This past December I attended three college sporting events. I was out of my seat, jumping around, and yelling at the top of my lungs! No wonder we are willing to drop a few bills to attend these things – it’s fist-pumping fun! I worked as a communications consultant and media trainer at one of the games. While sitting next to the TV crews at the post-game press conference, I heard the same trite phrases used again and again by coaches and athletes:
- “We’re taking it one game/play at a time”
- “We showed a lot of heart/character/poise”
- “We just needed to execute”
- “We needed to focus on the fundamentals”
- “You have to give our opponent a lot of credit”
It was hard not to cringe. These overused phrases have lost any real meaning and sound so bland. Comedians like Brian Regan have even used them as punchlines in their stand-up routines (see video link at the end of the post).
To make matters worse, most of the players and coaches that use these phrases mistakenly focus on the “what” instead of the “why.” As fans, we watched the game and already saw “what” happened. What we need is someone to tell us “why.” That’s the real story, and it’s often overlooked in sports, business, politics, etc.
Athletes, coaches, and communications professionals who can explain the why of what happened on the field are outshining their peers. But, to be elite, you need to describe the why in terms of brand qualities and attributes that made it happen!
The reason why athletes, coaches and other spokespersons so often fall short in this area is that they or perhaps their organizations are too focused on the score, stats and highlight clips. This approach is very transactional and fails to verbalize their team’s brand qualities and attributes. The communications professionals who prepared them (media training) failed to guide them on how to answer anticipated questions by using the language and phrasing of their brand attributes and qualities.
For example, imagine an athlete being interviewed that is asked this question: “Great touchdown pass out there to win the game. Can you tell us what happened?”
Please don’t give an answer like this one:
“We just gave 110% on that last play, and that’s what got us the win!”
What if instead the athlete answered like this:
“It was the last play of the game, our last chance to win. This year we’ve focused on having courage — not being afraid to lose and having the courage to win. In the huddle, I told everyone it was time for courage and called the play. It worked because we believed we could win and had the courage to make it happen.”
Clearly, their focus was courage! Maybe you and your team focused on other attributes like self-belief, self-sacrifice, trust, intelligence, work-ethic, etc. Whatever your winning attributes are, make sure it’s part of the story of your success you share with the media, fans, etc. Take time to anticipate the variety of questions you’ll get and how you will incorporate your chosen attributes into the answers.
Athletes and coaches will better inspire their teammates. They’ll become more marketable because brands are seeking athletes to endorse their products who display personal attributes that align with theirs.
These same principles apply in the corporate world as well. You don’t have to be an athlete to be a member of a team. Communications professionals should ask themselves this question:
- Does the messaging we use to describe our products and services help our target audience understand not just the what, including features and benefits, but the why, which includes our brand attributes?
Whether you are an athlete or communications professional, the beginning of a new year is a great time to refresh your messaging. Find ways to infuse your messaging with your brand attributes. Make sure your spokespersons receive the media and message training they need to properly tell your brand story. Athletes, coaches, official spokespersons and frontline employees need the best tools and training. Put in the messaging and media training work and watch your team win on and off the field!
jcs-communications.com 
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