflict and controversy, there are times when you can use those questions, as Pfister did, to your advantage without necessarily being the primary message sender.

The Philadelphia Story: Unintended Consequences?

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

"There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club."

--John Duesler, President, The Valley Club, suburban Philadelphia

That statement was John Duesler’s second mistake. His first one was summarily ending the agreement his club had with Creative Steps and its summer camp program instead of finding a better time to make his swimming pool available. Now, whether or not deserved, he and his club have gained a national reputation and perception of racial bias and exclusivity. (Click on the video below for a local Philadelphia TV news story.)


Sadly, this didn’t have to happen. But, in knee jerk reaction to member complaints, Duesler failed to think about the results of his actions. Now, a case is being made that the influx of 65 minority kids in the club pool recently ignited latent racism among the club’s regular members.


His initial statement (above), especially the use of the words “complexion” and “atmosphere” are, at best, unfortunate. At worst, they may shed light on his honest feelings and, perhaps, those of some club members. All the protestations by members that they are not racists tend to ring hollow now in many ears. It may not be fair, or even true, but club management’s actions and statements, plus media reports are creating a much more damaging perception.

Crisis, or the potential for it, often triggers panic and careless, unthinking response. The result is usually unanticipated, unintended and unwanted impressions. The Valley Club’s management and some of its members failed to consider the consequences of their actions and statements.

Which reminds me of what Forrest Gump once said:


“Stupid is as stupid does.”

Avoid Minimizing Crisis Potential

By Eric Seidel, CEO
The Media Trainers®

When part of one floor of a parking garage in Atlanta collapsed a couple of days ago, the first statement from the construction company that supervised its erection seven years earlier included a troubling paragraph:

“To put this incident in perspective there are 1415 spaces in this deck. One section was involved, and it is estimated that approximately 35 spaces were affected.”

At the time, it was hoped, but not yet absolutely determined, there were no deaths or injuries. Just one death would’ve been tragic, making this part of the statement quite ill-advised.

(Note: the above part of the statement was expunged from a follow up statement by the company president which is on the company’s home page.)

Hardin Construction Co., the lead contractor on the project that included two office buildings had suffered an earlier crisis on another project in which one worker died and eight others were critically injured.

An elevated sidewalk at Atlanta’s Botanical Gardens collapsed last December while under construction. If injuries or deaths were later discovered at the parking garage, the minimizing part of the first company statement would’ve been especially unfortunate in this case.