Here's the confusing thing about message when it comes to authors. Yes, as I talked about in the previous lecture, you do need a message for your book to be able to really distill it. But also keep in mind, the vast majority of the times you're asked to appear in the media on talk, radio or TV show in particular. It might not be about your book, chances are, it won't be. So you've got to focus on a message that's relevant to the particular issue and the audience here. So, for example, quite often I'm invited on major news broadcasts to analyze a State of the Union speech or some major speech from a famous politician or a celebrity like Michael Bay when he freezes on stage in Las Vegas at a convention so I'm asked to comment and critique the particulars of someone.

I'm not asked to come out and talk about my book secret to foolproof presentation. So in that case, I come up with a message that is just specific to the State of the Union speech or with this presidential candidate is saying and how they're saying it. And I analyze strengths and weaknesses. And then just in passing, the producer, or the host will mention my book, or if it's a text article, it'll be in the description. So it's a soft sell. But unfortunately, that's the only way you could do it.

So your messaging process has to go on a parallel track, sometimes you have to sometimes come up with messages that are just about the issue at hand. And really, it's your expertise that getting you on the show your book is a part of the expertise, but you can't really be talking about what's in your book, other than through the lens of the expertise in your book affecting what it is that you're talking about. That's the issue in the news. So please keep in mind, you cannot have generic messages. For every media interview, you always have to tailor it to the specific media outlet and what the news hook is what the actual topic is for your conversation.