In media relations, knowing
your audience is imperative. You must be astute and analytical: the reporter from Clay Shooting USA asking about the people who were infl uential in your shooting success represents an audience different from a hostile reporter who tries to get you to concede that civilians do not need assault rifl es.
Note that the different topics of the above two questions will likely justify different applica- tions of the three modes of per- suasion in order to be credible to the audiences. To be credible in the fi rst example, you may be inclined toward openness and identifi cation and a desire to share knowledge and his- tory. However, due to an array of factors, in the second example your answer may be very circum- spect or you might elect not to answer the question at all. It is crucial to understand that your integrity and character are more important than persuading any- one regarding the merits of your opinions. The accurate identifi cation of the audience is critical for determining trust, solidifying an existing relationship or creating a new one. Keep in mind that the person asking the question is not your audience. Your audience is the readership of the publica- tion, the Internet, the readers of tweets and Facebook posts and so on. As elite competitive shooters, you also have other au- diences: your team; your sport, your shooting programs such as the Olympic shooting programs and, indeed, your country. That’s a lot of weight, and increasing the tonnage on your backs is the reality that your sport is viewed with a frown by segments of the public.
Be aware of this signifi cant
point: you have control over your words and actions but you
2012 Olympic gold medalist Jamie Gray identifi ed her audience and made note of the excellent facilities during the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Airgun.
have no control over how the media will communicate your words and actions. The media can edit, distort and unethically omit facts and present you in a deceiving context. Think of Win- ston Churchill’s quip that a lie will have traveled around the world before the truth gets out of bed. Control can be increased, however, by prudent selectivity in the information you give to each audience.
II. Know Your Goals and Purposes
It is fundamental that en-
gaging credibly with the media requires clarity of purposes and goals. Extending beyond your purposes and having unfocused or unrealistic goals are paths to losing your credibility. In the movie Magnum Force, the iconic Harry “Dirty Harry” Callahan stat- ed, “A man’s got to know his limi- tations.” That’s good advice for all of us and it is particularly good advice for dealing with the me- dia. Goals and purposes should have boundaries.
Ascertaining
limitations on those boundaries demands introspection, humility and force of will.
I share an example of how
behavior and media relations are infl uenced by knowing the limi- tations of one’s goals and pur- poses. A high profi le competitive shooter was invited to speak at a gun show. The show’s promoters
although perhaps overlapping in part, are unlikely to be the same. With preparation, skill and confi dence, the competitor can, consistent with the competitor’s purposes and goals,
credibly
banned participation from com- panies that produced or sold assault weapons. Pressure was placed on the competitor to re- fuse to appear at the gun show. What to do? My analysis of this situation is intended to il- lustrate a structure for thinking rather than providing a specifi c answer. The example will, hope- fully, inspire the reader to do what Daniel Wegner calls ‘meta- cognition,’ which means thinking about thinking. Approach your words with the same precise analysis you give to your targets. Your goal is to transform your mental toughness into rhetorical toughness.
The competitor’s fi rst level of analysis should be clarifi ca- tion of goals and purposes. They are, or should be, the advance- ment of the shooting sports and providing insight into becom- ing a champion. None of these goals or purposes is relevant to the assault rifl e controversy. Also note that the competitor’s audience encompasses more than those engaged in the as- sault weapon controversy. The interests of those two audiences,
deal with any questions the me- dia may ask regarding assault weapons. The goals and purposes of the competitor do not include mak- ing friends with the media or per- suading any or all of the media or any part of the audience that his views should be adopted. It is not the goal of the competitor to opine on all matters relating to fi rearms. The goals do demand, however, that the speaker act in a way that commands respect, which is signifi cantly different from being liked. To accomplish that goal, the competitor must stay focused sand be credible, respectful and confi dent.
III. Listen Just as you cannot hit a target
unless you focus on it, you can- not competently engage with the media unless you listen to the questions posed to you. The in- struction to listen may sound ob- vious to the point of silliness, but the skill of listening is one of the most often ignored and under- valued any communicator can possess. Any trial court judge will tell you that one of the greatest defi ciencies in lawyers is their in- ability to listen.
Spring 2013 | USA Shooting News 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68