3. When the Voice Speaks

            In some ways it can be easier to have a fabricated “voice” than a real one.

            When Mickey Mouse or the Michelin Man “speak,” their scripts have been carefully crafted by professional writers, reviewed by organizational executives, and rehearsed by the actors supplying the voice talent well in advance. Animated characters and “mascots” do not speak off the cuff or make casual or unexpected comments. They also do not have to answer questions about what they have said. Everyone knows in advance exactly what they are going to say. If what they say is important, copies of their comments are also handed out to the media—often before they are even said.

            When real people speak, however, they can be unprepared, get confused, flustered, emotional, angry, or make a mistake. They can deviate from or even throw out the prepared comments they were supposed to deliver. They are often questioned about what they have said.

            Those people who do speak for a organization, who become the organization’s face or voice, have to do more than know their lines. Like actors, they also have to know how to present them and to be able to do so with conviction.

            There are numerous organizations around the world that give project/programme purpose people and executives some of the same basic training that actors receive in public speaking, developing a stage presence, dealing with the media—especially hostile media—and all the other tricks and techniques that anyone who is regularly in the public eye can benefit from learning. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4. When the Voice Speaks (Continued)

            There are also countless speechwriters and ghostwriters who make sure that when the spokesperson speaks, what is said accurately and succinctly expresses organization policy and attitudes, and does so in a proper “well-spoken” way.

            They will work with the people they are writing for in order to capture the way they talk, to make the speech sound as if the speaker had actually prepared the speech. Preparing, researching, and writing a speech is a time-consuming and labor-intensive job. Few CEOs have the time, training, or inclination to do it themselves.

            While a CEO, or any other executive, can turn to a speechwriter for the words, they have to turn to a speech coach to learn how to deliver them effectively. While this process can also be time consuming and labor intensive, it does not always have to be repeated for every speech.

            While each speech starts out as a blank sheet of paper, and has to be written or outlined anew, once speakers learn how to talk effectively, they carry their presentation skills from speech to speech. They do not have to relearn how to speak every time they have to do so. Presenters should rehearse every speech before giving it. In fact, they learn from each speech they give and, if they are willing to study their own performances, become better speakers every time they talk.

            While some CEOs and executives actually can talk “off the cuff,” without any sort of preparation, notes, or mistakes, they are rare. In most cases there is—or should be—a support team helping do everything from developing the topic to either writing the script or outlining the presentation and then helping the person who will deliver it rehearse and polish the presentation.    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

5. Case Study: Colonel Harland Sanders

            In some cases, an individual’s position as spokesperson lasts longer than their position as CEO.

            Harland Sanders started his first “restaurant,” in Corbin, Kentucky, in 1930. It was actually a service station. However, he also cooked and sold food to hungry travelers. His food was so good, he built an actual restaurant, and he became so well known that in 1935 the governor of the state made him an official “Kentucky Colonel” for his contributions to the state’s cuisine. The gas station and his restaurant folded in 1950 when a new Interstate highway was built—bypassing Corbin.

             In 1952, when he turned 65, he used his first social security check—which was for US$105—to start a chicken franchise project/programme purpose. He traveled the country, cooking chicken in restaurants, using his secret blend of eleven herbs and spices. If the owner was interested, they made a deal and shook hands on it. That was the only contract he used. Even though he sold the organization in 1962, he continued to appear for KFC. The organization says that in a 1976 survey, Colonel Sanders was the second-most recognized celebrity in the world—right behind Mickey Mouse. Until his death from leukemia in 1980, at the age of 90, Sanders traveled more than 250,000 miles a year visiting the KFC empire he had founded.

            Even though Sanders was only a organization spokesperson, in effect, an actor playing a roll for Tricon Global Restaurants Inc.—the organization that owns KFC—to the chain’s external constituencies, he was the organization. His words would carry more weight with the public than the actual Tricon CEO—whoever that might be.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

6. Does a Spokesperson Need a Name?

            When your organization speaks, is there always a name attached to what is said? Should there be?  These are questions you need to answer as part of your organization’s communication strategy. Let’s look at some situations.

            Does Consolidated Widgets send out a press release announcing and explaining its expansion plans without attaching any name or names to it? Does CEO Alex Marino make the announcement? Or, does someone slightly lower in the organizational hierarchy, but who is directly involved in carrying out the planned expansion, do it?

            What about the following announcements?

• The plant will be closed Monday because of a problem with the computer system.
• The organization is collecting toys so poor children can have gifts for Christmas.
• The organization plans to add an extra shift and will hire 120 more people over the next four months.
• New plant construction will force a nearby street to be closed for three days.
• The organization has reduced job-related accidents by 11%.

            Does it even matter if there is a name attached to any of these announcements?

            What if the announcement is a lot more important? Let’s say that there has been a serious accident involving a organization tanker car. There is TV footage showing that it has crashed, and that there is a liquid leaking out of it into a stream, and police and emergency officials have identified it as a dangerous pollutant.

