Quality
President Trump’s News Conferences: Unprofessional!
News conferences are a major part of his job. A regular worker performing that poorly, and not improving, would be fired. How to do better.
Every political leader has to give news conferences. The President has been, correctly, giving status reports every day during this crisis. His performance has been terrible. Pro athletes give better interviews. Even his supporters on my Facebook page say they cringe.
I have been at the podium during my career answering technical questions. Not quite the same as a news conference, but close enough. So,
What’s Wrong? How can he fix it…
It is still fixable.
The problems: Organization, dangerous comments outside his expertise, use of certain words, falling for clickbait questions, rambling, whining, self back-patting, and forcing everyone to praise him.
Organization: Doing a daily press conference is, of itself, difficult just because of the small number of changes from one day to the next. I understand. On a smaller scale, I reported the progress of my project at weekly staff meetings. No progress for six weeks in a row. It was hard.
They could mitigate that problem with an organizational change at the podium. At first, the President did most of the talking. Then they tried adding more speakers. There was a learning curve because they gave conflicting information.
The President makes random comments concerning things outside his expertise. In most cases, medical statements people take as advice just because he mentioned them, or in some cases, recommended them. Then the doctors had to step in and correct his statements.
How to organize the press conferences better
Frequency should be every other day, or if daily, alternate backup presenters.
The President should start with a brief overview, then list the remaining speakers and topics, explaining that each speaker will take up to 3 or 4 questions.
Finally, he could take any relevant questions on other issues. If a reporter asks a question in another speaker’s area of expertise, he should answer, “We’ve already covered that topic,” point to another reporter, “Next question.” That would keep him away from comments endangering people.
Doctors Brix and Fauci have become the most trusted people on the stage. They should alternate days. One additional space could be reserved for a specialist of the day, from any department.
Other problems
He should become aware of speech patterns that decrease his effectiveness. I run my articles through Grammarly. It highlights overused words. They become boring and some can lose their effectiveness if used too often.
In one press conference, he used “incredible” 20 times and “great” 15 times. My eyes glazed over. Might as well not have said anything. Once or twice at the most and they will be more effective.
Forcing everyone to say, “At direction of the President, …” sounds arrogant. It’s a wonder he doesn’t get cramps in his arm patting himself on the back, and his back is not sore from everyone else patting him on the same spot. It’s childish and should stop.
Taking clickbait questions. Getting in arguments with reporters.
I don’t know if they intentionally set him up, but I’ve never seen him avoid one. It would be nice, just once, if he did without getting in a childish argument.
He should say, “That question is not relevant,” point to another reporter, “Next question.” Those questions would stop when reporters frequently lose their only chance at a question.
Whining
Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump — Tweet April 25, 2020, 6:01 PM What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!
Sometimes, he is his own worst enemy with his mouth. That was my greatest concern during the election, but it was better than my greatest concern about the other candidate. In this crisis, this whining and reckless comments have become dangerous to the nation.
When is he going to grow up.
Conclusion
It’s essential to keep the American people informed about the current status during this crisis, and what to expect next. We really need the daily press conferences.
I have no problem with a few blunders, as long as the person recognizes the mistake and improves the next time.
Failure to do so indicates stubbornness, lack of awareness, or stupidity.
Confirmation of the Conclusion’s final statement
- Aug 11, 2021 update
“Trump was Trump, as incompetent a criminal conspirator as he was a president”
