Much Ado About Nothing

The Internet is abuzz with a scandal that has threatened the sensibilities of the masses. Bloggers everywhere are upset and demand contrition. Some say there is no shame in what happened -- that everyone has faults and that the critics should just lay off, but opponents will not be satisfied until they have their pound of flesh. From the sound of it, you'd think this is the end of life as we know it. Personally, I don't see why it's a big deal.

No, this isn't about New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, but about the interview BusinessWeek reporter Sarah Lacey gave to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at SXSW in Austin.

Apparently folks think Lacey meandered too much in the interview and gave only softball questions. The 24 year-old Zuckerberg, possibly not the best of interview subjects (not because of his relevance, but in his skill at giving interviews), gave uninteresting PR answers to most of the questions.

The audience rose up, spoke out, and Twittered in protest. Lacey took it incredibly personally, and lots of respected folks wrote about it -- some in disgust and some in defense of Lacey.

Since it is already news and is being discussed, it might be useful to try to learn something from the event.

Speaking Coach Lisa Braithwaite identifies 2 types of hecklers.

...One heckler will repeatedly try to contribute to the discussion (aka dominating it), make jokes, or even challenge the speaker in order to show how smart he is, but he's not out to disrupt the presentation. The other heckler takes pleasure in messing with the speaker and seeing the speaker's discomfort and stress, and tries especially hard to discredit the speaker if possible.

Both types were present in Lacey's audience.

Her advice for the first type of heckler is to accommodate them. Let them know that their questions are welcome. When she assumed a defensive posture, Lacey failed to do this.

The second thing she did wrong was allow the hecklers to get under her skin. By playing the part of the victim, she brought more attention to it than it deserved. She became the story, when the story should have been Zuckerburg.

It's easy to be a critic. While the audience might feel as if they could have given a better interview, Lacey has something that they don't, and probably never will -- access to Zuckerburg and permission to call on him.

She has that access because she spent 5 years cultivating that relationship and building his trust. And yes, that means he was 19 at the time -- before a lot of us saw the real potential in the wunderkind.

That is laudable, and we should not underestimate its importance.

Even understanding that, like everyone else, she has room for improvement, let's not make too big a deal of this. She is young and will only learn from the experience.

We can only hope the hecklers will do the same.- Cam Beck

More public speaking tips from Lisa Braithwaite
How Thick Is Your Skin?
Never Lose Focus

Comments

[Lewis Green]

Thank you Cam. I have not been following this closely; however, today I read two posts that discuss the issue. Doesn't seem to be a big deal. It would have been better if the hecklers did not feel a need to get noticed, but, hey, that's what hecklers do. I wonder how I would have reacted.

Thirty years ago, I might have left the stage and confronted them, likely starting a riot. Today, I probably would have engaged them forcefully and asked them to show some respect for the others in the audience. Who knows? Until we are in that situation, we can't know how we would react.

[Michael Lombardi]

Taking starting a riot ala Axl Rose off the table, Sarah Lacy didn't have too many options. Certainly after the fact, saying "screw all you guys" is completely unprofessional. Having not been the victim of an online attack, I guess being a nobody has its benefits.

Without being in that exact experience before, I would imagine I probably would apologize to Mark and end the interview. Something along the lines of, "I'm sorry this audience doesn't respect you enough to listen to what you have to say--despite that presumably being the only reason they're here--but I do respect you and will not make you sit through this. We'll finish this interview offstage. Thank you for your time."

[Lisa Braithwaite]

Wow, I'm out of the loop on this, and it's just the kind of drama I find so interesting from a public speaking perspective.

I'll have to go watch the video and learn more about what happened.

Thanks for referring to some of my posts, Cam! Too bad Sarah Lacy wasn't prepared beforehand for the possibility of hecklers. It's a rude awakening when you realize as a speaker that there are always going to be people who want to see you trip up.

[Cam Beck]

Lewis - The ultimate irony for me was that I didn't think it was that bad except for how she handled the audience.

As for Zuckerburg, for a 24 year old, he's remarkably well composed. He's not going to be winning any contests for oratory right now, but he'll probably get better over time.

Michael - I read from someone that the new social media environment almost encourages this sort of mob mentality. Do you think that has any validity?

Lisa - I admit that I would have been surprised, too. In most cases, I've found other things you said to be true - that most people want you to succeed. They're there because they want to get something out of it.