Technicalities. Most corporate executives wrestle with them. Some absolutely revel in them. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company is one organization just brimming with the latter.

Lockheed Martin is a name nearly synonymous with America’s security and national defense. LM Aero is the subsidiary company combining the Lockheed operations which have produced a long line of military aircraft designed to protect and enhance the abilities of those charged with our nation’s defense.

The F-16, the C-130, the U-2, and the P-3 are among the now-legendary aircraft from LM Aero’s past and current efforts. Now on the horizon are technological marvels such as the F-22 and the Joint Strike Fighter. Conceiving these systems, making them actually work is a task for the keenest, most agile technical minds.

But when the engineers look up from their drafting tables and CAD displays to find themselves across the table from a news reporter, how do they transform that technological savvy into the succinct messages the media will use and their audiences will understand?

TMT has helped LM Aero answer that question through small-group training seminars, coaching, counseling and consulting for nearly 300 of the company’s managers. That includes LM Aero’s most senior executives, program and project managers, business development people, and test pilots, among others.
Media Training the Technically Minded

Traditional media training is little different from other classroom experiences. Instructors lecture, handouts of “tips and tricks” for dealing with the news media are passed around, then participants are asked to “perform” in front of a camera in a mock interview.

Unfortunately, traditional media training fails to account for one very important fact: Interviewing with the news media is more art than science, especially for professionals who are highly oriented to technology.

Technically focused professionals and executives need a blueprint, a step-by-step process for developing a news interview agenda. They need a discipline for preparation and delivery of messages. Plus, it has to be quick and easy to produce, require little, if any, memorization, and allow for maximum flexibility in the interview so the spokesperson sounds like a real person rather than a parrot squawking the party line.

TMT created just that. And it works like a charm.
First Test: The C-130J World Tour

Aptly named “Hercules,” the C-130 is the workhorse of military airlift missions. The airplane has also been used in countless rescue and humanitarian missions.

In 1997, with the in-service fleet of C-130s aging, Lockheed Martin was preparing to introduce the new C-130J version, an aircraft that looks deceptively like the venerable workhorse of past decades, but boasted so many new technical advancements it qualifies as a completely new aircraft.

The company planned flying and static demonstrations of the new version in nations around the world and needed trained spokespersons who could convey accurate messages about the new airplane, even in the face of concerns about development problems and delays in production. With sales of the new airplane lagging behind expectations at the time, their performance was crucial.

Lockheed Martin called on TMT to provide that training for C-130J World Tour Team members who would speak to reporters from defense and aviation publications, along with commercial news media, around the world. Some participated in the training only one day before flying half way around the world to represent the C-130J in an air show.

Of course, no single interview turned the tide for C-130J sales. There was no magic bullet. Ultimately, the airplane proved its worth as a new generation of technically superior air transport platforms. Lockheed Martin officials, however, say the C-130J World Tour program was highly successful in helping develop a groundswell of favorable opinion that drove sales.

Since the World Tour, sales of the C-130J have eclipsed the minimum needed for profitability, and the production lines are busy.
The F-22: Preserving a Raptor

Probably no product in its long history better defines Lockheed Martin’s capabilities at technological innovation as the F-22 “Raptor.” LM Aero is creating the Raptor at the request of the U.S. Air Force, which said “Build us a jet fighter. Make sure it can’t be seen by an enemy. Make sure it absolutely controls the skies.”

Today, “air dominance” is the mantra on the LM Aero F-22 team.

Yet in the summer of 1999, a powerful U.S. Congressman attempted to halt funding for development of the jet fighter, claiming it was too costly. Outward appearances indicated the program would be cancelled.

TMT trainers had already been working with F-22 team members for months, applying its highly disciplined approach to news interview preparation and delivery in each training session. Now, the process took on even greater importance as LM Aero sought to re-establish the mindset among key Washington D.C. audiences that the F-22 program remained on track.

TMT trainers prepped senior F-22 program leaders for high-visibility briefings and news conferences. They coached business development managers and other key participants in the Raptor program. At the core of each training and interview prep session was TMT’s disciplined, methodical, yet highly efficient method of targeting critical audiences, honing messages and maximizing the persuasive ability of each LM Aero spokesperson.

LM Aero’s F-22 Raptor program surmounted the threat to its development funding. The program has since gained Congressional funding to move from development into low-rate production. LM Aero is now preparing to deliver the Air Force its first Raptor.
The JSF Contest: Winner Take All

The F-22 is designed to rule the skies against enemy fighter jets. Still the Air Force, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps needed a jet fighter with yet another mission: air-to-ground combat.

But instead of each service seeking its own solution, the Pentagon decided on a more efficient approach. It asked that LM Aero and other defense aviation contractors design a Joint Strike Fighter, one that would use a common airframe, yet allow for variations that would meet the needs of the different services.

Defense acquisition officials in the Pentagon also decided to have contractors design and fly their offerings in competition. The Pentagon intentionally set up the competition as a “winner-take-all” contest for what would become the single largest defense contract ever awarded.

At LM Aero’s sprawling Ft. Worth, Tex. facility, pressure was intense and publicity enormous. Again, program executives and project managers all with deep knowledge of the Joint Strike Fighter’s design and capabilities, were being called on to discuss and explain the program. Messages had to be simple, succinct, and persuasive.

Again, the TMT model for news interview planning and message delivery proved its merit. Spokespersons crafted crisp messages for a multitude of interview opportunities and were able to stay on message in those interviews even against the most contentious questioning.

LM Aero’s Joint Strike Fighter design proved its mettle in the high-stakes competition. The Pentagon estimates it will eventually need as many as 3,000 of the new jet fighters, which should begin replacing current fighters by the year 2010.
Conclusion

Engineers and other technically oriented professionals see the world differently than others of us. They live in a world of necessary detail and seemingly endless specifics. This can be frustrating for professional communicators and news media representatives who are looking to communicate the essence of a story rather than the myriad details. Yet news reporters are rarely willing to take all of their information from the public relations person. They want direct access to the people making the plans and decisions. And rightly so.

Given those realities of today’s world, an organization that seeks to have its story told through the news media must go the extra mile to help its spokespersons communicate with reporters.

Rather than remaining content with the status quo in media training, TMT has realized that technically oriented professionals need trainers who can think more like engineers, or at least anticipate the way engineers are likely to view reporters. That’s why TMT completely dismantled the media training process, evaluated all the pieces, and reconstructed the process in a way that allows the technically minded to communicate clearly to its audiences through the modern news media.