Ep 154 Laremy Tunsil Social Media Blunder Costs Him $13 Million - Media Training June 2, 2016

People like to talk about social media, but how do you really put a value on it? Well, for Laramie Tunsil, the value is $13 million.

Speaking the show about effective speaking in public to the media, at work and in life, speaking with TJ Walker.

So if you're not familiar with Laramie Tunzel, he's a star football player, was in college going into the NFL draft earlier this year. Moments before he was about to be drafted, there was a video that surfaced on his Twitter account. The video shows someone wearing a mask, like a gas mask with a bong attached and what clearly looked like enjoying smoking marijuana in a non diluted format. And then the mask comes off and it is in fact Laramie Tunzel. So he was expected to go in the first round for about $25 million. He ended up going in the 13th as the 13th pick. He was expected to go not just in the first round, but the first pick. He then went for the 13th pick for $12 million in part because owners of teams are worried about hiring somebody who's a druggie, even though he passed his drug test, and of someone who's going to be constantly courting controversy. So that one video posted on social media is estimated to have cost him $13 million. Now it gets worse for him. On another social media outlet shortly thereafter, transcripts were released of a conversation he allegedly had and he since confirmed with a coach at his football, his college football team, where he essentially is asking for money, getting money, which is all in violation of NCAA standards. So another controversy that will warrant more investigation and perhaps sanctions from the ncaa. What are the lessons here? Now he claims his account was hacked. It certainly seems unlikely he would post this himself. But what are we to make of this and what are the real lessons? More on that in a moment.

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Now the speculation is that this was a close family member who posted this information on Laramie Tunsil's social media outlets as a way of getting back. I won't mention the name or speculate further, but that's, that's been put in there. Here's the real communications lesson and crisis communications lesson. I believe when the stakes are high and if you're about to be drafted possibly number one in the NFL draft, the stakes are really high because if you do well and you have a long career and you manage your brand and you get to go on to be a commentator for ESPN and other outlets, and you're talking about football for the next 50 years. You could make a billion dollars if you sort of do poorly, go low in the draft, get injured once. You may be in the back of a delivery truck for $12 an hour two years later and living in a trailer down by the river eating cheese. Just look at former Chicago Bears star William Refrigerator Perry. So the stakes are quite high when it comes to your brand and your reputation. Now, where it looks like this young gentleman messed up, was letting other people have access to his password and name. Now, I confess I'm guilty about this from time to time, and let me not say much more on that for fear of giving anyone ideas, but he claims he was hacked. I'm not sure you can actually call that hacking. If you gave someone your name and your password, and in the past, they maybe put up a friendly picture of you because you asked them to, and now they're putting out something you don't like, it's not really hacking. That's just someone posting stuff you wish they hadn't posted. But you gave them permission. When you give someone your password and your ID to enter your social media account, you're giving them permission at some level. Now, obviously he wouldn't have wanted either one of these disclosures, but the answer there, I believe, and we all should do a better job of this, is you got to change your password frequently. You really got to ask yourself, does this person have to know my name and password to my Twitter account, to my Facebook account? It's just a good idea to change them from time to time. And folks, I'm no cybersecurity expert, although I do have a few companies in that space as clients. But what they all say is you need to have passwords that are not actual names. It can't be a Password of password, 1, 2, 3. It should be something that is almost randomized, lowercase, uppercase letters, numbers, but not words. And to change it frequently, that's really the only way you're going to get security. The other big issue is. Look, folks, unless you're just a complete prude and a stick in the mud, we've all done things that we probably don't want the whole world to see, okay? And I include myself in that camp. And most of us have had a picture, a time or two of something we don't really want the whole world to see. But if you know you're in a position where you could all of a sudden be getting paid tens of millions of dollars, I don't care if it's because you're about to become the CEO of Citibank, or drafted in the NFL or the NBA or get the lead in a Steven Spielberg movie. If you're going to have something that has that huge of a payday, typically what that means is there's going to be a huge spotlight on you and a lot of people are going to care about your reputation, whether it's advertisers, sponsors, major institutions, you're running for high political office, all the fundraisers and party officials are going to care. You got to really give thought to what pictures are out there. You what's the worst that can happen? I mean, that's part of what in politics happens, of opposition research. The first thing a good opposition research person does for a political campaign is they get all the dirt on their own candidate and they try to figure out what is out there so we can contain it, explain it, in some cases, bury it. And if you're going to go from obscurity and, let's face it, poverty, which is unfortunately what happens to most college athletes, into really high profile celebrity status and tremendous wealth, you got to get ready for that transition. Now, I don't want to seem too Harsh on somebody 21, 22 years old who isn't seasoned in this. It is a little different if you're running for President. You're 50 years old plus you've had time to really think about these issues and prepare. But whoever is on this person's team needs to give some thought to that. And I do feel a little sorry for them. He was holding a press conference after the draft started getting asked questions about essentially, were you getting money from your college, which is clear cut violation of all NCAA standards. And he basically said no. And then he said, oh yeah, that part's tr PR handler comes on, basically forces him off the stage. Once that happens, you're in big, big trouble. That is one of the worst possible ways to handle a difficult interview going on because it draws even more attention to the issue. And the sheer act of your PR person saying, oh, we gotta go, sends an even greater message to people that, hey, this guy's saying something stupid, foolish, damaging to his reputation. Final thoughts in a moment.

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Folks, you cannot eliminate every possible embarrassment in social media and you cannot prevent other people from saying nasty things about you. I understand that typically those aren't what's damaging, but when it comes from your own account. That's a big, big problem. So crisis communications rule number one, really protect and preserve your passwords. Change them frequently. Someone who's your best friend or spouse or eternal business partner for life one minute could be an enemy the next minute. And posting negative, nasty things on your social media account can be the ultimate payback. Don't give someone that option Number two, if there are negative pictures out there, pictures you don't want the world to see and they're on your own computer and maybe no one else has seen them, delete them. Try to get. And don't just put it on a private setting. Whether you're on Flickr or Facebook, just delete that. Now that's not a hundred percent, but it certainly makes it a lot less likely that a close associate or family member suddenly angry with you can just take a picture that's right on your own computer. Folks, you got to check those sentences. I well remember a friend that I knew, oh say 8 years ago friended me on Facebook and just looked at a couple of her pictures and she had a whole album where she was completely naked. I don't think she was intending on that. I did check. A couple hours later it was gone and I think she had just forgotten the setting. Quite provocative photos I might add. Anyway, that's, that's a story for another day. My point to you is if you have pictures that you don't want the world to see, do everything you can to make it harder for people to put them out there. Delete them, get rid of them. And number three, if something is going to come out, be ready to talk about it an intelligent way. Don't act flat footed and don't start changing your story. Don't say you're hacked if it wasn't hacked. Don't say it's not you if it is you. That just makes things worse. Social media. It might not make you $12 million or $13 million overnight, but when handled poorly, it absolutely can cost you 13 million. I'm TJ Walker. Thanks for joining me as always. May all of your presentations in life be a huge success.

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