During our seminars, we demonstrate that playing with paper clips, pens, or anything else distracts from messaging during an interview or presentation. And, wouldn’t you know it, we found the perfect example of this somewhat amusing mistake during a very serious interview with Russia’s top diplomat.
During an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was asked about a possible meeting between his country’s president Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During his answer, Lavrov picked up a paper clip and began playing with it. It might have been a sign that Lavrov was having difficulty speaking English, his second language, or perhaps he was just plain nervous. In any case, it was distracting, as you will see in the clip below.
Make of Lavrov’s message what you will. Our goal here is not to make light of his comments regarding a catastrophic war. Our objective is to highlight a common mistake that many communicators make in all kinds of settings.
After reading this and watching the video, we hope it’s a mistake you and your team will avoid.