TJ Walker on Media Training & Debate Prep

Democrat Media Trainer and CEO of Media Training Worldwide uses the 1st 2016 GOP Presidential Primary Debate to explain how to prepare for debates, look good on camera, and be an effective communicator in the media

 This week, we take a look at the first 2016 GOP Presidential Primary Debate through the lens of effective Media Training with bestselling author and Democrat media trainer TJ Walker. We use the debate, which had the largest audience in history for a primary debate, as a real world tool to explain key lessons for successful media training and debate prep.

TJ Walker is the CEO of Media Training Worldwide and is a prominent Democrat communications expert who has worked with CEOs, U.S. Senators, and both Presidents and Prime Ministers internationally. TJ is the author of 5 books including the #1 national bestseller “TJ Walker’s Secret to Foolproof Presentations,” and has numerous online resources and products to help people seeking to become more effective in the media. He even holds the Guinness Book record for the most interviews in a 24 hour period.

In this episode, I get TJ’s take on the performances of each of the Republican candidates in the debate and we use the debate as a way to highlight how to effectively communicate your message in a televised debate and what pitfalls to avoid. TJ hammers home the importance of practicing on video, reviewing it, and repeating this process over and over again until you love what you see. We expand out from debate preparation to how to handle media interviews, your stump speech and some of the mechanics of how to look better on TV. We investigate some great political communicators, including the hard work and disciplined process Ronald Reagan followed to seem so effortless in his ability to communicate with the American people.

For the fans of Political Trade Secrets, TJ is offering a special 67% Off discount for his online Candidate Communications training course. The course is a great value at the regular price of $297 and is an even better deal with the discount for our fans.

Show Notes:

Check out TJ Walker’s Bio [Here].

Check out Media Training Worldwide [Here].

Get the Political Trade Secret’s Discount for TJ’s Candidate Communication Course. The course is normally $297, but for our fans is ONLY $97. Use coupon code DUSTIN or go to this link to get the discount.

In this episode, we discuss:

