Spokesperson Coaching Tip #16: Honestly, it sounds like a lie

I wrote awhile back (in Spokesperson Coaching Tip #7) about how overuse of verbal crutches can undermine a spokesperson’s credibility and effectiveness.  The very worst of these are the phrases that are intended to convey openness and honesty, because they tend to have the exact opposite effect.  Words and phrases like “to be pefectly honest,” “frankly,” “candidly,” and “truthfully” act as red flags to the listener, rather than reassurances.  Once or even twice may not hurt too much, but if it becomes a frequently used verbal crutch, the spokesperson inevitably scores low with journalists on “seems open and honest” when we perform a formal Spokesperson Assessment.  And since that score has a direct correlation to the journalist’s desire to have a long-term relationship with the spokesperson to utilize them as a resource, the impact on your media relations efforts can be dramatic.

Even some of the most polished spokespeople fall into this habit.  At last week’s IABC international conference, held in New Orleans, the association presented its EXCEL award, honoring a senior corporate executive who is an outstanding communicator.  Stu Reed, executive vice president of Motorola’s Integrated Supply Chain, was the recipient, as well as keynote speaker.  He was incredibly smooth, personable, funny, and articulate.  But he had a near-fatal reliance on this particular verbal crutch.  In fact, he used all of the phrases mentioned above, multiple times.  I couldn’t help counting, and finally lost count at 24 (less than half-way through the speech).  Afterward, two other people mentioned noticing it (one of whom also started counting).  Many more, no doubt, didn’t notice the words, but may have been affected on a more subliminal level.  At dinner a the following evening, several people were discussing his presentation, and asked me what I thought.  Before answering, I asked them to give me their own impressions of him.  One woman hit the nail on the head when she said, “While he was speaking, I thought he was great.  But later, my feelings changed, and I’m not sure why.  It just didn’t ring true.”

I  have to say here that I’m confident that Mr. Reed was, in fact, being honest with his audience.  He’s an outstanding speaker in every other way, and I’m certain he fully deserves the honor he was receiving.  But this one minor weakness undermined his credibility with at least a portion of his audience.   And he’s probably not even aware of it.  I’d guess his PR team is (it’s hard to miss), but they may not have realized its importance, or had the opportunity to address it with him. My point is that spokesperson assessment is not only for very weak spokespeople.  It can be a way to identify relatively minor things that can have a major impact on spokesperson effectiveness and often are easily fixed with targeted coaching.