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Media Training SarahPalin
By encinoman
How would I media train Sarah Palin? First, I&;d have to get over my objections to her politics; I don&;t media train Philip Morris, for example, because I&;m convinced their products killed my father.
But if I accepted the Palin assignment, I would radically change the approach the Republicans are using.
First, I&;d lose the &;My Fair Lady&;/Henry Higgins approach of trying to school the eager backwoods lass in the ways of Washington. It&;s patronizing, it oozes sexism, and most importantly it doesn&;t work. Very few of us can successful cram and regurgitate hours worth of talking points; for Palin, the problem is clear in the Couric interview. Less is more.
Second, I&;d treat Palin as a real person (and a bright one) with a compelling story to tell, and get her using that story as a metaphor to promote her views in every interview, as Barack Obama did and still often does. She did, after all, come from nothing to being elected Governor of the largest state; she is not a daughter of admirals, married to a former President, a descendant of a wealthy and powerful family, etc.
Third, I&;d spend some time with her asking her what her most personal political views are and which of McCain&;s talking points she finds most compelling. Then I&;d help her craft them (or the ones that the campaign finds most acceptable, at least) into key messages that she could actively promote going forward, and return to when the questioning got tough. If her message was &;lower taxes help working families&;, for example, she could use her own family as an example.
Fourth, I&;d give her some ammunition; two or three key facts and statistics, not a week&;s worth of briefings. And I&;d make it clear that she should stick to the truth and not make up things, no matter how great the temptation or the media pressure.
Fifth, I&;d spend our time doing videotaped one-on-one interviews, not cramming random facts into her head. Give her a half-page of bullet points, have her glance at it, then throw the security blanket away. My experience is that everyone is uncomfortable and unsuccessful in the first one or two ambush style interviews, but they gain mastery over time. From there, move on to mock press conferences, shouted questions, etc.
So I guess I&;m in reluctant agreement with the &;let Palin be Palin&; Republican camp. It hasn&;t happened so far, but she can be a powerful spokesperson for the Republican ticket. But even trained, confident spokespeople can&;t help you if you don&;t have a compelling message.
Tags: Media Training, Sarah-Palin, www.msgmediatraining.com
This entry was posted on September 29, 2008 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Media Training, Politics, public-relations-disaster.
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One Response to &;Media Training SarahPalin&;
Media Training Says:
October 30, 2008 at 2:06 pm |
Sarah Palin is a great speaker &; she just doesn&;t have the brain to back it up. She uses humour to swerve the question and resorts to very nasty back stabbing to get her message across. McCains biggest mistake&;.
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