Collins v. Colbert: May the Most Prepared Win

One of the toughest questions you will ever get is, "So what do you do for a living?"  Inevitably, we are all asked it and the folks we work with usually struggle to answer with both brevity and clarity.  However, in the clip below Dr. Francis Collins, the  National Institutes of Health Director, manages to show you can do just that without even being asked directly.  Next time you’re at a cocktail party and someone asks you “where do you work?” make sure you have a great answer – a memorable message about what your work means to me. 

Incidentally, we recently we worked with some of the leading stem cell researchers in the world on message and media training.  We showed them this clip of Dr. Collins and they were blown away.  As they cheered him on, they recognized that even though he is a great scientist who can speak the jargon of stem cell research, he commands the interview with Colbert--no small feat.  In the discussion afterwards, they recognized three of the most important things going into this interview: humor, well prepared messages, and a great example of how stem cell research will benefit you and me.