INTRODUCTION: IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

INTRODUCTION: IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

“I’m tired of pretending I’m not special.”

On Valentine’s Day 2011 Charlie Sheen – fresh out of rehab following another run of bad behavior – appeared on Dan Patrick’s Fox Sports Radio talk show. Sheen recounted that earlier in the day during a visit to UCLA baseball practice, he had told the players, “stay away from the crack, unless you can manage it socially.” At that moment, it would have been unfathomable to think those comments would cost Sheen his job. He was the highest paid actor in television, Two and a Half Men was the No. 1-rated sitcom and the comment was a typical Charlie Sheen throw-away line meant to shock the audience. We were used to Sheen’s act. Cringe-worthy: yes. Career derailing: no.

Eleven days later CBS suspended production on Two and a Half Men, Sheen went on an anti-CBS media blitzkrieg and on March 7 - three weeks to the day from Sheen’s appearance on Patrick’s show, he was fired.

Believe it or not, the same thing could happen to you. By “same thing,” I mean failing to understand that in today’s media world, if you speak in public – or even in the office – without considering the consequences of your words, you can be taken down. Sheen famously said, “I’m tired of pretending I’m not special,” as if that guaranteed him some kind of diplomatic immunity. The top sales producer at your company may get special treatment around the office – a coveted parking space or a country club membership, but if he or she says something that damages the company’s brand, all bets are off.

We’re all imperfect. We can never be sure when an ill-timed comment or inappropriate remark made in jest could come back to damage our careers or our families. We do know that we can take specific steps to quickly repair the damage.

And of course, the high wire act that is social media and blogging has increased the likelihood that you’ll commit a communications misstep. If you think only famous people get national attention for writing, saying or posting something inappropriate or unwise, you’re living in 1994.

If you think you’re safe, check out the highly entertaining Huffington Post slide show devoted to 13 people who lost their jobs because of ill-advised Facebook posts.

There was the New England Patriots cheerleader who posted an inappropriate photo and the Philadelphia Eagles game-day employee who called the team, “retarted” (sic) for allowing safety Brian Dawkins to sign with the Denver Broncos. Both fired. There were the Virgin Atlantic crew members who had the bright idea to participate in a Facebook group discussion criticizing the airline’s safety standards and went on to insult passengers. Gone. There was the teacher in Georgia who lost her job (and brought legal action as a result) for using an expletive and posting pictures on Facebook of herself with wine and beer.

But without question, my favorite was the employee who insulted her boss on Facebook, forgetting that she had “friended” him. He responded with a post of his own on her page telling her not to bother showing up for work the next day.

Today’s media landscape has changed dramatically since the sharp communications teams working for Presidents Reagan and Clinton expertly (most of the time) managed a 24-hour news cycle where the story on the evening network news and the picture on the front page of tomorrow’s newspapers were their primary concerns.

Being unprepared for an interview is asking for trouble. In today’s non-stop media cycle, fueled by the rise of citizen journalism and the instant upload of digital media platforms, when you get off track, you have minutes – not hours – to get back on course.

Today it is the new media – platforms such as Twitter and Pinterest that were unheard of just a few years ago – that drive the traditional media. Think about it for a minute – something called The Daily Beast now owns venerable Newsweek.

The way that landscape has changed has brought profound changes to how we manage our communications game plans. During Congressman Anthony Weiner’s twitter sexting scandal, one digital media expert pointed out that the advance of technology has created a razor-thin margin of error for public communication.

Nothing is really off the record anymore. There are no are no more harmless “throw-away” jokes or funny asides – if they don’t end up in print, they’ll find their way to blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Recording devices and telephoto lenses have been around for decades, but now we’re all one-person wire services fully capable of syndicating whatever content we can grab – even if the subject has no idea it is happening.

That means that whether you’re preparing for a sit-down with “60 Minutes” or simply want to more effectively run your weekly staff meeting, a few simple steps can help you drive your message and tell your story in a way that delivers the results you are looking for. This framework is the central focus of “Meltdowns & Comebacks”:

• 
  Be prepared. Know your communications goals and have a game plan to get there. Be ready for the questions you’ll get in both interviews and staff meetings.
  
• 
  Keep your message simple and relevant to your target audience.
  
• 
  Be a storyteller. Communications today is all about engagement amid the swirl of competing platforms – and nothing connects better and is more memorable than a well-told story that supports your goals.
  

And if you do have a meltdown, here’s a surefire recipe for getting the apology right on the first try and containing the damage: Tell it all, tell it first and tell it yourself.