Walker Walks Away
Stephen Parr
Another week and another one walks away. This time it's Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The midwestern political phenomenon was at the top of the polls in the spring of this year and even referred to himself as the front runner. By summer, his status was being trumped by outsiders. Now, at the start of fall, his poll numbers and fundraising efforts had fallen so low, Walker couldn't see a way forward.
There have been several articles written about what went wrong. Did he have the right staff? Did he have too much staff? Did he get bogged down in tactics instead of paying attention to strategy? Why did the money dry up? There was one quote in an article by Politico that caught my attention. It was from one of Walker's big donors, billionaire Stanley Hubbard.
“What I was going to tell him is that he should get some training, some TV training. I know where to get it.”
I believe Hubbard was right. Walker wasn't ready for the bright lights of mass media. Most of the articles written about the demise of his campaign mention his two debate performances. They are described as poor, or mediocre at best. It wasn't that the subject matter stumped him. He didn't have an "oops" moment like Rick Perry four years ago. He just didn't resonate through the camera lens out to the audience at large. He wasn't able to display his passion for the job of President with any authenticity. It's not that he didn't want it. It's not that he didn't have experience in government administration. But, that never came through to the American public.
It's amazing how difficult it can be to just be yourself on camera. As soon as a camera comes out, most of us turn into someone else, and usually it's a less competent version of ourselves. Being an effective communicator on camera takes practice. It's not a coincidence that the best communicator in the Oval office in the past 50 years was once a professional actor.
You don't have to be an actor to be able to represent yourself or your company well in today's media. But, you do need to practice. Silver Tongue Communications can help.