There's a reason I'm a writer

There's an episode of The Brady Bunch in which Cindy wins a spot on a popular game show for teens. She spends the week leading up to the taping bragging about being chosen, developing a swelled head, and basically alienating her friends and family with her overblown ego. Naturally, on the day of the show, as soon as the red light goes on signaling that cameras are rolling, Cindy develops a paralyzing stage fright that renders her mute and keeps her from answering a single question.

That's how I felt today, as I gave my first ever on-camera interview as a spokesperson for my company.

To be clear, I work in PR. That is, behind the scenes. I coordinate the interviews, prepare the message points, and make sure that someone else looks and sounds good on camera. Don't get me wrong - I communicate message points to the media everyday, but usually it is behind the comfort of my computer or with a well-rehearsed pitch that I have already perfected. But a call came this morning for an interview that was right up our alley, and anyone that we would normally put on camera was unreachable. So I studied my message points, practiced in front of my colleagues, and of course, clammed up with frogs in my throat the second the camera started rolling.

Keep in mind, I just spent three days in New York delivering these exact same messages. Messages that are the backbone of our company, that I can recite in my sleep, messages that I helped develop and have written as part of numerous marketing materials! I have no problem articulating these messages one-on-one or in front of a group of beauty editors. But put a camera in the room and I draw a total blank.

Fortunately, the taping was not live and my comments were edited down to sound somewhat intelligent. That, I guess, is what they call "the magic of television."