After spending more than a quarter of a century talking to the media (yes, I'm really that old!), you'd think I'd have mastered the art of communication.
Truth is, every interview still gives me butterflies, and I'm constantly learning from my blunders and awkward moments in the spotlight.
Over countless interviews, press releases, and more than a few rabbit-in-headlights moments, I've picked up some lessons the hard way. My recent posts have been attempts to share these hard-earned insights.
Here's what I've learned through trial, error, and more than a few facepalm moments:
Watch Those Words Every single word matters in healthcare communication. I learned this the embarrassing way when I once used "harmless" instead of "low-risk" and spent the next week clarifying my statement. These days, I triple-check everything – paranoid? Maybe, but better safe than sorry!
Evidence is Your Best Friend Nothing saves you from a media mishap quite like solid evidence. Trust me, I've had those moments where I've spouted something that "felt right" only to frantically search for supporting research afterward. Not fun. Now I keep my research handy and stick to what I can prove.
The Art of "I Don't Know" Perhaps the most valuable phrase I've learned to use is "I don't know, but I'll find out." It took years to get comfortable with this one (and several cringe-worthy attempts to wing it). There's no shame in admitting knowledge gaps – it's actually rather liberating!
Context is Everything After accidentally causing a minor panic by not providing proper context for some statistics (oops!), I've learned to paint the full picture.
Some Hard-Learned Tips:
Record yourself speaking and prepare to cringe (we all sound different than we think!)
Practice explaining complex concepts to your non-medical friends (they're brutally honest)
Keep a "blooper reel" of media mistakes – it helps maintain humility
Remember that jargon is like a security blanket – comfortable for us but confusing for others
When in doubt, pause (those awkward silences are better than incorrect information)
Accept that you'll never be perfect (I'm still working on this one!)
Through all these years of media engagement, perhaps the biggest lesson has been that expertise doesn't mean perfection. We're all human, and sometimes the best way to connect with audiences is to embrace our imperfections while staying true to evidence-based principles.
And if you're wondering whether I still get nervous before media appearances – absolutely! But now I just consider it part of my pre-interview routine, along with triple-checking my facts and hoping I don't accidentally say something that ends up as tomorrow's headline!
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