Why brands feel they have to do scripted interviews rather than, you know, actual interviews where people actually think about the question in a mystery. But if you’ve ever been to CES or any other big marketing event, you are familiar with this cringe-worthy experience.
Speaking of cringe-worthy, how does a marketer make a cringe-worthy event even more cringe-worthy? Well if you’re Samsung and you invite Michael Bay to a keynote Q&A and he screws up his TelePrompTer lines, that’s how.
When the Transformers director took the stage along with Samsung America EVP Joe Stinziano, Bay began by saying, “My job as a director is that I get to dream for a living.” He then skipped a line and became flustered. Stinziano, after an uncomfortable period of silence, tried to coach him along but, ultimately, Bay became embarrassed and walked off stage.
And what’s with that girlish leg lift he does when he first comes one stage?
We’ve spoken publicly before and it can be a challenge at times. But as we all know, reading off slides is much more of a disaster waiting to happen than simply responding to questions in an unscripted fashion like a normal human being.
Lesson learned? Save your money on celebrity talent and hire people who have a proven track record of public speaking. That or don’t force them to read crap off a teleprompter.
