Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:49 — 6.7MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
The Biggest Communication Blunders of 2011
with Dr. Bill Lampton
Here is my personal list of the inglorious winners for the year, along with the lessons their mistakes offer.
1. Michele Bachmann in Spartanburg, SC urged the crowd to join her in celebrating Elvis Presley’s birthday on August 16th. Thinking that was a grand applause line, she was stunned by the response, as it turns out that was the date of his death.
LESSON: Check your facts or have somebody else do that before you speak.
2. Kim Kardashian announced the end of her marriage after 72 days, citing irreconcilable differences.
LESSON: Every married couple faces irreconcilable differences.
3. Mitt Romney bet Rick Perry $10,000 that Romney didn’t support a national health program based on the one Romney had championed in Massachusetts.
LESSON: Never flaunt your affluence.
4. Rick Perry insisted that he would eliminate three government agencies soon after his inauguration.
LESSON: Don’t promise to do more than you can even remember yourself.
5. Alec Baldwin continued to play a “Words with Friends” game on his phone after American Airlines flight attendants asked him to shut down the device as the crew prepared for takeoff. Baldwin went nuclear.
LESSON: When you’ve broken the rules and continue to do that after several warnings, admit your mistake. Assume the blame yourself without chiding others who are just doing their job.
6. New York Representative Anthony Weiner sent lewd pictures of a portion of his anatomy to a woman via Twitter. As the scandal broke he proclaimed repeatedly, “somebody hacked my account.”
LESSON: Blaming the Internet for something you caused yourself is like blaming your car for crashing after you left a bar at 4 am.
7. Discussing a golf match between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, Hank Williams Jr. said the links pairing was comparable to having Adolph Hitler play 18 holes with Benjamin Netanyahu. Almost immediately ESPN dropped Williams’ theme song from the Monday Night Football segment.
LESSON:Â Â Be careful about comparisons.
8. When meeting with a jobs council in Durham, NC, Barack Obama responded to those who said the cumbersome government regulations were blocking work on America’s infrastructure – a program Obama had championed – the president answered, “shovel ready…wasn’t not as shovel ready as we expected.”
LESSON: Humor at the wrong time will backfire horribly.
9. Vice President Joe Biden took a 25 second nap during President Obama’s speech touting his deficit reduction plan.
LESSON: You don’t even have to speak to make a major communication blunder.
10. On the highly popular weekly TV football show “College Gameday,” Lee Corso became careless while talking about the game between the University of Houston and SMU.
LESSON: Be careful with your customary daily lingo.
Links: ChampionshipCommunication.com
