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Guy Goma was literally an average guy going in for an interview
for a computer job at the BBC in May 2006. He was sitting down for
what he thought was going to be a run-of-the-mill job interview
when all of a sudden a bright light turned on his face and he
heard himself being introduced as another Guy, Guy Kewney, an
expert on trademark law
brought in to discuss the dispute between Apple Computer and the
Apple Corps record company.
At that moment, Guy realized his fate. He was on live
international TV being interviewed on a subject he knew nothing
about! Terror! And Guy showed it. In the first few seconds on
camera, Guy’s facial expressions look like a cross between someone
who has just seen a ghost and someone who realizes he is wearing a
toga at a formal, black tie party.
(I don’t mean to pick on poor Guy, but I have rarely seen anything
as funny as this clip of him on the BBC, click here to check it
out for yourself.)
Watch the Video
While I am sympathetic to Guy because he didn’t ask for this, he
wasn’t seeking the limelight, and didn’t even learn English until
a few years ago, there are lessons to be learned from this
incident, namely that in this era of ubiquitous news media and the
price of quality video cameras dropping every day, you never know
when you will be interviewed on camera. So you might as well be
prepared for it to happen anytime.
I’m not suggesting that you be prepared to speak on any subject.
(Though as John Tierney in the New York Times pointed out, Guy
Goma did an excellent job as a pundit on a subject that he
presumably knew little about). But you can always look poised and
confident any time you are near a video camera. Above all, don’t
look like you are about to die! Because if you do, your image
could be forwarded around on
the Internet forever. |
