A “Spirit” of Composure

By Eric Seidel, CEO

The Media Trainers®

Interviews can test your emotions. Indeed, some reporters purposely tweak to get a rise out of you. You need to recognize this going in and make a conscious point of leaving your emotions outside. In short, don’t let ‘em get to you!

Spirit Airlines has announced a $45 carry-on fee for bags that don’t fit under the seat in front of you. Coverage hasn’t been favorable. And their marketing maven, Barry Biffle, got an earful from Fox News Channel’s Sheperd Smith. Watch Biffle’s facial expression when he is added to the frame in this video clip and as he listens to Smith set up the interview in this sound bite, accusing Spirit of a number of things like “we’re gonna nickel and dime you to death” and “people hate it”:

You’ve got to hand it to Biffle. He didn’t flinch. He simply smiles, keeps listening and patiently waits for his chance to speak. And, while his message could use some work, his demeanor is excellent (click the next video):

Yes, we could spend time on the content and the message. We could even speculate on whether Spirit is playing marketing with smoke and mirrors. News anchor Shep Smith thinks so and said it. Frankly, Smith’s behavior in this interview was inappropriate.

But the take-away here is Barry Biffle’s body language. It never betrayed him or what he said. Non-verbal communication is something I work on with clients very comprehensively because if their body language conflicts with their message, body language wins.

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