Articles

Sudden tragedy can strike like a thief in the night. And when it does, keeping emotions in check while speaking to the community is a challenge for even the most gifted communicators. When Houston firefighter Marcelo Garcia was killed in a warehouse fire, Mayor John Whitmire and Fire Chief Thomas Munoz addressed the media soon after the death was...

The Terri Ammerman Group always advises our clients to develop clear, concise messages that leave no room for misunderstanding. With Hurricane Milton bearing down on the coast of Florida, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor delivered perhaps the bluntest message we have ever heard. With much of Tampa under a mandatory evacuation order, Castor was interviewed...

Losing composure while speaking in public is seldom a good look. When people get angry during an interview or a public meeting, their credibility takes a hit and their messages get lost. In other words, their outburst becomes the news. We found a perfect example of this during a public meeting of the Harris County Commissioner’s Court, the...

One of the most common mistakes made during interviews is to bluff your way through a response to a question you were not expecting and really don’t know how to answer. Bluffing almost always makes you look bad and often leads to sound bites that obscures key messages. You can avoid this pitfall by starting your response with something like, “I...

One of the most common mistakes made during interviews is to bluff your way through a response to a question you were not expecting and really don’t know how to answer. Bluffing almost always makes you look bad and often leads to sound bites that obscures key messages. You can avoid this pitfall by starting your response with something like, “I...

Swivel chairs may be comfortable and useful in an office or at home. But they can be your nemesis in an interview or any setting where you’re trying to communicate key messages. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff provided a perfect example of this during a remote interview about is wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her views on the Israel/Hamas...

When Hurricane Beryl slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast, it left more than two-million CenterPoint Energy customers in the Houston area without power. It took several days, in some cases longer, for CenterPoint to restore electricity. That left customers without lights and air conditioning in sweltering heat far longer than anyone expected. The...

It’s not unusual for some public officials to openly disagree with each other on a variety of issues. It goes with the territory. But it’s just not smart to use interviews or social media posts to take unnecessary potshots at each other. Two Houston politicians, Mayor John Whitmire and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, have made it clear there’s...

Have you ever attended a presentation that you assumed would be boring? Or have you been asked to deliver a presentation that you feared would put your audience to sleep? Well, we can say with confidence that a creative opening, one that surprises and even entertains the audience, can turn a mundane topic into an informational masterpiece that...

It is a standard and often annoying habit of television reporters to ask questions, then constantly interrupt people before they can finish their answers. Reporters will do this when they don’t like the answers or think the responses are going on too long. It’s a method reporters use to control the interview. If you are being interviewed,...