I‘m
sure you’ve heard of many champion athletes who upon winning a race, utter
statements that make you cringe not only at the content, but at the delivery of
it all.
Like this one.....https://t.co/MGYHbmdY
Being a superstar in sports does not come from winning alone. Being a
champion in modern sports is being more than a winner as there are many
elements needed to become a star. Top among them is great communication skills.
The ability to speak confidently and articulate in public and more is a
significant life skill. Effective communication for a sportsperson can mean the
difference between a major sponsorship deal and none at all.
This
is an area where our own athletes have not been particularly strong in. Despite
being among the best in the world, the lack of strong communication skills has
hindered many of our champion athletes’ stories from being heard.
Appropriate
training (and even an English tutor) could make these high-class athletes more
comfortable with dealing with reporters and reduce stress they may have about
these kinds of interactions.
Of
course there’s a easier way around this…speak in Kiswahili or in a native
language and almost always a translator will be found to interpret on a often
enhanced and articulate message. The Ethiopians, French, Spanish and other non
English speaking athletes do it all the time.
As
sports stars have the potential to influence the masses, how effectively they
communicate can determine how relevant they become in the society. Kenya has had
several Olympic champions in athletics but the ones that are still memorable to
date are the ones that possessed strong interpersonal skills.
The
media, fans, sponsors, and even other competitors are often curious of the
process an athlete or player went through to achieve a win. It therefore
becomes important that the story be told in an articulate and coherent manner
so that everyone listening or reading can be drawn to it, language
notwithstanding!
As
a sports marketer, I want to see an athlete’s personality shine through in an
interview and the consequential article. I love seeing athletes say something
outside of the importance of executing their game plan, references to thanking God
or the need to stay focused.
There
are many benefits of being an effective communicator as a sportsperson. As they
are constantly in the limelight, it enables them to increase their brand appeal
to potential sponsors, improve the marketing opportunities, have an enhanced
image and public perception, heightened self-confidence and comfort with the
media.
However,
the demands placed upon the modern sportsperson are numerous. They range from high public expectations, intense media scrutiny, the reality of being
extensively quoted, misquoted, and quoted out of context, the dangers inherent
in off-the-record comments, handling sensitive situations, performance issues
to crisis’s arising from unfortunate comments.
The
intensity and media scrutiny that accompany every word a
sportsman says and posts online in the 24/7 news cycle, along
with the explosion of social networking, has greatly affected the
perception of professional athletes. Reality is that controversial
headlines sell papers and social networking posts can go viral
-- and both can be devastating to teams, coaches and athletes
/players.
These issues influence an athlete’s image with the
public, relationship with teammates and coaches, and even family life. As well,
handling success is often - though not always - easier than failure, and
athletes are among the only professionals expected to undergo failure in
public. Even more importantly, an athlete’s private behavior is often put on
display for all to see.
As athletes mature and attain success, their
visibility may bring promotional or sponsorship opportunities. Corporations
look to associate their name, brand, or product with an athlete who projects a
positive image. In my opinion, the one sports personality who best embodies
this here in Kenya has been Paul Tergat. A true superstar, he is very
articulate and brings a lot of credibility to whatever brand he endorses.
For most athletes, strong personal skills will be
an absolute necessity in the years to come. In later years, athletes need to
begin preparing for life— and a career— after sport. As a skill that can be
learnt, I believe that having regular communications seminars for sports people
will help them to build a range of vital skills that will take them beyond
their life in sports. This might include mentoring, public speaking support,
media skills development, job interview training, or interpersonal skills
development.