In the midst of an audience that looked like they were placed there as part of a juicer infomercial, and a script that sounded like a 19 year old killer reading remarks prepared by his lawyer before a death sentence, Tiger Woods failed as both a person and convincing communicator.
Looking at Tiger Woods public confession, purely from a crisis communications stand point as a PIO, I think he bogeyed on almost every point.
I take off my PIO uniform to evaluate, in my opinion, this civilian debacle.
Audience – Who were these people and why were they there? Their facial expressions did not project to the public that they were close or supportive to Tiger, as a matter of fact his mother, with her arms crossed a good amount of the time almost appeared belligerent.
Appearance – We are used to seeing Tiger in his golfing clothes and hat. Not only was his dress at the announcement awkward, but he looked like a kid reading his entry in a public speaking contest. I think his handlers tried to humble him in the public’s eye by making it look like he hit Wal-Mart with all us regular folks to buy his TV duds.
Remarks – If Woods has the concentration and focus to be the world’s top golfer why couldn’t he use these attributes to memorize his remarks. It looked disingenuous to see him stumbling through a written prepared speech. Take a hint from the President, use a teleprompter.
His Wife – There has been speculation in the media that Tigers wife Elin returned. If she did indeed forgive him, or is in the process of working it through, why was she not there? If she, the recipient of his dalliances was at the event, it would have been much more believable to the public that he was trying to make amends.
Timing – If Woods is going back into therapy it would appear that he is still several months away from returning to professional golf if that is his ultimate motivation. The American public has a short attention span. Does this mean he will have to hold a second conference 6 month or a year from now to repeat the same stuff? This will be like the movie Groundhog Day, with the public saying “didn’t we hear this somewhere before?”
In my opinion, if I was a Woods handler, I would have waited until he was closer to once again appearing in the public eye do an announcement that would be a complete package consisting of, I deeply apologize, I am healed, I want to get back to work and I want to regain your respect once again as a person and athlete
Also on The Fire PIO…
- How do I Address a Judge? – November 18, 2010
- A PIO Social Media Christmas – December 22, 2010
- Even the Walls have Ears – November 24, 2010
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