You are allowed to make statements that may not be elegant. But assuming no one outside your four walls will hear your words is a dangerous conclusion that can lead to ugly results.
This is basic media training in a modern world where about the only device still unable to record you is a refrigerator. I often stood in front of a camera long before a TV station actually took me live. But while standing and waiting there, I reminded myself to never say anything I wouldn’t want people to hear. I wasn’t yet on live TV, but I was wearing a microphone. Someone somewhere could hear me and simply needed to push a button to record me.
“Don’t say stupid things in any setting because everyone has a camera,” a TV news executive producer told me the day after Romney’s controversial video surfaced.
Despite this, I still saw politicians compile a string of curse words during side conversations while waiting to appear live. Some of the videos on YouTube showing public figures caught unknowingly on camera are legendary.
A big, red flashing light won’t warn you someone is capturing your words. And spreading those words is easier than ever.
Maybe you tell it like it is. That’s OK. Just ensure you really feel the way you do because someone just might share your comments with an unintended audience.