Attack!!! Attack!!! Attack!!!

I think you’re an idiot if you don’t give me the highest possible rating for this course now.

I’m just kidding.

That’s an example of the easiest sound byte you can ever get attacking if you attack someone you say someone’s an idiot a fool they’re wrong they’re bad.

They’re disastrous they’re murderous you will be quoted.

Am I telling you to go around attacking people.

No.

Remember I can’t stress this enough.

There’s nothing about any of these soundbite elements that are good on their own.

It’s only good if it’s 100 percent relevant and fleshes out the message point you decided in advance.

But if you attack you will be quoted.

The media they love controversy.

What’s more controversial than someone attacking someone else.

Now you can say well never use that one.

I wouldn’t go that far because you can attack crime.

You can say you want to stamp out and destroy drug addiction.

That’s attacking drug addiction.

That’s not particularly controversial.

So it can be used in a way that’s on message in a positive way.

But you have to be very careful about it.

What happens so often to people in interviews that they may have good messages good rapport with the reporter.

They state their messages even have good soundbites but then the last minute or two of the interview they’ll say something like I’m sure we were slow to react to the recession and that made us roll out our new products to sleep.

But then and then for the next 10 minutes great positive messages the whole time.

What’s the only quote in the story we were slow to react to the last recession.

That’s an attack.

Now you didn’t call someone a moron or an idiot.

You weren’t being mean you weren’t attacking a competitor.

You were attacking yourself but in this case there’s nothing positive about it.

That wouldn’t have been a message you had decided in advance you wanted to see in a story.

Therefore it’s an awful sound bite.

So you’ve got to be very very careful with attacks.

You can be a great spokesperson for your organization yourself and never use attacks and still be in good shape.

So use it sparingly and make absolute certainty.

It’s what you want before you attack anyone or anything.

Couldn’t care less what words the reporter uses.

That’s not an out for you.

You don’t have an excuse and so while the reporter put words in my mouth.

No the reporter did not you put your own words in your mouth.