Lessons From a Missed Opportunity

At the tender age of 39, Nick Sirianni became an NFL head coach. It’s a remarkable accomplishment considering there are only 32 positions available, making it harder to achieve than becoming a United States Senator. Sirianni had time to prepare for his introductory press conference and even knew the obvious questions beforehand. But during his Zoom session with the Philadelphia media, he appeared nervous, was unable to string together quality sentences and ultimately made an awkward and bad first impression on the fans, the players and the organization that hired him. 

It’s easy to laugh, ridicule and wonder how Sirianni was not ready for his big moment. But that won’t help any of us. The press conference is a great learning experience for us all, including the new coach himself. There is no doubt Sirianni prepared — waiting nine days after his hiring to answer any questions. He probably went through numerous dress rehearsals to ensure he was primed to make a great first impression. So why did this fail?

Sirianni failed because we never really heard him speak in his own voice. Instead, we heard him with all the advice garnered in his head, talking over his own. He was like an actor performing in a play, and the first time he missed a word or damaged a thought, he was way off-kilter, away from his safe zone and had no ability to return. He wanted to get the vital points across, so he followed a script. That works when the lines flow without any interruption. But when that script misses a word, then all hell breaks loose. 

When we have to deliver our message, we cannot practice as if we’re preparing to perform in Hamlet. We must study the material, then find three or four different ways to say the same thing with confidence, without pauses, without “ya knows” in between. We need to remember every pause or clearing of our throats signal to those we are trying to win over that we are nervous and unprepared. We can never get back the first impression. But we can learn from the hesitations, the poor inflections and the lack of continuity in each sentence.

Before we meet with anyone, whether it’s staff members, the top of the organization or the media, we must have an objective. Let’s plan our message, then make sure we can recite our key points in any order.

Sirianni can overcome his bad first impression. But he has to stop studying the lines.