A Twitter post from Lady Gaga about her diet and exercise regime has
sparked a backlash from fans and eating disorder campaign groups.

In a tweet to her nearly 23 million followers the singer wrote: ‘Just
killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a
cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay’

With social media at our fingertips, anything can go viral before you can
even tweet “sorry”. Be aware of the audience that you are reaching.
It’s easy to say what’s on your mind, but if you don’t think twice
before you speak, you may end up Red-Faced.

(Photo from Twitter)

In Forbes magazine last week, our East Coast colleague, Joyce Newman of the Newman Group was quoted on how to be charismatic. She would know.

Everyone can be charismatic. We are not born charismatic – we cultivate it in many ways. One way is by observing and learning from people whom you think are charismatic. You don’t need to copy them, but learn their secrets, try them on and fine-tune them until they fit you. It’s a trial and error process. Bad news is that once you have your charismatic status, you can lose it. Just look at Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan. But here’s the good news – if you lose it, with self awareness and effort, you can regain your charismatic ranking.

Here is Michelle Obama, dancing with the president at the Obama Home States Inaugural Gala, radiating her charisma. You go girl!

(Photo credit: Flickr)

Even in countries where the 1st Amendment, Freedom of Speech, is not in play; the media reigns. Reporters won’t be ignored. So you must choose to work with them in balancing the story with your side, too. Or, try to control them at your peril. Case in point. According to a recent Australian Financial Review afr.com, Australian billionaire Solomon Lew tried to keep the tale of his children’s lawsuit for their inheritance out of the press who reported him as a “greedy ogre.” He appealed to the judge who told him, referring to the media coverage, “the horse has already bolted.”

Then the judge ruled that Mr. Lew should pay the media’s court costs.

Winston Churchill: “I am sorry for such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one.”

Take the time to craft your thoughts into a sentence or two before addressing them to media questions. Media training lets you practice until you’ve perfected your short, concise soundbites.

It is certainly expected of a US president to know better than to make a careless media mistake when cameras and microphones are present.  However, President Obama’s Red-faced moment came when he was recorded telling President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more ‘flexibility’ after November’s elections to deal with petulant issues such as missile defense.

This comment came during an exchange between the two presidents in Seoul, South Korea.  Russian President Medvedev, who is scheduled to step down in May, said that he would pass the message on to his successor Vladimir Putin.

Not playing politics, we note that a similar mistake was made by “lame duck” president, Republican Ronald Reagan as he ran for re-election in 1984. Joking during a sound-check he said, “My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.” This microphone gaffe was leaked later and the Soviet Far East Army was put on alert.

It seems that our heads-of-state are in need of executive media training, too, in avoiding careless comments that could result in heightening international tensions. As the wise old saying goes, Silence is Golden.

Looks like Mitt Romney’s senior campaign adviser could have used some serious media training before he commented on CNN that the campaign will ”hit a reset button” to take on President Barack Obama in the fall if Romney wins the GOP nomination. Adding “it’s almost like an Etch A Sketch — you can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.”

Of course, top conservative Republican rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich quickly seized this opportunity to attack Romney over his shifting stances. Santorum’s campaign posted this picture on Twitter of him using an Etch a Sketch to “study up on (Romney’s) policy positions.” While Gingrich declared, “You could not have found a more perfect illustration of why people distrust Romney.”

The caricature of Romney as a politically motivated flip-flopper extended far beyond the campaign and right-wing blogosphere. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) joked about Romney at a dinner Wednesday night honoring fellow former Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Howard Baker for their legacies of bipartisanship.

“Tonight we are here to honor two distinct, different Republicans — and no, I’m not talking about Mitt Romney,” Daschle said.

Word pictures are powerful and often encouraged in our LA media coaching, but they can backfire. Had this senior campaign adviser tested his word picture in on camera practice, he would have had the second opinions of former journalists to advise him.

British political commentator Dr. Anthony Seldon should know better than to venture out of politics after this Red-faced media moment. The gaffe came when the headmaster of expensive Wellington College in Berkshire was asked to comment on the decision to name Engelbert Humperdinck the UK candidate for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

According to the DailyMail, Dr. Seldon replied on a live radio show: “I think that he is absolutely excellent. I’m all for boy-bands and young singers.”

Dr. Seldon was heard asking, “He’s old?” after he was reminded on the air that the British singer Humperdinck is 75 years old and qualifies as a pensioner. Later, the distinguished scholar insisted that he was only joking, adding “I was trying to be ironic but nobody believes me.”

Looks like media mistakes happen from Los Angeles to London. Dr. Seldon’s Red-faced moment occurred when he bluffed at not remembering Humperdinck. READY FOR MEDIA’s executive media training would have taught him not to lie, mislead or try to bluff.

In the midst of America’s sports Lin-sanity, two ESPN employees used the phrase “chink in the armor” once too often to describe Jeremy Lin’s performance against the New Orleans Hornets.

ESPN’s headline writer Anthony Federico made the faux pas when he posted this headline on ESPN’s mobile website: “Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin’s 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-Snapping Loss to Hornets.” The headline was live on the web for more than a half hour before someone realized that it might be construed as an offensive racist remark - Federico was fired the following day.

ESPN’s second Lin-related media mistake came a few days earlier when Max Bretos, a well known ESPN anchor, posed the following question live on the air: “If there is a chink in the armor, where can he improve his game?” As punishment for his gaffe, Bretos was given a 30-day suspension.

The question is how is it possible to make such careless, Red-faced media mistakes? Sometimes, anchors and headline writers are too clever for their own good.

It’s time to retire the phrase “chink in the armor.”

This week is the one-year anniversary of Fashion Designer Kenneth Cole’s Social Media Mistake of trivializing a revolution in a tweet to 8,000 followers.

“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo, Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online - KC”

It triggered a series of angry complaints from users who tweeted responses such as, “You should be ashamed of yourselves @KennethCole. How tasteless and insensitive. People are dying there!”

Known for writing his own Pun-tastic advertising copy after only seconds of thought, Kenneth Cole forgot that Social Media should exemplify redeeming social values. Provocative advertising gets attention but ultimately may backfire. The risk is often out of proportion to the reward.

According to The Huffington Post, the backlash prompted an almost immediate Tweeted and Facebook apology, “We weren’t trying to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historical moment - KC”.

]]> http://www.readyformedia.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=410 http://www.readyformedia.com/blog/?p=400 http://www.readyformedia.com/blog/?p=400#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:02:33 +0000 RFM Staff http://www.readyformedia.com/blog/?p=400

Departing from our usual Red-faced media moments, we must compliment Mitt Romney on a very Ready soundbite after his win in the Florida primary. “A competitive primary will not divide us, “he told his cheering Republican supporters. “It prepares us. And we will win.”

This, after exit polls showed that nearly half of the exclusively Republican-registered primary voters said the most important quality was someone who could defeat the president. And, according to analysts, negative ads accounted for 92 percent of all campaign commercials that aired during the final week of the race.

He went on to say that “ours will be a united party with a winning ticket for America.” And “my leadership will end the Obama era and begin a new era of American prosperity.”

It is only a coincidence that he concluded his victory speech with: “I stand Ready to lead this party and to lead our nation.”