TJ WALKER - THE HABIT INFLUENCER - Personal Development | LIVE STREAM

26 May 2011 · 2 min

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2:08

Mike Baco (Media Training Worldwide) comments on the crisis facing cyclist Lance Armstrong after a major profile and allegations of cheating. He notes Armstrong's public defense via Twitter (claiming over 20 years and 500 tests with no positives), the potential impact on Armstrong's endorsement career, and the unfolding legal scrutiny (a convened grand jury) that may further influence public opinion and sponsor support.

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Last Sunday's major profile of cyclist Tyler Hamilton has certainly put cyclist Lance Armstrong in a crisis communication situation. Allegations from Hamilton and many other in the cycling world have painted Armstrong as a cheat. How does this play for Lance Armstrong? Certainly, his cycling career is long over, but his career as a corporate endorser and spokesperson has many more years to come. But will it if these allegations prove true? Certainly not. And Armstrong has gone to different avenues, just like social media. He went on his Twitter account, said, Over 20 years of cycling, over 500 tests, not a single positive test result. Now, while all that is true for Armstrong, the case could be made in the public sphere that people are beginning to see this mounting evidence against him. And even though he did not test positive for anything, overwhelming evidence, let's just say going Back to the O.J. simpson trial can sway public opinion. Certainly what Armstrong is accused of doing is nowhere near close to what O.J. simpson was accused of doing. But even though O.J. was found innocent in a court of law, overwhelming public opinion had it that, well, he was guilty. So how will Armstrong deal with this in the future? Right now his sponsors are standing behind him, so that's good news for him. But as we go forward, and as these allegations and now there is a potential for a court trial, right now, there is a grand jury convening to hear all this information against Armstrong. Will his sponsors stand by him? It's going to take a lot more than just a few tweets from Armstrong to come out against all these allegations. He's been fighting these allegations for many years, but now they're becoming overwhelming. And with this grand jury against him, it remains to be seen whether Armstrong can sustain, can maintain against all this flurry of information that is against him. Check back here. We'll see how Armstrong is doing, maintaining his reputation, also analyzing how he uses social media to defend himself. I'm Mike Baco, vice president of Media Training Worldwide and lead commentator for Media Training Insider.