Irresistible Communication

PODCAST EPISODE

The Bay effect of marketing speak

The unfortunate consequences of using marketing speak and saying words you don’t truly believe in.

Watch Michael Bay’s appearance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ypkgYO4Rc

Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

Transcript
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A couple of years back, director Michael Bay had

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one of the most devastating performances on a big stage ever.

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In a Samsung press conference, he totally lost it.

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It was heartbreaking to watch.

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He lost it so thoroughly that his lizard brain kicked in with a flight reaction.

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He literally fled the stage after about a minute into his appearance.

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What had happened?

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Bay was supposed to endorse Samsung's new curved TV sets.

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Apparently, he had been instructed to just read the text from the teleprompter.

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But he missed a line.

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So he got off script and tried to improvise.

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But he totally failed to do so which made him feel so embarrassed that his

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lizard brain commanded him to hide from further embarrassment and leave the stage.

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Looking at the scene once again, it makes sense.

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Bay was trying to act as if he cared for the TV sets saying words he didn't believe

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in on a cause he didn't believe in.

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He really didn't care.

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It wasn't his words.

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It was the marketing departments words.

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It wasn't his cause.

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It was Samsung’s.

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And that's why he really couldn't improvise.

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Since he had nothing to say, he didn't know how to say it.

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Well, while that's certainly an extreme example, it's a similar pattern that

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we can observe with lots of leaders who feel uncomfortable on a big stage.

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It's when they have to say words that someone told them sound good rather than

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say words that truly matter to them.

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The Bay effect is what happens when you try to use marketing speak that

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makes things sound cool rather than speak about the things that actually

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are cool in words that are truly yours

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. Once I change this for my clients, time

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they start to feel comfortable speaking about the things that matter to them in

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front of even the largest of audiences.

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