The blank stare.
It’s a moment in time that has the potential of shattering the audience’s confidence in you and your story.
It happened all too recently when ABC’s Diane Sawyer asked U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper about the arrests of a dozen terror suspects that same day in London.
Chief Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan jumped in to rescue the country’s head of intelligence – see it here:
Even though Brennan tried to blame the reporter for this on-camera gaffe – and excuses like this rarely reverse the damage – the Obama administration later acknowledged that Director Clapper should have been briefed about the London arrests.
However, Chief Counterterrorism Advisor Brennan excused Clapper’s uninformed status in a written statement saying, “I’m glad that Jim Clapper is not sitting in front of the TV 24 hours a day and monitoring what’s coming out of the media.”
Brennan misses the point. Of course Clapper shouldn’t be glued to the TV. He has staff for this and he should be able to rely on them to keep him informed up to the minute on terrorism and intelligence – anything that might be relevant to a media interview he’s about to do.
Multiple choice questions can change your story.