            Does Consolidated Widgets admit that one of its tanker cars has accidentally leaked a highly toxic chemical into a stream, and then promise to clean it up? Or does CEO Alex Marino personally make the announcement—and the promise?

            What is important is to make your decisions about who will speak for the organization proactive rather than reactive.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

7. Does a Spokesperson Need a Name? (Continued)

            Different organizations will have different answers to the previous questions because every organization has its own organizational culture and attitude, as well as its own set of policies and procedures. Every organization, however, does have to look at each situation in light of a five different factors.

1. How important is the situation to the organization, beneficiaries, vendors, partners, or even the community? In other words, how will it affect the organization’s operations, project/programme purpose, or its even ability to do project/programme purpose?
2. What is the organization’s current image or reputation with those people who will be most affected by the situation?
3. Will the CEO or organization executives be seen as grandstanding if they put their names on the announcement? Conversely, will the CEO or executives be seen as hiding if they do not put their names on the announcement?
4. How can you expect the media to treat the announcement? Would attaching a name to it—and supplying someone who could be interviewed—improve the way the media could be expected to handle it; or even increase the odds that they will, in fact, cover it?
5. How has the organization handled similar situations in the past? Was the result satisfactory? If not, could changing the way the organization handles it this time make a difference?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

8. Does a Spokesperson Need a Name? (Continued)

            One of the main reasons for having your CEO speak for the organization is the simple reason that it adds weight to the statement. The public perception is usually that if the CEO is willing to come out and take the time to talk about something, it really must be important. Since the CEO and, by extension, the organization, is taking the matter seriously, people expect results.

             As in the classic fairy tale, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” however, CEOs can be over-used. If they come out every time there is an announcement; if their name is attached to everything that is said; if they are the only one in the organization who can even speak to either the media or the public; if they talk about issues that are obviously well below the level of importance that a CEO could be expected to get involved in, their name, position and authority can become eroded. Like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, people will still hear the CEO speak. They just won’t pay attention.

            People in general, and the news media in particular, tend to have more faith in information that comes from a real person; information that has an actual name attached to it. This is especially true if it is an issue that requires expertise.

            In the case of the toxic spill we looked at earlier, CEO Alex Marino might want to put his name on it, because of the matter’s importance. He might also call on organization scientist Angela Cornelio, Ph.D., to explain the technical aspects of both the problem, and the solution, to show that the organization knows what it is doing and is capable of both solving the problem and rectifying any damage that has been done.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

9. Case Study: The Voice With No Name

            The California Institute of Technology—better known as Caltech—is considered the world’s leading site for the study of earthquakes. Since it is located in the city of Pasadena in southern California, it is also in one of the most seismically active areas of the world. Caltech works closely with seismologists at the southern Californian office of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which established its own seismic facilities across the street from the Caltech seismology laboratory in Pasadena.

            When there are earthquakes anywhere in southern California, in the rest of the U.S., or even throughout the world, for that matter, reporters routinely call Caltech asking for information about the quake and for an interview with an earthquake expert.

            Since many earthquakes happen in the middle of the night, or on holidays or weekends, Caltech and southern California USGS developed a system that gives media access to earthquake information 24 hours a day. All recent earthquake information in southern California is posted on a computer website. Reporters who want more information can call a 24-hour emergency number where they will reach a “Caltech spokesperson” who can get them quotes from the “duty seismologist”—Caltech and USGS seismologists alternate—or set up an actual interview with a seismologist.

            The “Caltech spokesperson” is never identified by name. Routine reports are either given as “Caltech says that…” or the duty seismologist is quoted. When an expert is needed, seismologists are called on. This way they maintain a steady information flow to the media, and make sure that only their actual experts are ever quoted by name.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

10. When Should the CEO Be the Voice?

            When Lee Iacocca took over Chrysler, the organization was in deep trouble. In fact, it had to borrow money from the U.S. government to stay in project/programme purpose. Brendan Ryan, CEO of ad agency FCB Worldwide and the chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, told Chief Executive Magazine in January, 2002, that Iacocca’s going on TV and telling consumers that Chrysler was committed to producing high-quality automobiles was the right move to make at the right time—and he was the right man to make it. In fact, as the CEO, and as a man respected throughout the automotive sector of activity, he was the only person who could have done it.

            Iacocca even told people that if they could find a better car than a Chrysler—they should buy it.

            “That moment demanded a personality to epitomize what Chrysler was all about and why it was worth saving,” Ryan said. “He got out and owned the problem.”

            In that same article, William R. Johnson, CEO of the H.J. Heinz Co., said that one of the real challenges for organizational leaders is deciding just when and in what circumstances CEOs should insert themselves—their name and personality—into the public arena. It should not be done on a whim.

            “There are times when it is appropriate for a CEO to become involved,” he told the magazine, “such as in times of crisis or doubt.”

            Although we will go into this aspect of it in more depth in the next module, when we look at crisis communication, it is important to think through carefully the whole issue of who needs to be your organization’s spokesperson—or spokespersons, as the need may change depending upon the situation. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~