Believe it or not, this is not a Donald Trump quote. The only piece of advice you should take from Trump is his ability to use television to his advantage. He has benefitted significantly from his “The Apprentice” franchise in this year’s race. HR Magazine brings another example of how important it is to learn to communicate through the lens.
“For HR, Video is a Star,” details how a number of companies’ HR departments are conducting interviews via video, setting up websites or video links where applicants can apply and using video for internal communication. Part of this, obviously, saves time, travel and money, but just as big a part is that people read less and less. They skim or glance, so introducing yourself via video makes sense and is guaranteed to capture attention.
The magazine notes that one large hospital chain – disclosure, a past client of ours – uses video interviews to “assess an individual’s skills” and compares candidates based on their responses to the same set of questions. “Assess skills,” to us means that the applicant needs to understand the importance of good eye contact (a learned skill through the lens) and a pleasant facial expression, as well as how to formulate crisp responses with a clear headline. And let’s not forget voice quality, intonation, pronunciation and grammar. We are also obliged to say this puts a premium on appearance. There is ample proof that people who are well dressed and groomed are seen as more competent.
Our advice, as always, is to look at what’s next. If “you’re hired” has already gone into video, can “you’re fired,” be far behind? In the movie, “Up in the Air,” George Clooney, a well-paid executive who racks up millions of air miles visiting facilities to fire people, risks being deposed by a young executive who thinks the sessions can be held remotely, via video. In the movie, it doesn’t work out so well for the proponents of firing by video, but we think if the movie were made today, the ending would be different.
Whatever happens in the Republican nomination pageant, The Donald’s lessons about television and personality will be with us for the foreseeable future. Want to avoid “you’re fired?” Grab your phone or tablet and start practicing your video delivery today.
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