When you're preparing your speech for a press conference, I do want you to give some real thought to what your backdrop is. Way too many people hold press conferences in boring generic hotel rooms, conference rooms. There's simply nothing interesting for the video cameras. Now, if you are governor or cabinet official, and you've got big, big news that's going to affect a lot of people. Yeah, you can do that. And it can be convenient for you and convenient for the news media.
But for a lot of business executives or other political leaders, I urge you give some thought to what the best backdrop would be to really put a spotlight on your story. So for example, many many years ago, and I was starting out my career, I was a press secretary for a politician in Florida. And he regulated all the security firms in the state. So we decided to hold a press conference to announce shutting down at 11 Legal boiler room operation that sold phony securities? Well, we didn't just hold the press conference in a state government office building what happened is I call all the media at I think it was 10 the night before earlier in the day the night before and I said, I can't tell you where. But if you meet me at the such and such gas station at the corner of Elm and first downtown Fort Lauderdale tomorrow at 8am, we're going on a raid of an illegal boiler room.
Well guess what every single TV camera and reporter in South Florida showed up because the backdrop of people running out screaming people with guns going in and then the politician being able to speak about why consumers need to be careful about ever investing money with someone who calls them on a phone. That got a lot of capital. So I want you to always think about exactly the backdrop that's going to be interesting for the story. If you are a political figure and you're running on environmental issues, much better off to hold your press conference at a river where there's all sorts of debris and filth and pollution going by where you can spotlighted perhaps pull up a glass of water show how dirty the water is issue a challenge to your opponent. Will you drink this water? Will you ask your children to drink this water that may be too theatrical for what you're doing.
But I do want you to at least give thought to what is behind you. That helps augment the message that isn't just plain and generic. Now, I'm not holding a press conference now but I have a backdrop to look like I'm in a big TV media studio because I'm teaching you how to speak to the media. So I don't want just a generic backdrop that looks like what any other online training has. So I gave a little thought to it. I want you to do the same