• TJ’s ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ record
• How TJ used his record to do the most interviews in 24 hours to help make his book a #1 bestseller
• Started booking two months out
• How being different and having a gimmick can help you get media coverage
• Media trainers are better at their craft if they are regularly in the media themselves practicing what they teach
• Actually taking interview opportunities
• International experience working with Prime Ministers, Presidents and other world leaders
• How he got involved?
• Professionals in the United States are viewed as the experts at winning elections and democracy
• Establishing Respectability: Once you establish yourself, it can be relatively easy to export your expertise
• Some leaders TJ has worked with
• Canadian Members of Parliament
• Australian Members of Parliament
• President of Panama
• Prime Minister of Slovenia
• Premier of Bermuda
• Lessons learned
• “Everybody is different, and yet everybody wants the same thing” – TJ Walker
• The four commonalities of people’s’ wants:
• How to look comfortable, confident, relaxed on camera
• How to shape a media message
• How to strategically answer interview questions
• How to get the exact quotes they want in the story
• Which came first Media Training or Politics?
• Fascination of both news and politics
• The late Senator Jesse Helms’ use of multimedia in his rise to power had a big impact on TJ growing up
• Fonzie Look-alike Contest to winning a position in Student Government
• First Political Campaigns:
• Grassroots Volunteer: Mayoral candidate in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Media Trainer: North Carolina Congressional race that was lost by 63 votes
• First time TJ used a camera to film a candidate for the purpose of critiquing the performance on playback
• Key Media Training Mentors and Resources
• Roger Ailes
• Chairman of Fox News
• Former Media Consultant
• Author of You Are The Message (1987)
• One of the reasons Fox News is so successful is that Ailes actively grooms his on-air talent
• Recommends Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program and to devour books every book on media training
• TJ will email for free to every listener of the podcast his book Secret to Foolproof Presentations if they email him at [email protected]
• 1st GOP Presidential Debate on Fox News: The good and the bad
• TJ’s take-aways from the debate:
• Marco Rubio – strong, likable, persuasive, positive presence
• Scott Walker – Physical look could deter voters
• Donald Trump- commanding presence, lives his brand, TV character who tells it like it is
• Ben Carson – very low energy and low key, came across as weak
• Most important criteria for a good debate
• Be well prepared and well rested
• How to have a commanding presence
• Practice on video
• Watch it and make sure you like your presence and delivery
• Critique your recorded practices to fix your problems
• Avoid awkward movements and body language
• You have to ask yourself “What do I really want voters to remember?”
• Explain why you’re running and what you can do for the voters
• Americans are drawn to attractive, well-kept candidates with a strong stage presence.
• Cautionary Tales from Politics:
• Gov. Rick Perry: “Oops” moment in the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Debate
• Marco Rubio: “Awkwardly reaching for a water bottle” moment during a response to the State of the Union, which distracted from his message
• Memorable for being awkward
• George H.W. Bush: Awkwardly looking at his watch while debating Bill Clinton
• Al Gore: Speaking slowly and too loudly at the same volume which becomes a form of monotone
• Ross Perot’s running mate saying “Who am I, why am I here?” during the Vice Presidential Debate
• You must be able to answer why you’re running for office
• Be compelling to the voter
• Ted Kennedy example
• If you’re running against an incumbent, you must make the case for firing them
• It takes time to boil your message and talking points down and speak with clarity
• Great communicators are disciplined
• Debate Preparedness: what needs to be done?
• Schedule blocks of time for debate preparation. These need to be multiple hours in length.
• Record the Debate Prep sessions on camera and review the video
• Know Your Message: Answer the question, “What do I want voters to remember?”
• Repeatedly practice answering realistic questions
• Come up with some zingers that will make it into the news and practice saying them until you are comfortable delivering them
• Understand that most people will only see news coverage of the debate and not watch it themselves
• How to get your message out through news coverage
• Package your message into soundbites
• Practice soundbites until you are comfortable and deliver them comfortably
• Attacks get the most coverage
• Repeat the process, until convinced it couldn’t be better
• Soundbites:
• All effective soundbites come from 10 speech patterns
• Rhetoric Question
• Attacks
• Emotional component
• Action-oriented
• The difference between your message and a soundbite
• Say your soundbites often so they sound conversational
• Record yourself on camera to determine if the soundbite is effective
• Some keys to a good stump speech
• Record yourself, review it, and practice until you like it
• Make it conversational
• Audiences needs to feel like you are really happy to be there speaking to them
• Be disciplined
• Even though it is well-rehearsed, needs to feel fresh each time you give it
• Practical Advice: Looking Better on Camera
• Record yourself over and over, reviewing the video, and doing more of what you like and less of what you don’t like
• Keep doing it until you don’t think it can be any better
• Use your hands – People who are comfortable using their hands when they talk Holding a podium or object in your hand shows nervousness
• Don’t stiffen your body – scared people stiffen their bodies
• Learn more how to make yourself heavier or lighter on camera
• Best Political Communicators
• Bill Clinton
• Tony Blair
• Ronald Reagan
• Ronald Reagan’s Disciplined Process:
• He would hold editorial and brainstorming meetings months in advance of a big speech
• He would hand write notes to the speechwriters with lines he would like to work on
• He would get early drafts, read them and make notes with edits
• Demanded that the speech be done a full week for it was to be given
• He would then read it out loud for hours each night for an entire week
• Then he spent an entire day doing videotaped rehearsals, not to memorize the speech, but to make sure that he looked good delivering it with a teleprompter
• What makes Media Training Worldwide different?
• A blended learning experience
• Book, video, and in person training
• Advance work before the training
• Clients get weekly examples for interviews
• Availability for practice sessions before interviews
• TJ’s non-partisan online Communication Course for Candidates, which is normally $297 is ONLY $97 for listeners of Political Trade Secrets
• Use the coupon code DUSTIN or go to this link to get the Political Trade Secrets Discount
• You can watch the video on “How to Look Thinner on Camera” [Lecture 74] for free when you go to the link

For years, TJ’s office was in Midtown Manhattan and while he makes a good case that it is impossible to know even a small portion of the restaurants in New York City, he recommended John’s Pizza on 8th and 44th as the best place for pizza after a Broadway Show. TJ also recommended seeing New York City by walking everywhere or to see any large city by tourist bus first in order to get the lay of the land.

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