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John Devine is unusual. He's a CFO who speaks understandable English, pretty much devoid of jargon from the world of numbers. As chief financial officer of General Motors, he's called on by the business media on a fairly regular basis.

It's no secret that GM has some major economic issues. The stock price is way down, while health and pension costs are very high. GM is losing money. Recently, it announced 25,000 layoffs, coupled with plant closings.

The question of bankruptcy and even being a takeover target have emerged. And those were two of the questions Devine was asked by (yes, you guessed it) Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto on Your World.

Because The Media Trainers® analyzes messaging through the spectrum of "what will your target audiences hear?" we were somewhat troubled by Devine's responses.

We have two brief clips for you this month. First, listen to how Devine actually answered those two questions. On the issue of bankruptcy, he spends most of his response denying the premise. Then, on the question of GM being a potential takeover target, the first part of his answer actually validates that possibility. Not a terribly good message for stockholders and Wall Street observers to hear!

In the second clip we've removed the denial and validation components, and the CFO sounds much more positive and focused. As a result, the impression is that GM is addressing its problems proactively.

You can watch and listen to both clips at the top.

The Media Trainers® Re–winder Reminder:

• Interviews are not conversations. They are message delivery platforms. So, positive responses are preferred, especially since they are potential sound bites.
• Give yourself permission to pause and ask yourself "How can I answer in a positive way?"
• Your target audiences are on the other end. Are they picking up on your intended positive messages if your answers are positioned from the negative?
• Listen, watch and read interviews and quotes critically. How do responsive, positive answers compare to negative ones?