Image for Business Tycoon Demonstrates Interview Secrets to Being Quotable

Media and interactive technology tycoon Barry Diller knows how to deliver quotable lines, which he demonstrated over the week on Face the Nation.

Asked whether the US economy could turn around by summer, Diller, who is billionaire, said, “There’s no chance.”

When asked about the fate of small business, Diller predicted “widespread bankruptcies.” Then he added, “You’re going to have a massive amount of businesses that can’t return, businesses that go bankrupt. It’s inevitable. And hopefully, the government will, so to speak, pick up the tab, because this is an existential crisis and we shouldn’t worry so much about doing it in a neat way. It ought to be sloppy to get that money out to everybody who needs it.”

When asked about the fate of small business, Diller predicted “widespread bankruptcies.” Then he added, “You’re going to have a massive amount of businesses that can’t return, businesses that go bankrupt. It’s inevitable. And hopefully, the government will, so to speak, pick up the tab, because this is an existential crisis and we shouldn’t worry so much about doing it in a neat way. It ought to be sloppy to get that money out to everybody who needs it.”

Diller dismissed the possibility of maintaining social distancing in restaurants and airplanes. He said the idea of taking out or leaving middle seats on airplanes unoccupied to achieve social distancing is “absurd.”

Quizzed about reopening the economy, Diller put the onus on the federal government to give clear direction. “We’re going to have to be told. Unfortunately, we have a witch doctor as president and he ain’t going to tell us. But the science part of it, I think that has to be translated into more practical solutions. So somebody is gonna have to say, ‘Yes, you must wear masks, period, or no, take your chances.'”

Agree or disagree with Diller, who is a well-known President Trump critic, but it’s indisputable he gets his point across. Diller employs crisp answersplainspoken explanations and words that morph into earworms.

As answers to questions, “there’s no chance” and “absurd” leave little doubt as to Diller’s meaning. His explanation of small business bankruptcies and the need for a massive, messy bailout was plain and clear. His use of the phrase “witch doctor” to describe Trump, without naming him, was an inescapable allusion to the President’s gaffe last week of wondering aloud about injecting coronavirus victims with poisonous disinfectants. Expect to see his “witch doctor” comment wildly quoted and turned into a meme.

The skills Diller exhibited are taught by just about every credible media coach. Regrettably, many media trainees fail to follow Diller’s skillful example of putting those skills to good use. They blather, obfuscate and fumble. Reporters are left with an alphabet soup of words to decipher and render as a meaningful, relevant quote. Unsure of what the person being quoted meant, reporters often don’t get the story right and miss the intended key message entirely.

Diller’s way with words was probably self-taught. He dropped out of UCLA after only three weeks, then took a menial job in the William Morris Agency where he could spend his sparetime combing through the archives to learn about the entire history of the entertainment industry. The knowledge served him well as he worked his way up the chain of command by pioneering made-for-TV movies and creating the Fox network.

These days, Diller is in charge of operations at Expedia, which like other parts of the travel industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and was the reason why he was interviewed – along with his reputation as highly quotable. He didn’t disappoint. Diller gave Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan what is known as “good air.”

Being quotable is key to being asked for a quote. It isn’t how much you know or how good you look. Success in media interviews boils down to delivering a message that sticks.

Successful interviews don’t require rocket science. They do require thoughtfulness, discipline and practice. What do I want or need to say? How can I make myself clear? What words or phrases will stick in a reporter’s and thus an intended audience’s ear?

The trick is making a rehearsed line sound like normal conversation, spontaneous and authentic. That’s what good actors do to scripts. Its what effective spokespeople do to key messages. Actors win awards. Spokespeople get rewarded by being asked frequently by the media for comment.

If you want to be heard and understood, you could do a lot worse than imitate Diller. You also could follow the advice you received in media training.