What Miley Cyrus Can Teach the Not Very Big 3

I blogged yesterday about the awful presentation the Not Very Big 3 gave to Capitol Hill last week and how they really needed to improve their presentation skills. Then last night, I flicked through a recording of the American Music Awards (watching these shows live takes toooo long) and thought – most of these guys and gals get it. The know how to present and grab the audience attention.

I know you are saying ‘but these are singers, they are performers.’ Sure, but their objective and that of the Detroit Downers is the same. Present well, get your message across and get someone to buy your product or message. Now if you want to maintain the music analogy, the automakers performance was similar to the disastrous Britney Spears MTV awards appearance last year.

So who could the car guys learn from? Really good performances at the AMA awards came from Christina Aguilera, Pink, Beyoncé and someone who put on a ridiculously accomplished performance for a 16 year old – Miley Cyrus.

The Not Very Big 3 would benefit from looking at her performance before they are hauled back for another ritual whipping. This kid was fully prepared, obviously well rehearsed and sang (presented ) with a passion that grabbed the audience. Parents of 16 year olds might not appreciate some of her more raucous motions as she pranced around the stage like a young Mick Jagger, but she really held the audience.

Here’s an instructive exercise for the Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally handlers. Get them to watch the Britney Spears disaster from last year and compare it with Miley Cyrus. As I wrote yesterday, Detroit actually does have a half decent message to communicate about the (slow) progress it is making, but it needs to really get its presentation act together. There are too many jobs on the line for these guys to put on another Britney Spears performance. The good news is, Ms. Spears, who never lacked for talent seems to be learning from her mistakes.

Sock it to ‘em Detroit and save those jobs.