Dad. Media training coach. I sold my 1st newspaper to my grandmother when I was 5. Writer. Conference speaker. Podcast host. Biz owner for 19+ years.
TCC 29: Pause for thought
Elon Musk. Whether you love him or hate him, this week's media interview tip is inspired by the polarizing billionaire.
This past week, Musk did an in-depth, sit-down interview with CNBC's David Faber following Tesla's 2023 annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. The interview was wide-ranging, touching on topics including his acquisition of Twitter, the economic outlook, interest rates, free speech, artificial intelligence and the US presidential race to name a few. But it wasn't the content of his answers that got my attention. It was what he was doing before those answers.
He was pausing to think. Very often, he would take a full three seconds before answering. You'd be surprised how rare this is. Many spokespeople are (understandably) nervous during their interviews. They have their canned messages at the ready and as soon as the reporter finishes asking a question, they start to blurt out their answer. It's as if they're a contestant on Jeopardy, trying to buzz in as soon as possible. And then, their brain is trying to catch up in real time. There's no time for consideration, adjustment or repositioning. This isn't an optimal way to deliver a great answer.
How much of a difference can a three-second pause make during a media interview? You might be surprised. The human brain can do a lot of thinking in a short amount of time. If you've ever fallen off a ladder, you know what I mean. Anyway, whatever your opinion of Elon, I think we can agree that the dude is smart. He's using those precious seconds to consider, organize and formulate his responses.
It's worth noting that this technique is particularly useful for print interviews and taped (not live) radio and TV interviews, since those pauses won't be seen/heard by the audience. But Elon's pauses were seen/heard by the audience, which was what made them even more remarkable to me.
Once your media interview is over and the story is published, those answers are going to be there, searchable, on the Internet, forever. If you can give yourself even the tiniest leg up when it comes to delivering better answers during a media interview, wouldn't you take it?
One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.
Warren Weeks
Dad. Media training coach. I sold my 1st newspaper to my grandmother when I was 5. Writer. Conference speaker. Podcast host. Biz owner for 19+ years.
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