I can empathize with Naomi Osaka. The four-time grand slam tennis champion has a “natural introversion and desire to not court the spotlight,” according to a CNN story.
“Tennis is our privileged profession,” she said, “and of course there are commitments off the court…” She was referring to press conferences, for example. “But I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record would be so harshly scrutinized,” she went on to say.
I know what she means, having been in PR, a line of work I fully enjoyed, even though meeting the press and being on camera, and all, didn’t come naturally to me. I’ve never been that outgoing. My voice isn’t exactly broadcast-quality. It isn’t deep and sonorous. I’d get all jittery before doing interviews, pacing back and forth in my office, imagining all sorts of scenarios.
What helped, fairly early in my career, was the time I was about to do a taped interview on a CBS-radio station. Many radio and TV interviews were taped. Psychologically, you felt better being taped, but a few seconds before the interview was set to begin, I was told we’d be going live. And oddly enough, as the interview was underway, I stopped trying to be like a radio personality, and decided to be myself, instead. For better or worse. And that eased some of my anxiety, but never all of it.
Athletes are supposed to be superhuman. I remember my college football team playing a big game against a team with a running back who went on to play pro football with the Miami Dolphins. On each play, it seemed he was moving several fractions of a second faster than everyone else on the field. Maybe, as a pro, he did post-game interviews, I can’t recall for sure. But just because pro athletes excel, under pressure, at various sports, doesn’t guarantee they’ll excel at doing live TV and radio interviews. Or at fielding questions from reporters, during press conferences.
Maybe it’s one thing when they’re on the field, or the tennis court, playing before thousands of fans, and millions more people watching on TV, but another thing, entirely, when it’s just the pro athlete, alone, in the spotlight, getting peppered with all sorts of questions. When it’s up close and very personal.