Matt Lauer at NBC's "Today" show has been the subject of a few media training examples. The latest is how Anne Hathaway handled his extremely inappropriate question about her "wardrobe malfunction." For those who do media training, use this as an example of how to take a remark and turn the discussion back to your key messages. Of course, an actress stands a better chance at deliver than a CEO, but the key point here is that she obviously thought about this potential question and the issue coming up in an interview - and rehearsed a response.
It's all about preparation.
Another classic media training moment involving Lauer was when he was interviewing Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz about the company's launch of a jobs programs. Schultz stuck to his messages in spite of an effort by Matt to make the company's initiative appear to be something else. (Check out the PRSA blog on that one.)
