Short live-stream commentary by TJ Walker analyzing Governor Chris Christie's media handling after a New York Times story; Walker dissects Christie's 'what part of no questions do you not understand?' soundbite, explains why absolute/emotional responses (e.g., 'no comment') become repeated soundbites, and briefly pitches media-training services.
Chapters
Governor Chris Christie facing another crisis in the media. Governor Chris Christie away this week on a mission in Great Britain. And apparently he did not like some recent coverage in the New York Times. Earlier this week, the Times did a story about Governor Christie's fondness for the good life for $1,000 a night, plus hotel rooms for private jets, traveling. It was not in any way a favorable, flattering portrait, especially for someone who positions himself as the everyman out eating a hot dog. It was not a favorable story at all, but Christie made it worse. Now, Christie is someone who loves the limelight, loves attention, is normally happy to talk to reporters, but he cancelled all media availability in Great Britain yesterday. And then when a reporter came up and tried to ask him a question, he says, what part of no questions do you not understand? That soundbite, of course, was quoted everywhere in the media, on Twitter, social media, The Washington Post, etc. And I just want to analyze why that quote was used. All quotes come from 10 basic speech patterns, as I teach my students all over the world. One of those speech patterns is a rhetorical question. Well, Christie asked a rhetorical question. One is having emotion. That statement was very emotional. One is attacks. Well, Christie was clearly attacking the reporter, implying he was a moron for not understanding that questions were not going to be attacked, asked or answered at this particular time when he was walking by. So Christie virtually guaranteed that that quote would be used again and again and again all over the media because it fit the classic sound bite patterns. This is not political. It's not a right left issue. It's not a Democrat or Republican issue. If you're a politician and you use three soundbites in five or ten words, as Christy did, you're going to be quoted. That's also why saying no comment is never a good idea, because it's an absolute. It seems emotional, it seems defensive, and it seems attacking the person asking you the question. That's why you see no comment quoted routinely. And that's also why it's basically never a good idea to say no comment, even if you can't comment. Now, Chris Christie does have a lot of talents as a communicator. He can be funny, he can sometimes strike the right emotional core. He can be forceful. He can be seen as candid and refreshing. But he is a bit of a mixed bag, as we saw yesterday. Sometimes he's just flat out awful and he simply cannot control his emotions. I'm TJ Walker. If you're looking for media training, whether you're running for president or just want to be president of your one person consulting shop and speak to the media more effectively. Call us and we're happy to talk to you about your media training needs. 212-764-4955.
