TJ Walker says TV panel guests waste their time staying silent. He uses Jeremy Peters from the New York Times as an example: Peters barely spoke during a long Morning Joe appearance. Walker argues you should jump in with smart points, like you would at a dinner party, to boost your visibility and career.
Chapters
What happens if you're invited to be a guest on a TV show but you never say anything? Earlier this week, New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters was invited on the Morning Joe program on MSNBC. Now he was introduced at 6 in the morning. At 7:15, Joe Scarborough turns to ask him a question. Hey, where'd he go? Did he say anything the whole time he was here? And apparently he said about two sentences at 6:45. So he begs the question, was MSNBC rude? Did Jeremy Peters not do enough to interject himself? Now he has since told reporters that no one ever regrets not saying stupid things on cable tv. And he has no regrets. Other commentators have opined that people way often get themselves into trouble talking and that no one really regrets ever keeping their mouth shut on cable tv. This strikes me as a little bit too simplistic. It's certainly true that if you say stupid things on tv, that can often hurt your career. But the problem isn't how frequently you say it or whether you raise your hand, so to speak, to talk on a panel. But whether you say stupid things, if you say smart, intelligent things, it's unlikely that's going to hurt your career. Now I've been on many of these panel discussions. Sometimes there's a host, a co host, as many as six guests, and it's quite competitive to get your viewpoints heard. Now I'm not suggesting that you interrupt and you're boorish and you're talking over people the whole time, but if you're on the air for an hour, hour and 15 minutes as he was booked and you don't say anything, it's really kind of a waste of time. Because here's the thing about television, even if it's a five minute segment, you've got to take a car to the TV station, the TV network, you've got to get there early, you've got to be in makeup, you got to sit on the set a while, you got to do the show, there's chit chat afterwards, there's going back to your home or office. So it's quite often three hour chunk of your day. So if you're going to do all that, to me it seems silly to not say anything and therefore not promote your cause, your organization, your issues, your expertise. And if it's only two sentences, that doesn't seem like a fair payoff either. So I'd recommend you treat this kind of like a dinner party. If you're a guest at a dinner party, you don't want to talk all the time and be the center of attention and be boorish. But on the other hand, if other people have been talking for 10, 15 minutes and you're just sitting there like a lump, it kind of reduces you to a spectator. You're not really pulling your weight, you're not being interesting. So I recommend that you interject quickly from time to time, say something interesting, useful. And that will make you a better guest. It'll make you a better dinner party guest, but it'll also make you a better cable TV guest as well. Because while it's true, if people say stupid things and go on and on on tv, it can make them look foolish, although many of those people get rewarded with their own shows. But if you say interesting, intelligent things, that can boost your own recognition, your name id. And that's how careers are often made. That's how you burnish your reputation. That's how you get invited back. That's sometimes how you get your own show. So, no, it's not as simple as always erring on the side of being quiet. You're not in first grade. You don't have to raise your hand and wait for the host to call on you. If you're going to be a good guest, you've got to really be listening carefully. And if there's a large panel, you've got to be able to hop in at a second's notice.
