5 Questions with Tom Rozycki: Calming Nerves Ahead of Your First Broadcast Appearance

“The audience wants you to win.”

 

I sat down with Tom Rozycki, Partner at Prosek and one of our firm’s top executive coaches and lead media trainers. In our conversation below, we talk about how spokespeople who are brand new to broadcast can calm nerves ahead of a TV appearance and what leads to success the first time you go on air.

What can cause someone to have nerves ahead of their first TV appearance?

I think the breadth of the audience—knowing this is bigger than just talking to one reporter at one publication. Fear of failure or making a mistake can be a thunderous voice. If you’re not familiar with or accustomed to making TV appearances, I think we can get a little bit inside our own heads, thinking, somehow, we’re going to end up disgracing ourselves and our family and our company and generations to come because of some giant blunder we make. That feedback loop tends to be very loud before you get out on that sound stage.

What three tips would you give to a spokesperson to settle any nerves ahead of their first-ever TV appearance?

Breathe, breathe and breathe. With every training I do, it always comes back to the breath. We tend to lose focus on how we feel inside of our own bodies before we go on TV. We are so focused, and rightfully so, on doing a good job, meeting expectations, and providing excellent and erudite commentary that we lose track of the fact that we are a human being. We don’t slow down or center ourselves. During the interview, we forget that deeper breathing allows us to reset and be in control of our faculties. When we don’t focus on our breathing, we take shorter breaths, artificially raise our heartbeat, and don’t give ourselves a chance to be in the flow of the conversation. I have seen more results from working with spokespeople when they get more introspective and manage their expectations rather than everybody else’s—and that starts with good breathing.

Should new spokespeople to TV avoid anything the morning or afternoon before an appearance? Something that came to mind was caffeine.

If you have an early morning appearance, get a good night’s sleep, and give yourself enough time before you go on camera. Give yourself a chance to warm up your voice and brain. We often don’t allow ourselves to “get into the moment.” We wake up, jump into the car, onto Zoom, or whatever it is, and we expect ourselves to be radiant and able to respond without really waking up.

Make sure you are conscious of how you are entering the conversation. For instance, I believe caffeine in large doses should be avoided. But I also think that if it’s part of your regimen, your body responds to that in a particular way. If they don’t have their morning coffee, I know some folks who will get a headache—so you might rob Peter to pay Paul. You might be less jittery, but now you have a splitting headache.

If a new spokesperson makes a slight “faux pas”—or a perceived faux pas—during their first-ever TV appearance, how do they course-correct so it doesn’t derail their appearance?

It comes with the preparation. If you’ve got a good PR partner by your side, like Prosek, helping you prepare, calming your nerves, and developing a good set of messages, this can arm you before you set foot on the show. Also, making sure your PR partner has prepped the producer on what you can talk about is critical. Notice that none of this is “in the moment.” You do these things beforehand to avoid getting trapped in a sticky situation.

Because here’s the cool thing about broadcast that most people need to realize: the audience wants you to win.They’re hoping to learn something from you. They don’t want you to be a deer in headlights. They don’t want the anchor to make you feel uncomfortable.

Should you recognize you’ve made an error or a misstatement, rephrase or restate as quickly as possible. When we make minor errors, we tend to magnify them or allow them to be amplified by not setting the record straight and allowing those statements to stand on the record after the segment ends. I think it starts with giving yourself the grace to say, “Hey, I know I hit a speed bump there. I’m still smart. I still have things to share.” The self-talk you bring into the appearance informs your reaction when missteps happen.

Is there one leader you’ve seen on TV that you’d recommend someone new to broadcast check out for inspiration?

One of my bellwethers is Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart. He is always hyper-prepared. What I see reflected in Doug’s appearances is continual training, so he doesn’t seem wooden or inauthentic. I always feel like he’s bringing something new in his delivery in service of being human and accessible. It doesn’t seem like he’s just giving the Walmart “corporate speak.”

I think I once heard that Doug gets trained as many as six times a year to keep that authenticity. If he can’t appear authentic to his associates, investors, and customers, they won’t trust the company. And one could ask—how do you train in authenticity? I think it’s the opposite. I think he’s trying to break down those barriers, so things don’t become formulaic.

Another one is David Steiner, former Waste Management CEO. I once saw him do a “sit-in” with the anchors—he was on camera for the entirety of CNBC’s “Squawk Box”—and served as a sort of guest anchor. He was so affable and informed. He had the expertise and willingness to weigh in on things he knew about, but also knew when to demur and let others take the lead. There was such a comfort and humility about him.

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Interested in learning more about how to #BreakIntoBroadcast or have thoughts or questions to share with Tom? Feel free to reach out to BreakingIntoBroadcast@prosek.com or respond to this post.