Talent
Alone Doesn't Get You There!
There was a time when winning was enough. Not anymore! As an athlete,
coach or sports executive, your performance on and off the track, field,
court or course draws fans and loses them, creates sponsorship value
and wipes it out. Only through good communication can an athlete project
a favorable image, and in turn, reap the payoff in endorsements and
postcareer business opportunities. Today, fans judge you as a player
according to how you perform on the field. They judge you as a person
according to how you perform with the media.
Hear
It From the Pros
Excerpts
from
"Talent takes stars only so far.
Public acceptance is a must."
USA Today, October 1991
"The
way you're perceived, man, that's just everything. Athletes take
it too lightly, but your image is very important. Especially if
you want to get into something after your career."
Magic Johnson
"Athletes have to learn how to harness the media to promote their
value. Look at Mark Spitz. He won seven gold medals, but talent won't
carry you alone. His endorsements dried up quickly because he couldn't
communicate. You have to have an image, one way or the other. You
have to make it an active pursuit."
Kathleen Hessert, President, Sports Media Challenge
"The media can make you or break you."
David Falk, Michael Jordan's lawyer
"You live in a fish bowl. A lot of kids don't realize the impression
they make for themselves and their school with the way they handle
an interview."
John Heisler, Sports Information Director, University of Notre
Dame
"It can
be difficult at times, but the media is an opportunity for you to
do something for yourself and your team."
Greg Aiello, NFL Communications Director
"Learning to communicate better has gotten me to open up more and
given me more life."
Olympic Speedskater Dan Jansen
"When you're an athlete, you have a coach. It's the same thing in
speaking. You need a coach, someone who can see what you can't."
Former Olympic Swimmer Nancy Hogshead, who hired a consulting
firm partly to polish her public speaking skills. Out of that came
Hogshead Enterprises, featuring Hogshead as a motivational speaker.
She also parlayed her communications skills into an endorsement contract
with Jockey Underwear.
Media
Matters
Excerpt
from Athletic Management, November 1992.
Your football
team upsets its arch rival, thanks to a diving, game-winning touchdown
reception by the team's tight end. After the game, a swarm of reporters
deluges him with microphones in his face, lights in his eyes, and rolling
cameras. But unlike his prowess on the field, he fumbles his opportunity
to score with the public, making awkward and trivial comments that are
later broadcast on the news and printed in the papers.
The
process of teaching student-athletes how to handle the media occurs
neither in team practice nor in the classroom: however, this skill
should not be overlooked, especially considering that people often
formulate their views on a team based on what they see and read in
various media.
"Media
skills are critically necessary," says Kathleen Hessert, founder and
president of Sports Media Challenge in Charlotte, N.C., a company
that trains all levels of athletes to handle media situations. "You
can't just throw kids in front of the media without some form of training."
While
the importance of media skills may be apparent to the biggest and
most visible athletic programs, student-athletes and administrators
of high school and smaller colleges must be able to communicate effectively
through the media.
"Media coverage
goes all the way down to the high school level," says Hessert. "Today's
athletic environment, which can involve high-profile basketball camps,
recruiting of high school athletes by major colleges, and so on, brings
increased attention to all athletes."
In addition,
coverage by the media must be taken seriously because those media
usually have a great deal of clout. "Gate sales, booster support,
and fund-raising for all sports is often based on what people see
in the local media," Hessert says. "A camera or a light shining in
your eyes is the same anywhere."
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