Ep 42: Jane Hanson - Camera Ready, Career Ready: Finding Your Voice and Owning the Room

SHeCOMMERCE

In this episode of SHeCOMMERCE, hosts Cristina and Jackie welcome Jane Hanson, Emmy-winning journalist and executive communications coach, to

Key takeaways

• AI can produce words but not authenticity; credibility is irreplaceable.
• Confidence and presence are skills that can be learned through practice and self-awareness.

Main topics

• Authentic presence in professional settings
• The human edge in an AI-driven world

Notable quotes

AI can give you the words. It cannot outsource your credibility.

The more technology we have, the more valuable the human stuff becomes.

Conclusion

In a world flooded with AI-generated content, Jane Hanson reminds us that

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:08) Stay tuned at the end of this episode for an intimate behind-the-scenes conversation with Jane. Welcome to SheCommerce, where bold brands and fierce women collide in the CPG world. I'm Christina. And I'm Speaker 2 (0:20) Jackie. And today is another full-on fangirl experience. Yeah, Speaker 1 (0:25) it absolutely is because there are people that know how to speak well, and then there are people who know how to make you stop and listen when they speak. Speaker 2 (0:36) And there is the difference. Whether you're presenting to the board, pitching a client, interviewing for your next big role, showing up on camera, or just trying to get a complete sentence out in a meeting without being interrupted. Oh, Speaker 1 (0:55) we're going there already. Speaker 2 (0:57) We absolutely are, Ms. Maranucci. Because today is about presence. Power. credibility and how you own a room without turning into some weird, over-rehearsed version of yourself. Speaker 1 (1:14) That feels very, very relevant right now. I mean, Jackie, how many times have you been on camera just this week alone? Do teams calls count? Unfortunately, they do. Speaker 2 (1:30) Then about $115 million. And now there are three versions of every meeting. The actual meeting, the meeting chat, then the other meeting chat where everyone is talking about the meeting. Oh, and let's not forget the pre-meeting to the meeting. Speaker 1 (1:48) Love the pre-meeting. And the underground thing. Speaker 2 (1:52) Oh, of course. Always with the underground. Speaker 1 (1:57) But that is the interesting part. We have all these tools to communicate more than ever before. And we have AI that can help us write the script, write the presentation, summarize the meetings, create all of our talking points, clean up the video. Can it make me look eight hours rested? No, unfortunately, that's the killer app we're all still waiting for, as well as the one that can put a full face of makeup on me and make me look ravishing. immediately but Speaker 2 (2:24) it's still Speaker 1 (2:25) it still can't walk into a room and be you Exactly. And maybe the Speaker 2 (2:34) more technology we have, the more valuable the human stuff becomes. Judgment, confidence, empathy, presence, connection. Speaker 1 (2:46) Especially for women, because I think we've been conditioned to over-prepare the content and then under-invest in the delivery part. We have to know every number. We have all these backup slides. And we've tried to anticipate every question that nobody has even asked yet. And then somebody says, just be Speaker 2 (3:09) more confident, darling. Speaker 1 (3:11) Thanks, Chad. Super helpful. Speaker 1 (3:15) What does it even mean? Like, can confidence actually even be learned? How do you sound authoritative without feeling like you're performing? And how do you hold on to that presence when everything goes completely sideways? You can't really prep for that. Speaker 2 (3:35) And this is Speaker 3 (3:37) why today's guest is perfection. Speaker 2 (3:41) She learned all of this in one of the most unforgiving environments possible. Speaker 1 (3:47) Live television. Speaker 2 (3:51) And now she teaches leaders how to show up with clarity, confidence, and credibility. The three C's when the pressure is on. Yeah, Speaker 1 (4:00) we have so much to get into with her. But first, there are women who are making some serious moves. A legendary brand that's asking us to put our phones down. And a $100 million bet that the skills that matter most in AI might actually be the more human ones. Imagine that. You know what time it is. Let's spill some tea. All right, let's spill it. We're starting with our favorite kind of news, women making moves. So first up, we have Anne Halleck, who joined Roku as the Senior Director of Ad Marketing. Anne recently shared that she joined Roku's Ad Marketing org, and apparently the welcome wagon has been pretty strong. Speaker 2 (4:46) Well, hello, of course. It is our favorite person, Anne Halleck. And this caught our attention because streaming is no longer a content conversation. It's a commerce conversation. It's an advertising conversation. It is a data conversation. And increasingly, it's about how brands connect, all of those things. So Anne, whom we met in Cannes and fell in love with. Congratulations. We love seeing women step into influential roles in the places redefining how brands and consumers connect. Speaker 1 (5:26) Yes. SheCommerce Sisterhood, hug from afar. We see you, Anne. We're watching you. Speaker 2 (5:36) And another one that is very, very close to home. And we are so excited about this. I squealed, not going to lie. Past SheCommerce alumni, Lauren Gruski, has stepped up again at Chase Media Solutions, now being recognized as Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director. Can we just say? Speaker 1 (6:03) We love a SheCommerce alumni power move so much. Speaker 2 (6:10) We really, really do. Lauren came on this show and talked openly about career pivots, leadership, and building what's next. And she's doing