Tonight another season of American Idol began. As a friend of mine on Facebook so aptly said: “Another season of family members telling family member, you’re an awesome singer, only for judges to come along and burst their bubble.”

This show reminds me every season that – like American Idol candidates – most people think they’re outstanding communicators when they aren’t. I really don’t want to sound snooty or snarky with that comment. Frankly, we all fail to communicate at some point. (In my life, it most often occurs in marriage or with my teenager.)

Great communication doesn’t just happen. Art and science and skill and experience and hours of practice are all involved. Anything done well looks easy. 

Like first round American Idol candidates, it often comes as a great shock to a CEO or key staffer or some other PowerPoint presenter that, gee, you know, I’m not so good. 

Audiences quickly become ruthless judges.

The good news is … you can be a fabulous communicator. In fact, you have a much better shot at being an amazing communicator than an amazing American Idol contestant.

But you can never be any better until you realize you have much to learn, that communication doesn’t just happen – it is an art and a science.

Great communicators have a tireless passion to study great communicators to find out what makes the message click, what makes it stick.

That’s what this blog is about. Stay tuned and spread the word.

Media training is routinely offered to leaders, and it can be especially helpful if done well. I recommend it. I enjoy helping CEO’s and key staffers work with the media. And over the years, I’ve watched other people do media training – and usually it about kills me. Why? 

When it comes to “media relations”, most media trainers teach some sort of “cat and mouse” game – how the corporate spokespeople (the mouse) can outsmart the media (the cat).

Such strategy ultimately will not work. It is really important that spokespeople and reporters find common ground so that both offer viewers/readers the best insight humanly possible.

Media relationships aren’t any different than any other relationships. They should be built on trust – mutual understanding and respect – not how to out slick another.

Early on in my career I was immersed in a client’s high profile organizational crisis that continually made state and local headlines.

I was having unusual difficulty getting a balanced – level –  story from some reporters, especially some small town weekly newspapers. (This is not a slam at small town weekly newspapers … I especially love hometown papers.)

All of us need to back off sometimes, take a deep breath and get somebody’s else’s perspective – which I did. I called my friend Ted, a legend in media work, and I asked him what I should do to get my client’s side of the story to show up more leveled in the coverage. 

I didn’t expect his answer.

“Terry,” he said, “you need to call the editor and demand the toughest reporter they have on staff. I mean the toughest. Do you hear me? The TOUGHEST!”

Huh?

Ted, a veteran of media crisis, continued:

“In a crisis, I hope and pray for the toughest reporter a news organization has because they’re likely the most professional and the most professional reporters know how to level the story, draw ire out of both sides and give readers a balanced, insightful look.”

Wow!

I’ve never forgotten that advice – which I still use to this day.

This advice reminds me of a great quote from Mel Gibson. Jay Leno asked Mel Gibson on The Tonight Show: “Does it make you nervous acting alongside all the best names in the business?”

His response was awesome.

“No, it would make me nervous acting alongside amateurs.”

Bingo.

There ya go. Like two great lawyers battling it out in the courtroom, as a communications strategist, I can tell you, there’s nothing better than working with a really great, professional reporter.

Working with amateurs makes me nervous. Be a pro. Demand a pro.

Make no mistake. In being forthright and forthcoming, there are also times when one’s communicator – and communications strategist – cannot tell everything he or she knows. Often this stems from a safety or security issue. Sometimes, it is because legal protection is required to protect a corporation or an employee.

For example, when I worked as a communicator and media spokesman in the electric utility business, the media came calling because a high profile customer’s electricity was disconnected. The first media question: why? What I wanted to say was: Because Tim Hoggansmith did not pay his bill and had not paid his bill for six months, we shut off his electricity. But I couldn’t – because I couldn’t talk about a customer’s account.

I could say: accounts are only disconnected when there is a legitimate reason or reasons, which sometimes includes non-pay. But of course, I cannot discuss Mr. Hoggansmith’s specific account nor the specific reason his account was disconnected.

Further, over 20 years, many times if I could have just showed the security tape, the media would have laid off my client and proclaimed those making vehement accusations complete loons. But – to repeat – many times we communications strategists cannot tell everything we know even though we’d love to.

And it just causes reporters to dig even further faster and for us as strategists, it makes it even more difficult to remain credible.

Nobody said crisis communication was easy or even surgical.