And One More Thing...to Avoid

Oh and one more thing.

Don’t add one more thing at the end of the interview.

This often gets people into trouble you’re having a conversation with a reporter.

Reporters perfectly nice friendly thinks of you as intelligent nice.

Everything’s going well.

You had your message as you delivered your message as you bridge back to your man.

Everything went according to plan you feel like you’ve accomplished everything you need to in the interview.

You’re kind of sitting back.

Perhaps it’s a phone interview you’re relaxed and you can tell the reporter thinks you’re charming and intelligent and you just can’t resist.

Oh yeah.

We’ve got this other new product coming out next quarter and it’s really going to.

And now the reporters ears prick up all now you’ve stepped on your own message.

Now you’ve aroused the curiosity of the reporter and they want to talk about this new thing in the story and all the stuff you planned all the stuff you cared about didn’t get in.

Sometimes they are disastrous consequences in the United States presidential election in 1976.

Former governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter was running and he was being followed around by a magazine reporter for months.

And the reporter was in Carter’s home in Plains Georgia and said to then Governor Carter thank you so much for your time appreciate it put away his pad pen and Jimmy Carter said thanks a lot.

By the way I just want to stress to you Yeah I’m a man of faith.

You’ve seen me teaching Sunday school here in Georgia.

It’s very important me but I’m no better than anyone else.

The Bible says if you even looked at a woman with lust in your heart that’s the same as adultery you will certainly I’ve done that.

REPORTER Thanks sin gets in his car drives away a couple days later headline in Playboy magazine.

Jimmy Carter I’ve committed lust in my heart.

Same as adultery day after that headline of every newspaper in America.

And within just a few weeks he lost 17 points in the polls.

Almost lost the entire election.

He did have a massive lead.

All of that in part because of just one little thing at the end of an interview.

So keep it zipped Folks don’t try to put forth one new idea.

The hard part is so many reporters are charming and interesting.

We want them to think we’re interesting and it’s kind of like a new friend sometime.

So we want people to think we’re interesting.

So we want to give more ideas more ideas you had to fight that impulse.

You’ve got to decide in advance of the interview.

What is most important and then you’ve got to stick to it.