Guest blog post by Kumutha Ramanathan.
Kumutha is a globally recognized communications strategist, CEO of The Summit Group, and former tier-one journalist with over 15 years of international experience. She has reported on major geopolitical and economic events, earning top honors from the South Asian Journalists Association and recognition at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. She later led business news coverage at BNN Bloomberg and other outlets, specializing in earnings, monetary policy, global economics, and technology trends.
Today, Kumutha advises global corporations, financial institutions, and public sector leaders on narrative strategy, reputation management, and brand positioning. A frequent speaker and moderator at
international conferences, she is known for her incisive analysis and engaging presence, bringing clarity to complex issues in AI, technology, finance, and macroeconomics. Having lived and worked in London, New York, and Toronto, she brings a truly global perspective to every stage.
You can reach out to Kumutha to discuss your media strategy needs by booking a call on her website: www.kumutharamanathan.com or send her an email: kumutha@summitconsultgroup.com
You can also connect with Kumutha on:
Insights from a TV Journalist on Mastering Media Interviews
TV news is a fickle, adrenaline-driven industry. From megawatt executives to brash politicians, you never know who you’ll be facing one minute to the next, especially in breaking news.
Yet the most powerful skill in those rooms isn’t aggression or bluster: it’s the disciplined art of listening. And paradoxically, the ultra-wealthy often model it best.
Why Listening Matters
Billionaires move through the world with a heightened sensitivity to signals. They don’t just hear words; they read pauses, shifts in posture, micro-expressions, even the way an eyebrow flicks. Those tiny data points tell them more than a prepared statement ever could. In negotiations or interviews, that sensitivity lets them adjust strategy in real time, sometimes turning millions into billions.
They also do not mince words because they operate with a level of access and exposure that few can comprehend. They own mines rather than just buying stocks in an iron ore company, and hold major stakes in sports teams rather than merely attending games. They are the changemakers and tastemakers – setting the boundaries of life for us mere mortals.
As an on-air professional, I’ve felt the destabilizing intensity of sitting across from people who carry that presence. You can prepare every question and still find yourself in a high-stakes game of mental chess, because these individuals arrive with a spotlight of their own. The trick is not to be rattled by the money – it is to match their attention and curiosity.
What billionaires do differently
- They listen actively. They combine focused eye contact and responsive body language with thoughtful follow-ups that draw people out.
- They treat reactions as information. Every hesitation or inflection becomes intelligence to be incorporated.
- They prioritize continual improvement. Despite entourages and advisors, many seek direct, real-time feedback to refine their performance.
A 2024 Harvard study summarizes good listening into three essentials: engaged body language, sustained focus, and genuine empathy. These are not innate luxuries; they’re trainable skills that change outcomes.
For journalists, building rapport during a short interview matters enormously. You may only have five minutes to establish authority and shape narrative when the camera is recording. The guest who connects personal experience to broader societal outcomes will almost always outperform the one who sticks to talking points.
Commercial breaks are often more revealing than the on-air segment. Some executives retreat; others use the pause to genuinely connect. They will ask about your family, share a quick pop culture observation, or probe how they came across on air. Those moments expose who is truly interested in improvement versus who is merely managing optics.
Authenticity as Leverage
Perfectly coiffed hair or fancy watches are usually intentionally overlooked by billionaires. Perhaps it is a mark of status that they refuse to bend to society’s expectations of what wealth looks like or the desire to conserve mental energy for their business goals, but I have personally witnessed that they focus less on external displays of riches.
The feeling they leave you with is an intense desire for greatness, usually derived from creating value in society. That authenticity – the willingness to reveal struggle, mistakes, and learning – makes leaders relatable and credible.
Brené Brown, a renowned researcher, highlights in her book The Gifts of Imperfection, “Authenticity is a daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.”
For leaders focused on long-term growth, confidence comes in being genuine and relatable, as it allows them to connect more deeply. This is a hard dance in a live news environment, where interviews usually only run about 5 minutes in length. Just enough time to establish authority, not dig too deeply.
But this is where preparation meets reality. How you present the latest financial market signals or trends in healthcare has everything to do with how you have prepped your own narrative and lived experience.
Two pharma CEOs can lambast government decision-making as being ‘bad for businesses, but the one who ties their grassroots observations to an outcome for society will ‘win’ over the media. That is your secret sauce.
In a similar fashion, authentic leaders who can strategically share their challenges, mistakes, and vulnerabilities instantly become more human, trustworthy, and relatable.
In telling these stories, you show just how influential and impactful you are as a leader who can navigate complexity, trial different options and ultimately drive positive change.
Practical Strategies to “Listen Like a Billionaire”
- Preparation is Key: Once you have determined the general talking points of an interview, figure out how you can weave in personal insight. Remember, compelling narratives involve suspense, friction, and clarity. You can hit on all those points in just a few lines. Work with a professional to help you better align your responses with the interviewer, where possible. You want to understand them, the audience who will consume your insight and help you anticipate potential questions. The more prepared you are, the more likely you are to approach interviews with confidence and clarity.
- Practice Active Listening: Billionaires reveal themselves to be great listeners by being fully present, asking follow-up questions, and thoughtfully responding to an interviewer’s verbal and nonverbal cues. You instantly build rapport with an interviewer when you can master this art and increase the chance of being invited back in the future.
- Stay Authentic: Being authentic is not about oversharing, but sharing just enough that you illuminate conversations. Be prepared to leverage personal anecdotes to reinforce your viewpoint. That type of authenticity helps to foster trust and relatability.
- Embrace Vulnerability: Never forget that struggle is the crucible of great storytelling, a truth George Orwell himself made plain. Use vulnerability as a powerful tool. When applied to teaching others lessons or giving them a window into a normally secretive world, you instantly create a deeper connection with your audience. Vulnerability also allows you to humanize as a founder, making you more relatable.
- Seek Feedback: Many business executives I speak to actively seek feedback after media interviews to improve their performance. This real-time analysis is a reflection of their constant pursuit of greatness, which I deeply respect. By being open to constructive criticism, founders can enhance their communication skills and become more effective in future interviews.
- Practice micro-signal decoding: Train yourself to spot changes in tone, posture, and facial expression. Use them as data points and potentially adjust your approach to the interviewer, not distractions.
Why This Matters Beyond TV
The ability to listen deeply scales. It improves negotiating outcomes, fortifies relationships, and enhances leadership effectiveness. Wealthy people didn’t just get rich by being persuasive. Many got there by being exceptionally good at collecting and acting on interpersonal data.
The most undervalued leadership skill isn’t a bold line on your CV. It’s the quiet discipline of listening. By preparing narratives, practicing active listening, staying authentic, and treating feedback as an engine for growth, any leader can begin to think, move, and communicate like those at the top. In live newsrooms and boardrooms alike, that difference is often the deciding factor between a good moment and a game-changing one.
