Ho Kwon Ping: no-nonsense media presence builds credibility

I have admired Ho Kwon Ping's no-nonsense interview style for a long time. I have often pointed to him as a shining example of a local business leader with exceptional media savvy.

His latest appearance on CNBC's Managing Asia stays true to this approach, making him an obvious candidate for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018.

Watch the interview, and you will see there is a simple reason for this: credibility.

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We launched the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards to recognise local business leaders for their communications skills, and to showcase authentic and credible home-grown communicators. Here are our previous nominees:

Desmond Kuek: Will you resign?

Are you a demanding boss, Lee Lik Hsin?

Star Alliance CEO: Local business leader is a star media performer

Budget 2018: Iswaran balances selling it, and explaining it

Kurt Wee: you don't need to be big to be media savvy

Candice Ong: the whys and hows of strong new media interviews

Elim Chew displays a high Sensitivity Quotient in her TEDxNTU presentation

How to win at interviews, even if English isn't your first language

These are shining examples for other local business leaders to follow, and to build a culture of excellence in communication, to maximise the potential of Asian companies in the Asian Century.

Each week until April 30, 2018, we are shortlisting a local corporate figure who has demonstrated excellence in a media appearance for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018.

Click on this link to enter yourself or another Senior Business Leader.

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Ho doesn't need to wear a suit to come across as credible. He stays true to the issues without missing the opportunity to elaborate how his own company is dealing with them.

Listen to both what he says and how he delivers it.

1. Substantial comments. He does not shy away from the issues affecting his industry or gloss over his own company's efforts to navigate them with glib corporate spin. But as the very headline of the video clip on the CNBC website shows he simultaneously makes his company's position clear ("The hotel industry is one of the most archaic, but that will change").
2. Lively delivery. He is clearly driven, and this comes out through in the modulation of his voice.

The lesson for other local business leaders is: let the passion shine through. Don't be scared to discuss the issues, even as you highlight how your company is positioning itself to tackle them. Without the former, your audience won't believe the latter.