The Other Side of Media

I love Natascha Badmann.  She’s the 40-something, six-time winner of the Hawaii Ironman and one of the best triathletes in the world.  Her interview with www.ironmanlive.com is old news now, but one section of it is so good I have to mention it.  German is her native language, yet she comes up with a great analogy in English and expands upon it better than many native English speakers could. 

The Hawaii Ironman Championship is like chocolate cake, she says.  If you cross the finish line you get a piece.  If you win, you get extra cream.  She goes on to use the analogy in a couple more answers.  Great stuff Natascha!  It’s memorable and unexpected (triathlons and chocolate cake?)  It emphasizes the joy and accomplishment of finishing this awesome endurance event, quite aside from winning.  And everyone can relate to it. 

Analogies work.  Find a good one and it’ll bring your interview to life.  Make sure your media trainer has the skills to help you create analogies that work for you.  And don’t go into an interview without practicing them first — out loud.  

Natascha had a bad crash in the bike portion of the race this year and had to drop out.  No chocolate cake, no cream.  But we’ll be looking for her in 2008.  And I’ll be there volunteering as a bike catcher!  There’s no better way to see the race up close.