Be On Message

Bridging – The art of not answering the question

When it comes to Media Relations everyone wants to know how to Bridge. That’s the skilful art of avoiding the question and delivering your message.

Unless you practice bridging constantly you will fail miserably if you try to do this when the camera is glaring at you and a microphone is shoved in your face.

So let’s start with bridging statements that can work.

My favourite is, “I see the point you are trying to make, however, let’s look at the facts” and then give the answer you came to give when you agreed to the interview.

A common bridging statement is “that’s an interesting question, but we need to remember” followed by the answer you want to give.

The challenge for you is developing a series of statements that when they come out of your mouth make sense and take the reporter and viewers to the place you want them to go.

You know you’ve succeeded when the follow up question relates to your answer, rather than the original question.

Teleprompters - Not as easy as it looks

The key to a great teleprompter performance is complicated, it starts with what happens in the theatre of your mind. You have to imagine how you look on camera and then live that performance.

The challenge with a teleprompter is the fact that it’s a flat piece of glass and it gives back nothing, zip, zero, zilch.

You’re use to talking to human beings that raise their eyebrows, frown, smile, grimace and so on. In other words they give you feedback.

The kind of feedback that gives you energy and confirms your message is being heard.

So there you are in front of the teleprompter and you have to imagine what you expect to look like at the same time that you’re supposed to be in the moment and talking.

It gets worse when you consider both the camera operator and teleprompter operator aren’t looking at you, in fact they’re not really even listening to you. They’re focused on ensuring you’re in-focus, in the frame, that the sound is clean and the teleprompter is rolling at the right rate.

If it’s your first time in-front of teleprompter my suggestion is to do about four or five dry practice reads.

Read number one will be awful. You will clunk out the words without telling a story.

Remember you’re objective is tell a story and in the process deliver a message.

So on read number one just get familiar with how it all works.

Start by looking at the screen for three or four seconds then start to read. Pay attention to the punctuation, it’s there to help you work on your pacing.

One of the keys to being a great communicator is hearing yourself finish the sentence. So when you see a period, stop ever so briefly. Let the idea sink into the mind of the listener and then move forward. Remember if you don’t hear yourself finish the sentence neither with your listener.

On the next practice read start to get a sense of making the points come together as a group that lead to making a point.

On your third read, pay attention to the rate you speak at, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Modulate your voice – let it rise and fall depending on the emotional temperature you want to convey.

Then give it one or two more reads, always out loud so you can feel the words roll off of your tongue.

Then when the camera starts to record you’ll have a much better idea of what to expect.

When you’ve finished with your read, stay looking directly at the teleprompter until the crew tells you they are clear. This allows them to dissolve out – if you look away to the producer or the crew seeking confirmation you did an okay job, the editor is not going to be happy. They will have to make a hard cut and in doing so rob your on-camera performance of its full impact.

 One last thing, cut yourself some slack. Putting too much pressure on yourself to do it perfectly will undermine your ability to be you.

Is the Camera On?

One of the most commonly asked questions I get when I talk to groups or conduct Media Training sessions is – “how do I know if the camera is on?”

The answer is you never know.

You may wonder, “how is this possible?” because frequently I see cameras with a red light on. It’s a popular belief, the red light is on, the camera is on, the red light is off the camera isn’t recording.

Not only is it outdated thinking, it’s just wrong.

The red light on the camera is not there for your benefit. The red light was designed for the production team. It’s a light that can easily be turned off and the camera is still recording.

On most larger format or shoulder mounted cameras there is a red light on the front and one on the back. Both lights have switches that can turn them off.

It’s a moot point however because more and more those are not the cameras news organizations use. The cameras are smaller and don’t have the real estate to accommodate a red light.

With the introduction of DSLR cameras like the Cannon 5D, there is no light on the front and only a small red dot on the viewer screen on the back.

Then there are mobile phone cameras. No red light there either.

What does this mean to you?

It means you need to expect the camera is always on all the time. This isn’t just a Media Training issue, it’s an everyday issue.

If you are in a position where what you do and say matters to you, your organization and your public image then act as if you are always on camera.