Sure, the news media can be negative and even nasty on a regular basis. But every so often a favored politician, entertainer or sports figure is subjected to the “puff piece” where the rules are different. In a puff piece, the subject is puffed up with nothing put positive facts, quotes and examples on his or her brilliance, creativity, and humanity.
The February 5, 2006 New York Times Magazine ran a puff piece bordering on idolatry on Duke University head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who now also charges between $50k-100k per speech he gives. I happen to think that Coach K deserves the praise because I find him devoid of all of the sanctimonious platitudes that take over most successful basketball and football coaches (and I thank him for the entertainment he gave me for four years when I sat just a few seats behind him in the student section of Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium).
But here is what struck me about the New York Times article:
“Rather than standing behind a lectern, he (Kryzewski) paced at the front of the stage. He used no notes. The house lights were up because he likes to find a few faces to focus on, ‘to make eye contact,’ he says. He always looks for a few women because ‘they’re more emotional, and when I talk about those things, they get it. They’re right there with me.’”
The author had just spent several paragraphs making the case that Coach K is more authentic, more sincere, and more honest than other people. How did the author make this point? By pointing out that Coach K doesn’t read his speech and that he faces his audience directly without hiding behind a lectern.
The implication is that Coach K is braver than others, because he risks exposure directly with his audience. He is authentic and therefore not the typical insincere phony that reads other people’s words off of a PowerPoint screen.
We can’t all be wildly successful basketball coaches, but we can all learn how to give a speech without reading a script, staring at PowerPoint or hiding behind a lectern. If you want to give reporters (and others) a nice hook for writing and saying nice things about you, then you should follow Coach K’s example—not on the basketball court, but on the speaker’s platform.
