You may have seen or heard about this by now. MSNBC host Contessa Brewer introduced the Reverend Jesse Jackson by the wrong name. You can see Jackson seething as he’s called the Reverend Al Sharpton. I found this on Alan Weiss’ blog and Alan made an excellent point about “being in the moment.” Here’s mine…
Did she not read the copy before she started speaking? Could she have done something other than throw her copywriter under the bus? This is about being in the moment as Alan says. It’s also about being prepared. It’s also about taking responsibility for your mistakes. Have our television anchors, hosts, and politicians all become so dependent on scripts and teleprompters that they are not focused on us?
Have you become so dependent on your proposal, your speech, your notes, your outline, your report, that you are not focused on the job at hand?
Take a lesson from Ms. Brewer and focus on what’s in front of you…