Nick Morgan, Public Words

What's a sound bite?

The transformation of public discourse into something haiku-esque has been brought about by the advent of television and the 24-hour news cycle.  News stations like CNN are so desperately afraid of losing you to the channel-changer that they pack "the most news" into shorter and shorter time frames.  That puts a premium on talking heads who are able to deliver 8 - 12 second sound 'bites' that don't sound completely idiotic about the very complex issues of the day. 

Example.  What to do about Iraq?  The Republicans dominated that debate for far too long by persuading the country that the Democrats were talking about 'cutting and running' -- something no honorable person easily sees themselves doing.  As a result, we stayed and stayed, and created a situation that commentators in the Arab world can now say with a straight face is worse than Saddam.  We became the villains, worldwide.  We spent a trillion dollars and hocked our country to the Chinese.  We created a generation of Arab youth dedicated to wiping us out.  But we didn't cut and run. 

See the power of sound bites?

But if you're going to be on television, you need to practice reducing the complex issues you think about every day to these hopelessly inadequate 8-second bites.  Otherwise, you risk looking pompous or irrelevant.  Television has reduced our attention spans to that of the goldfish, and as a result, our policies are about as subtle as fish bait.

Ok, enough complaining.  How do you work with sound bites?  You can say something in 8 seconds.  It needs to be colorful, pithy, and present clear opposites.  It's best if you draw on widely current images or expressions to help people get quickly what you're talking about:  "George Bush's foreign policy team has all the brain power of Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears combined."  "In Iraq, we've lurched from one disaster to another.  The current government is the gang that couldn't shoot straight."

If you know you've got a TV appearance coming up, distill what you want to say into 5 phrases or sentences, none longer than 8 seconds.  Then, practice working them into any question you're asked.  Get a colleague to pepper you with questions so you get used to the practice of "bridging" from the question to your bite.  It's all about the practice.  For how to do it, watch the political candidates change the subject as they're asked question after question.   

It's not real discourse, or policy discussion.  It's black and white.  But it catches your attention.  And, unfortunately, it is the way the media runs the world today.   

How to prepare for that upcoming TV interview

So you've got a TV appearance coming up.  Don't panic.  You'll live through it.  More people will see you than ever before in your life, but not the whole planet.  There will be people -- even in your home town -- who won't see you.  You will live through it.

Lots of books have been written on prepping for TV, so rather than try to be exhaustive, I'll just go over a couple of things that you MUST remember.

First, the press is not your friend.  That's so important, I'll repeat it:  the press is not your friend.  Don't confide in the press unless you want to see it on page one, or on the evening news.  Assume nothing is off the record or off camera. 

Second, know what you want to say, practice it, and then say it when the camera's rolling.  Think in terms of 8-second sound bites.  It's not a time to go into a lot of detail.  You'll just look like you're evading the question.  The TV camera is the most impatient medium going.  You've got to be quick.  Even on PBS.  Have about 5 points to make and then make them no matter what the questions.  'Bridge' from the question to your answer. 

Third, get someone with fashion sense to advise you.  The visuals are all-important on TV.  Dress like you mean it, at the level to which you're aspiring.  The person interviewing you will most likely be wearing a smart suit, and have had a haircut recently.  Don't look worse than him or her. 

Fourth, watch newscasters with the sound off to see how they talk.  What you'll see may surprise you.  They move their heads around a lot, because typically they're shot from the shoulders up, or sitting at a table from the waist up.  That means that all the interest normally provided by human motion has to be compressed into the head, shoulders, and perhaps hands.  Don't go crazy; don't make yourself look foolish.  But put a little more energy into your conversation than you normally might.  As Marshall McLuhan famously observed, television is a cool medium.  It craves heat -- and it's up to you to provide it.