Brian Lamb speaks to several communication classes in the Tuna Can Auditorium at the Alexandria campus.

The most important aspect of communication is listening. This was the message a broadcast executive had for several NOVA communications classes. On a Jan. 26 visit to the Alexandria campus, Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN, shared his insights with students.

Lamb started the day visiting Professor Lucy Holsonbake’s communication class. He was greeted with the sounds of country music playing – a surprising contrast considering the rainbow of students present. The class had been thoroughly prepared for Lamb’s visit, remembering that he liked country music from a biography they had read on him.

Because Lamb believes so much in listening, he started off his seminar in an unusual way. He asked several students about their life stories. A frequent theme was the story of immigration. But as Lamb dug for details the uniqueness of each story was revealed. One student talked about his journey from herding camels in Ethiopia to starting his college career. Another student had a story of hopping from countries like Israel and Argentina until finally landing in the United States.

Having interviewed every president from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush as well as thousands of others, it’s no surprise Lamb knew the right questions to ask. But the students wanted to know more about him. Several students wanted to know who Lamb’s favorite interview subject was, but he was coy with his answers, not wanting to play favorites.

Another was interested in why Lamb didn’t seem very interested in competing with networks like CNN. To that, he provided his beliefs in power. Lamb believes that power is “the ability to get out to the nearest airport and get on a private jet.” He later added that he is not interested in power, which helps explain why commercial news networks rake in billions a year, while C-SPAN earns only about $50 million in a year.

Lamb also dispensed communication-specific advice for the classes. He says all speeches should strive to be like the Gettysburg Address, under 221 words. That is the length before you lose your audience. Speeches also must be from the heart. Despite his declaration that he never gives written speeches, he says the best speeches he has heard were read. They were said at a funeral and, because the words were from the heart, he called the speeches great.

Lamb visited NOVA as part of the Cable Mavericks series that the non-profit representative of the cable industry, The Cable Center, is holding to promote interest in cable careers. While he gave little information on cable careers, he did give advice from his own career path.

Lamb asked an older, balding man why he was at NOVA. His reply was that he really didn’t know and was “still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up,” drawing laughs from the audience.

However this man’s story isn’t much different from Lamb’s, who became a cable executive by almost shear happenstance. His cable career started when he was at a conference in New Orleans, talking to two people at a cable industry magazine. He was offered a position in the magazine where his name was routinely in front of cable executives. Then the idea of starting a channel dedicated to congressional proceedings dawned on him, and because influential people in the cable industry already knew him he was given a chance.

Now C-SPAN is an important source for primary news, wielding much influence in its basic news format that allows anyone to listen directly to the newsmakers.

You can view Brian Lamb’s visit to campus online at NOVA’s Television Center.

By: Joshua Davis

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