Have Something to Say

You can have the best presenting skills in the world, but if you don’t have anything to say, you will still bomb. Case in Point: CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric’s daily podcast video blog.

I am not one of the many Katie Couric detractors, and I’m also not a huge fan. But Katie makes $15 million a year and definitely has an easy-going and likeable TV presence. When she puts the spotlight on her interesting guests, she can be quite engaging.

However, I have now watched a handful of Katie Couric’s video podcast blogs (available for free at iTunes) and I can’t remember seeing anything so boring, lacking in insight, or devoid of opinion. Think rice cakes, without salt or any artificial flavoring.

In Couric’s defense, she is learning a new job as the prime news anchor at CBS, is traveling the world, has to conduct interviews and be interviewed daily, and is probably pulled in more directions than the typical Prime Minister.

But still her daily video blogs are an embarrassment. A typical sentiment from a sample commentary is “children are good,” or “families are nice.” It’s almost as if Couric delegated the task of writing her personal video diary to a 21 year old intern with the only instruction of “make sure you don’t offend anybody.”

Something tells me Couric’s career will survive a boring daily video blog. But there is a lesson here for the rest of us: no matter how well respected we become in our careers, even as communicators, people judge each speech, presentation and media appearance in its own right, so if you don’t have anything interesting to say, you are better off not saying anything.