Get comfortable with the media, Mr. Prime Minister

Mr. George Bush – Smiling, pointing & waving at the cameras & the press. Body Language easy & free. Puts his arm around the Prime Minister
Mr. Manmohan Singh – Smug smile, no pointing at the cameras & the press. Just a small wave, more as an after thought, to the press. Body Language not relaxed.

This is what the viewers got to see after the press conference outside Hyderabad House on the occasion of the Nuclear Deal between India & the US.

The contrast in vibes of Mr. Bush & Mr. Singh was like that of a birthday celebration & a death anniversary respectively. (On second thoughts may be its too harsh). But the need of the hour: Body Language experts should be quickly summoned to provide necessary training to our Prime Minister on how to open up & feel relaxed in front of TV cameras & the press.

Although Mr. Manmohan Singh is known to be the way he was yesterday, that doesn’t mean he continues to be like that. Its time he understood how important it is to project a happy & smiling face to the cameras. We understand that the office he holds is not an ordinary one. That said it actually becomes that much more critical for him to look relaxed & spread the happy feeling around him.

Look at Mr. Bush, all smiles, waving & the putting his arm-around-our-Prime-Minister. It comes across as he is enjoying himself here & feeling at home with the Prime Minister. Just imagine Mr. Bush, very reserved & not freeing up the way he did, what would that communicate?

All politicians who become Ministers should be sent to classes on how to become media savvy. Our media is coming of age, but our Ministers seem to be far behind in terms of how to use it to their advantage.

In the coming days, our politicians will lose/win elections for how they are seen on the media. That is how influential the media is getting today. Of course it’s another thing if people become Ministers (even Prime Minister) without contesting elections (like Mr. Manmohan Singh.)