exactly that. Lauren has been a supporter and friend of SheCommerce right from the get-go. We love you. Speaker 1 (6:29) Yes. And Chase Media Solutions itself is such an interesting business because it represents this bigger expansion of commerce media beyond traditional retailers. Banks have that data. Travel companies have data. Financial, everyone has data. The definition of who can become a media network just keeps expanding. Speaker 2 (6:54) Which means the leaders who can connect media, customer value, partnerships, and growth are becoming even more important today. Lauren, oh, massive congratulations. We are officially claiming at least 2.37 % credit. Speaker 1 (7:15) Yes, totally fabricated, but confidently delivered, Jackie. So good job. Very on par for today's theme. All right. This next one I love from a consumer behavior perspective. So Coca-Cola launched a global campaign called The World Will Wait. And essentially, put down the laptop, step away from the screen, and eat with another human being. Speaker 2 (7:46) A beverage brand is basically staging an intervention for our screen addiction. Love. Speaker 1 (7:53) Imagine that. We're here for it. The campaign includes films called Laptop Face, The Most Important Meeting, plus AFK Meals, Away from Keyboard Meals, and Out of Home Lines, like No One Ever Said This Meal Could Have Been an Email. Cute. Speaker 2 (8:13) Clever. Which may just be the truest sentence advertising has produced all year. Speaker 1 (8:23) Likely, likely. But here's the commerce piece I find fascinating. We keep talking about adding technology to experiences, more screens, more personalization, more touch points, more content, all that. Coke is saying the product can actually represent the absence of all that. We're not selling another digital interaction here. We're selling the moment and experience that you put your phone away and connect with another human. Speaker 2 (8:56) And that gets back to something that you and I have been saying consistently right from the get-go. The real ROI isn't always about clicks. I'm going to say it louder for the people at the back. It's about connection. Sometimes the smartest thing a brand can do isn't insert itself into another moment. It's create the reason. For the moment to happen. Speaker 1 (9:27) Exactly. Moving beyond the basket in more ways than one. Speaker 2 (9:35) And speaking of being human, EY has just put a very large number behind it. One hundred million dollars. Yes, Speaker 1 (9:51) EY announced a hundred million dollar investment to get this reward U.S. employment for the skills and behaviors it believes matter in this tech led world, which include business acumen, judgment, critical thinking, adaptability, leadership, collaboration and innovation. Speaker 2 (10:15) perfect is this? Because we have spent the last few years asking, what skills do people need to use AI? But maybe, just maybe, the better question is, what skills become more valuable because AI exists? Speaker 1 (10:34) Yes. Yes. Because we know AI can give you the answer, but judgment tells you whether it's the right answer or not. And AI can generate. images, the presentation, but you still have to stand up there and make someone else believe, make them care, influence them to act. And AI can give you the words, but it cannot outsource your credibility. Speaker 2 (11:02) Which is the perfect segue into the fabulous Jane Hansen. There are communication proteins, and then there are people. who learn communication with a red light on, breaking news happening, millions of people watching, and absolutely nowhere to hide. Friends, today our guest is none other than the inimitable Jane Hansen. Jane spent decades in one of the toughest proving grounds in media, live New York television. She joined NBC New York in 1979, became co-anchor of Today in New York, later hosted Jane's New York and New York Live, and built a career covering everything from 9-11 and Wall Street to Washington. major New York moments and stories around the world. She has interviewed presidents, business leaders, celebrities, prisoners, and newsmakers. She has won not one, not two, or three, but nine. That's nine Emmy Awards. Nine. Speaker 1 (12:17) I mean, nine Emmys. I feel like at some point you just stop finding shelf space and start renovating the mall. Speaker 2 (12:26) Seriously. Absolutely. But here's what makes Jane especially interesting to us. She took everything she learned while being watched, challenged, and judged in real time and turned that lens around. Today, she's an executive communications coach, helping leaders become stronger on camera, in media interviews, presentations, and high-stakes conversations. She has spent more than 30 years helping people communicate with greater clarity, confidence, and presence, and in an era where AI can manufacture almost anything. We are talking to someone whose career has been built around the one thing you cannot fake for very long, human credibility. Speaker 1 (13:14) Jane Hansen, welcome to SheCommerce. We're so excited to have you today. Speaker 3 (13:21) Well, thank you. I'm excited to be here because I love you guys, even though I've only known you for a short period of time. But that was way too long an intro. I mean, come on. Oh, my gosh. Speaker 1 (13:31) You can go on and on and on. You have done all the things, Speaker 3 (13:33) Jane. That's a Speaker 1 (13:34) thing. Yeah. There's so much that Speaker 3 (13:36) we are celebrating. I Speaker 1 (13:36) have. I have. And it's been a wonderful learning. Yeah. Yes. Exactly. And we're going to talk about all of it. Speaker 3 (13:44) Thank you so much for having me. I truly Speaker 1 (13:45) appreciate it. Of course. We have to mention how we met, Jane. So it was at Cannes this summer at the end of June. And one morning, we all decided to maybe take the value route, I'll