When the Camera Rolls

The video I’ve attached is of Mike Coupe, the boss of Sainsbury's, in an unguarded moment when he thought the cameras weren’t rolling singing “We’re in the Money” from the musical “42nd Street”. Unfortunately for him, the cameras were on.

Let me set the scene here. Coupe had just announced an audacious ￡7 billion deal to acquire Asda, owned by Wal-Mart.

It’s a transaction that would propel Sainsbury to the top of the shop-keeping charts, leapfrogging Tesco, and, at a personal level, it would secure Coupe’s place in retailing history.

Of course, the message was lost as the evening news bulletins, the papers and internet chose to focus on the vid.

It went viral and the clip was picked up and dissected by the late night comedy panel shows on TV and radio.

Astonishing lapse

The press called the lapse ‘astonishing’.

It was more than astonishing as it allowed the unions, many thousands of whose members risked losing jobs as a result of the merger, to round on the Sainsbury CEO, who would no doubt receive a substantial bonus once the transaction completed.

He became in 24 hours the grinning (and singing) assassin.

Coupe wasn’t then first and won’t be the last to have a mare once the studio lights go on.

Tony Hayward endured a series of media calamities during his time at the helm of BP, while Gerald Ranter’s foot-in-mouth rant is still infamous more than a quarter of a century on.

So I doff my cap to the hundreds of captains of much smaller ships who face the Proactive inquisition without the aid of a battery of spin-doctors and assorted hangers-on.

I think in the main their interviews are fresher and more informative thanks to the absence of this BS.

However, drawing on the experience garnered filming hundreds of these chats over the past year, there is always scope for improvement.

Basic stuff

It might be basic stuff such as slouching or having a tie on skew-whiff (both of which should and usually are solved by our presenters).

And then there are the nervous types, the wafflers and those who are so evangelistic about their company and its prospects they forget to answer the question.

Personal message delivery is critical in this screen-centric world, which is why Proactive has developed a training course that will help harness the knowledge and enthusiasm that bosses of growth business possess.

We assess body language, speaking skills, pacing, non-verbal cues and overall effective delivery of your business objective so you can get your message across to investors with clarity and punch.

Tricks of the trade

Our sessions are run by veteran Sky News presenter Polly Middlehurst, who is a seasoned media resilience coach.

She has trained delegates in corporate and government sectors at the highest levels working with the London Business School, Foreign Office, Hilton Worldwide, the Ministry of Defence and NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

 “Not only does training effectively for media encounters pay off when you’re pushed in front of camera but think too about the dividends reaped every time the moment-arresting Obama ‘power-pause’ is used,” says Polly.

“Then there’s the moment you deploy those controlled body language skills as part of your armoury in critical negotiations…not to mention being able to interpret the nuanced signalling of your opposite number.”

Meeting the media challenge with even just a simple introduction to the skills Polly teaches should help delegates hold the room speaking at public events in both their professional and private lives.

After all, who doesn’t want to get talked about after a TED Talk or a great speech at your best friend’s wedding?'

For more information on Media Resilience Training contact me on [email protected]