Sound bite of the week goes to Rep Eric Massa for calling White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel “the son of the devil’s spawn.” Wow! if there is a newspaper or website editor or talk show producer who can pass up a juicy quote like this, I’d love to meet him or her.

According to some White House reporters, it’s been 215 days since the last full-fledged Obama press conference–a longer drought than W ever had. What’s going on here?

The White House press can be a pain, but I think Obama is still making a mistake by not putting himself out there for scrutiny on a more regular basis.

The AP reports that the Obama Administration is trying to re-tool its communication strategy. They want to regain their campaign-like discipline from 2008. They have also taken upon themselves to use the White House blog and even twitter. Will it work? See the my video below for more opinions.

There are limits to spin. The Illinois Lt. Governor candidate Scott Lee Cohen dropped out of the race this week. It turns out that #1. Cohen has allegedly abused his wife. #2. He pulled a knife on his girlfriend. and #3. She might have been a prostitute.

It might be possible to spin your way out of one or two of these, but three strikes and you’re out still works in many situations.

Cohen’s big problem is that he is completely unknown by the public. So when he is faced with this much negative publicity, there is no way of countering it. In contrast, someone like fellow Democrat Bill Clinton could withstand personal scandals because he had such a huge body of public work and reputation behind him.

Think of it this way-Toyota is likely to survive some bad press, a brand new restaurant that gives al its patrons food poisoning on opening weekend won’t.

You Are the Media:
How to communicate your messages with style and substance through old and new media

Chapters:
Introduction
What should be my goals in any media encounter?
How to you look your best if there is video involved?
How do you shape a media message?
How do you answer questions?
How do you speak in sound bites?
What is the best way to do YouTube videos?
How should I prepare for talk radio interviews?
What do I do if a print reporter pulls out a flip video camera and wants to record the video for his website?
How should I prepare for Internet talk radio shows?
How should I prepare for live video webinars?
Should I do video blogging?
What is the best way to do a podcast?
How do I do a satellite remote interview?
How do you set up a simple home/office video studio for one?
How do you set up a simple home/office video studio for two?
How do I handle bad news if I find myself in a media crisis?
How do I get on Oprah?
Should I worry about overexposure?
How long should an Internet video be?
What is the best way to do an in-house corporate video?
What is going to be the next new, new thing when it comes to new media?
What is the best way to be a guest on a teleseminar or conference call?
What is the difference between doing live video and audio interviews versus taped and edited interviews?
How should I prepare for media interviews?
How should I rehearse for media interviews?
What should I do immediately after every interview?
What are the most effective ways to make reporters like me and want to use me again?
What are the most effective ways to make reporters hate me and not want to interview me again?
What are the most effective ways to make bookers and producers like me and want to book me again?
What are the most effective ways to make bookers and producers hate me and not want to use me again?

A major spread about President Obama’s WhiteHouse channel on YouTube in the NYTimes this week. The White House realizes, correctly, that the more it can communicate directly with citizens and without the filter of the mainstream media and the ideological media, the better. The question now is why isn’t every president and every CEO of companies doing the same thing?

President Obama took questions directly from House Republicans last Friday. It was fascinating theater for all who watched it because it wasn’t scripted, thereby making it unpredictable and because he was in front of a hostile audience, making int inherently more interesting. Obama won big poits for courage and Republicans got more airtime too. All involved won. It continues to be a surprise to me that politicans in the US don’t seek this out more, as they do in England and Europe.

From time to time, I analyze the speaking skills of political and business figures from around the globe. If you have someone you’d like to see me critique, please send a video link to tj@tjwalker.com.

Speaking analysis of Julia Timoshenko, a Ukrainian political figure. Based this video http://www.youtube.com/user/tymoshenkoua?hl=ru#p/u/35/VSnihNPq6d8

Timoshenko is a strong communicator. She radiates passion and conviction. She does an excellent job of maintaining eye contact with her audience and appearing natural, relaxed, comfortable and conversational. Her dress in this video is professional and elegant looking, yet not flashy or distracting, partially because it is a solid color. Her appearance is neat and professional; though her hairstyle is not one that is seen in the West/US (it reminds me of Princess Leah from the 1970s Star Wars Movie).
Timoshenko has natural hand and body movements that make her appear quite confident and relaxed. Overall, she appears to be an excellent communicator, one who can develop rapport with her audience.

Speaking Analysis of Viktor Yanukovich, another Ukrainian political figure, based on this video

Yanukovich is a competent, yet ordinary political speaker. On the positive side, he seems confident, reads without stumbling and had a polished and professional appearance—he’s certainly not an embarrassing speaker (Like US President George W. Bush was).
However, Yanukovich does have several deficiencies:
1. His eye contact in this speech is poor—he’s looking down 80% of the time (he should be looking up at least 80% of the time).
2. His hands are frozen holding onto the lectern. Good speakers move their hands when they speak.
3. His speaking volume, speed and tone are too consistent—this is boring to the audience and does not sound conversational.
4. While professional in appearance, Yanukovich could improve by not wearing a tie that is so bright and by wearing a shirt that is off-white or has a little color. The all-white shirt was too bright. Additionally, his hair is so well-coiffed that is appears to be excessively hair-sprayed and is reminiscent of early 80s American politicians like Ronald Reagan.
Yanukovich is certainly a competent speaker with no major flaws, but he could become much better if he solved some of the above mentioned problems.

Once again President Obama is being mocked for using a teleprompter–this time at an elementary school. My advice, the President should ignore his critics and keep using the Teleprompter–it works for him and keeps him on message. Democrats used to attack President Reagan for using cue cards, even in meetings. Reagan, wisely ignored his critics too.

US Senator Arlen Specter got into a talk radio fight with Rep Michele Bachmann this week. Apparently both were talking over each other. Finally, Specter said, “I’ll treat you like a lady, now act like one.” Ouch! That’s one way to make the sound bite of the day. Specter grabs attention because his comment was so emotional, attacking, heated and to some, sexist. Both politicians are tough and are no slouches at talking over their opponents, so I don’t think anyone really feels sorry for Bachmann. Specter is all across the map ideologically, so you won’t have the usual hysteria that might occur if a prominent liberal were to make such a comment. Still, it was an interesting clash and a great way of capturing the current level of political frustration coming out of the capital these days.