A short live-stream segment by TJ Walker asking and answering whether Donald Trump is coachable as a media communicator. Walker argues that coaching requires humility and a genuine desire to improve; because Trump (as presented in the segment) appears unwilling to accept criticism and instead blames reporters, Walker concludes Trump is not a candidate for media training.
Chapters
It's the question I get from friends, family, clients, people online and social media. And here it is. Can Donald Trump be coached? Is he coachable as a media communicator? Folks, I'll leave it to others to debate his political ideals and the values there. That's not what this show is about. And I do in general think that anybody can be coached. Anyone can be improved. There is one big caveat, and it's why I have to take the position that, no, Donald Trump can't be coached. If you want to be coached, you have to actually want to improve. You have to want to be trained. You have to buy into the idea that you're not great. Yet I have trained clients all over the world, every industry, a lot of different ideologies, different values, but the one thing that is 100% consistent with every single person I've ever helped is they wanted to improve. They came into a media training session with me with some level of humility that they're not perfect, they're not great, they can learn from others. And Donald Trump certainly gives every indication that he cannot fathom the idea of himself not being great in everything he does. And if he ever ends up with media criticism or media stories, coverage that is negative, his first reaction, his only reaction, is to blame the reporter folks. Reporters aren't perfect. Reporters might get things wrong from time to time, but if your only reaction to less than flattering media coverage is that reporters are idiots, fools, morons, or who have a problem, then you're not really a candidate for media training. You're not a candidate for improving. You're stuck exactly where you are, for better or for worse.