say, and stay off-site or maybe last minute. That's availability. That's for late planners. And we stayed at a place that was, let's just say, not the four-star quality that we had hoped. We were lucky to even get a clean towel during our stay there. And one morning we... It was the Speaker 2 (14:23) Bates Motel, Christina. Yes, let's Speaker 1 (14:25) just Speaker 2 (14:25) call it like it is. It Speaker 1 (14:26) was the Bates Speaker 2 (14:26) Motel. Speaker 1 (14:27) It was the Bates Motel. And we bonded over that. We met in the shuttle that we commandeered from other individuals and a company paying for that shuttle to get over there because Ubers were definitely lacking. Speaker 1 (14:42) We are shuttle buddies till the end. That, Speaker 3 (14:44) and then of course, we had a lot of fun talking about the pink toilet paper. Speaker 1 (14:47) Oh my God. Yes. Yes. Which they should bring here. Speaker 3 (14:56) Well, somewhere. Somewhere there is. But, you know, the thing that was so much fun about that is that it was a chance encounter and we literally needed a ride and we weren't getting that. Everybody was just coping and helping each other, which I think is a great statement about today's world and women in business. Speaker 3 (15:19) I remember when everybody was competing so much for very few jobs, and you just felt this sense of, I have to be better than her, I have to be better than her. Today, it's, how can I help you? And it shows what a long way we've come. And that's what I saw in the two of you when we were in Cannes, which isn't a bad place to be, although it was awfully hot. But despite all of that, we managed to get work done, have a great time, meet lots of people, and enjoy Speaker 2 (15:47) the heck out of it. You know, there's space for everyone. That's what we believe, Jane. There's space for everyone. And let's be honest, the rosé helped a lot. That's true. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Exactly. All right. Now, we're going to get started with taking us a little way back where you spent. decades as one of New York's most recognizable anchors. You were sitting in a seat where people weren't just hearing you, they were watching everything. What did those early years behind the anchor desk teach you about power and pressure of being watched? Well, it just Speaker 3 (16:32) continued throughout all of it. But the big thing is that, yes, you're being watched. And yes, people are making a lot of judgments about you, which got very, you know, at times that would be a little bit frightening. But I believe overall, I loved it when I'd walk into a room to interview some big, powerful male executive. And the moment you turned the camera on, they all got a little freaked out. So I felt very powerful in that moment. And I knew that. I might be able to get them to say almost anything I wanted because they were fearful. And that's something that people need to overcome. But I don't think you ever get over this thing about everybody knowing who you are and what you do. It helped me because of the perks were amazing. I mean, I got into any new restaurant, got tickets for events for anything. I could talk. People will pick up when I pick up the phone and call someone and they say my name, they go, oh, yeah, of course I'll talk to you. Speaker 3 (17:27) So that was pretty cool. Speaker 3 (17:30) And one of my favorite stories is when I was doing the show of my own called James New York. You know, we did it in a very casual way. And I always wore a leather jacket and jeans and, you know, we had beautiful lighting and et cetera, et cetera. I got an email one day from this woman who said, I don't think you dress appropriately. I don't think you're being a good role model. And I think maybe you're too old to dress that way. No, I wasn't that old. But anyway, so that's what she said. And, you know, usually I would ignore that sort of thing. But I had a boss a long time ago who said, talk to the viewers. So I wrote her back and I said, can you give me more on what you mean by this? How do you think I should dress? Tell me what you would like to see me and tell me how you think I would be more professional. And she wrote back and she said, I'm really embarrassed that I sent that email because it just so happens that I was watching your show and it used to air on a Saturday night around seven o'clock and then also on Sunday mornings. She said, I'm watching your show and my husband walks in the room and he goes, why can't you dress like her? She's hot. And apparently she said, it set me off so much and I got really angry. And so I wrote that and I'm sorry. And I really didn't mean it because you should just keep dressing just like you are. You look wonderful. Clearly in the eyes of my husband too. So what I learned from that was a lot of the time when people give you criticism. or they say mean things to you. I used to get things about, why did you wear that dress? Or I don't like your hair. You cut your hair. Or I had one person once that said I was playing with my ring too much. I mean, it's just like ridiculous. But you have to understand that they're insecure. And so therefore, if you acknowledge their insecurity, you can then understand that maybe there's some legitimacy to what they're saying, but maybe there's not. So think about... dealing with people, very judgmental people in that way. And I think it'll help us all get a lot, get along a lot better. Speaker 2 (19:24) I love that. Speaker 3 (19:25) It's Speaker 2 (19:26) great perspective. I absolutely love that. And, and, and that means that, I mean, even though you've had that scrutiny your entire life, you know, behind the anchor, Speaker 2 (19:37) And it sounds like you've kind of got used to it. And this was your coping mechanism of, I say coping mechanism, this was how you dealt with it. Yeah, Speaker 3 (19:47) it is.