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Put Your CEO's Best Foot Forward
So, the boss isn't Harrison Ford?
by Dave Gardner
Creative Director, Visions West
Every day, around the world we hear the battle cry of the corporate communicator: "We want to put our CEO on video." "We're doing this great video, and the company president wants to say a few words at the beginning of it." Or, "We have to have the chairman somewhere in this film to let the audience know s/he is behind this." These intentions raise two important issues:
#1: Does the executive's appearance in the program advance our message?
and
#2: If it does, how can we help this executive to be an effective communicator in this medium?
Actually, these issues are somewhat interrelated. After all, if we can't accomplish issue #2, then we most definitely won't be successful with #1. Still, just because we can do #2, that doesn't necessarily make #1 true. So, it's always a good idea to evaluate #1 carefully:
#1: Advancing the message -
Does it really make sense to put the executive in the film or video? Or is it just politics driving this decision? If so, do the political realities really override the communication priorities? Politics aside, there are circumstances that make a great business case for including an organization's leader in a video. If you're trying to lead employees in a new direction, make significant changes in corporate culture or policy, or otherwise motivate them regarding big issues or sweeping change, it can be important to let them know there is strong commitment from the organization's leadership. Likewise, there are times when you want an external audience to know the top dog is behind the message you're trying to convey.
Caution is advised, however. If there isn't a strong commitment from the executive, or if the executive isn't a compelling communicator on camera, it usually shows. A weak or dispassionate message from a business leader is often worse than no appearance at all.
#2: Helping the executive to be an effective communicator -
We can divide executives into two categories for purposes of film/video. The first category is...
a) Naturally Great Communicators - We're finding more and more of these as communication skills become more and more a prerequisite for joining the ranks of top management. If you're blessed to have such an executive, then this issue almost takes care of itself. Almost. Your most important job is to avoid sabotaging the exec at this point. Ensure a proper setting for the taping (the fewer distractions, the better). Have a competent crew (again, fewer distractions, no waiting, mutual respect, etc.). Be prepared. Brief the executive in advance. And, most importantly, don't let the leader down. The exec can still benefit from knowledgeable, candid advice about performance improvements. Make sure you have a great take in the can before you end the shoot. If you can't do this, hire someone who can. Frequently it makes very good sense to bring in an outside director for this very reason. Most leaders are extremely confident, often intimidating, sometimes egocentric, and they don't suffer fools. Directing them requires a rare combination of expertise, confidence, experience and deference. Many employees tip the scales too much on the deference end.
b) Aspiring Communicators - The are ways to increase the odds of success with an executive who is outside his/her comfort zone on camera. All the techniques share one common principle: make the leader comfortable! This is so critical because discomfort shows, and on television it looks like a lack of confidence. Viewers inevitably interpret this as an absence of leadership ability, a lack of business confidence, and/or a lack of confidence in the message. If you put your leader on video or film and s/he appears tentative or ill-at-ease, you have not only wasted your resources and sabotaged your project, but you have undermined that executive's reputation with the audience.
Over the years I've been asked dozens and dozens of times to include the CEOs of major organizations in videos - companies like Aetna, American Airlines, EDS and Radio Shack. After 20-plus years I've learned a thing or two about helping them put their best foot forward. My number one rule is...
If they aren't Harrison Ford, don't ask them to be!
If you write a script for an executive and ask that leader to look at the camera and directly address the audience - you're asking him/her to be an actor. Some exec.s seem to have a knack for this, and when they do we can get results that are quite compelling. I'm all for that. But if a leader is not a natural at this, then my counsel is not to put that exec. into such an uncomfortable position. There are other ways to include the exec. which will be more appealing and more effective. My favorite is to sit down with the leader in an interview setting, and then engage him/her in a conversation about our topic. I work hard to make it a conversation, not an interrogation; my purpose being to help the executive forget there's a camera. If I can encourage the leader to speak to ME, eye-to-eye, candidly about something s/he feels passionately about - THEN we have some compelling video to share with our audience. It's deceptively simple (simple concept, requires skillful execution), and IT WORKS! .
