have a technical debate about whether it would work. the espness model is for politics stated this. it is true. they would say espn has elevated the personality of sports. also, the notion of sports. also, the notion of sports. sports does, too. >> what is the most important thing that you have learned since this town him out on either feedback for people -- from people or doing talk shows that you wish you had included or reflected? this reflects on what is the distinction between this town,

which people assume would be about washington, d.c., but in fact, the citizens of this town are a very rarefied culture of people of disproportion. disproportionate amount of influence, wealth, exposure. the citizens do not reflect the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of anonymous, very hard-working people who make the city work, not to mention the men and women who lost their lives at the naval yard a couple of months ago. these are people who make the city work. >> in retrospect, anyone that you were too hard on in this town? >> if you had a do over, you would not quite say it that way.

>> i am a veteran second-guess er guess everything. my editor can attest to this. -- second-guess her. guesser. second i do not think i was too hard on anyone. i would have probably been harder on certain people. >> who were you too easy on? >> without naming a name, what category of person were you too easy on and in retrospect do realize that was really the problem? >> i think the old is pretty well covered. i am pretty equal opportunity i think.

>> this is a book review, 10 best books of 2014. five nonfiction, five that are fiction. how did it start out and when. >> it started in 2006 before it was over. capital that he was going to spend it. -- i was struck by how many troubles the white house was having. he had capital and was going to spend it. he felt expansive in his ambition. the inaugural dress was the idea of american ideas spreading around the world. the next two years was a dogs breakfast of misery for any president.

it occurred to me this was something we have not seen in quite this extraordinary way. i had the idea of doing a book about the second term. it started out reporting. that is what i was doing. the book changed over time. the expanded the scope. trying to make this the first real history of the administration. it was my friend who suggested to use bush and cheney as a narrative art evolvingabout their and rather dramatically different relationship. >> what is the most interesting

thing you have learned or have been told since the book was published that you wished -- that you wish your been told? >> people say why did you not tell me this? you will have to buy the paperback. i will not give away too much, but there is a fascinating katrina story. different moments that people told me about. the one lesson i have learned now doing books, and this is the third, is that when you come in the moment as we do every day in politico or cnn or nbc, it is always more than you suspect. when they say we are not debating this or so in so is not in trouble, it is almost always happening. it is almost always happening far more than you ever imagined. >> we will do a rapid rounds of one-word answer. then you can elaborate.

we will each give a one-word answer. which was more difficult to cover, the bush administration or obama administration? >> one-word? >> bush. or obama? >> bush. >> we get to expand, right? >> yes. >> obama. >> bush. >> i was going to say obama. >> expand. >> i think at the moment there is an interesting issue that is getting broader attention, and that is access to the white house. collectively we have not told our own story well in terms of traditional news media. and i say traditional, i do not

mean in the sense of where you get it. i mean in the sense of reporting the news of the day without a lot of opinion attached. i think the issue of access, is the white house allowing coverage for official function, bill signing, things where finally this happened. it was taken by an employee of the white house, not a group of news photographers or journalists were able to independently attend an event, cover an event, and people say what in the world -- it is a picture, what do you expect? are you trying to do something that would make any president look bad? if the president is signing a bill that is part of the function, swearing in a new cabinet official, meeting with the world leader, i think those

are the events of the office that should have coverage. they used to have more coverage. >> why not? why are they going the other way? i believe they felt they could go directly to the public, and they certainly can. they can have the photographs, web service, but not to the exclusion of an independent run press. >> white house correspondent organization and other organizations have formalized the concern. yesterday a meeting between jay carney and the white house were association.ents do you sense from what you hear him from what you read between the lines of a public statement that they get it and will respond, and that something might change or are they trying to run out the clock? >> i think they get it and will try to respond. it is the easiest thing in the

world for the white house to be nice to photographers. they are not there to try to screw them in any way. they just want to get good xers. they are not trying to do things -- they just want to get good pictures. they are not trying to do things that are tough or mean or in any way embarrassing. all presidents like to photographers. those are the ones they want to talk to. they are friendly. they are not asking tough questions, just trying to capture an image and a moment. they are not threatening in that sense. >> you hear a lot behind the scenes. you have a sense of how the obama people think. what are they thinking? every white house does it. why is it that much worse? >> the one i would add to that in terms of why i would say obama rather than bush is it is difficult in its own way. each white house has its own

challenges. the things i miss most is what we used to call a pool spray where they will bring in reporters to the oval office. meeting with a world leader or congressional leader and a chance to ask a couple of questions about the day. there is a riot in cincinnati or ukraine is up in arms. what do you think? we do not get that anymore. they want to control the message. they want to control everything. they think those things distract from the intended message of the day, and they are right. i completely understand the logic. so many events go by in which we never have a chance to hear the president thought about that. north korea is just an example. they just executed the uncle of the leader. i would like to know what the

president thinks about that. we will probably never get that chance. by the time the next questioning comes along we will have moved on to three or four stories. >> if you are in for the pool spray, something which advisers are present tells you a lot about who has the president ear. i always like to look at who else is in the room, who can approach the president, and those things give you a lot of the texture of the moment that i have found so many times is helpful to find what may be coming next because you get a feel for the room. if you're never in the room, you do not have that opportunity. >> what are the pros and cons? relations.a press >> they are not easy to cover. haveee with what theyhave done.

they have been arguably in violation of the president's commitment to openness and transparency and accountability. peter's example is a perfect one, that they want to control the message. they do not want the president to talk about north korea. he is the president of the united states. to a degree, we are entitled as a public you hear what his thoughts are. i do not know we would have heard what his thoughts are. it is always weird to me when conservatives praise how tough i was on obama, because the bush people hated me. >> still do. >> probably in a lot of cases still do from covering him in 1999-2000. however difficult the obama people may be, at least 90% of the time they return my call or e-mail. that was not the case with bush.

>> you have the cover story, the post-shame mccain shame. it says if you live long enough, anything is possible. tell us something new about the photograph. >> a money shot here is "days of fire" by peter. [laughter] the new york times is very savvy about the cross branding. >> they are beyond shame, but we are not. [laughter] this is the kind of thing where it will get all the attention and no one will read the story. anyone else want to look at it? [laughter] >> what did you learn about senator mccain that you did not know? what surprised you?

>> he has been a person of so many phases. his life and himself. what was striking to me was how reflective he is. it seems like the kind of reflective that you get when someone is deciding whether to run for another term. >> what do you think he will decide? >> i think he would not admit this. i think a lot of it will depend on whether the republicans when the senate. he would be armed services chairman, and he wants that very badly. if they do not win, he does not get it. >> do you think you will run again? -- he will run again? >> he changes his mind a lot. >> i do. i think he is one of the people that is so in the game tom and i -- in the game and

i do not mean to diminish the importance of it by calling the game. he is someone that thrives off of the activity. i think one of the lessons is you can have many acts. that is interesting that you can reinvent, that you can evolve or change or can be down and then get back out. with respect to his age, i think he is among the older, but has a more youthful spirit and some of the older senators. his mother is living into the early hundreds, so i think he would reject the notion he is too old. >> you should read this whole thing, not just the excerpt. one of the great anecdotes i have heard before is for john mccain retirement equals death. his dad retired, and he died. the new york times has referred to john mccain's mother as 101.

>> 201. [laughter] >> she has been 101 for quite some time now. >> when you start hitting 100, -- >> another round. one word response. the news media leans left, yes or no? >> i think yes. in places yes, but not entirely. >> yes. >> yeah.

there are moments, but there is more to say about that. >> you did not hesitate. >> as someone who lives in d.c., i can say i rarely talk about politics with my friends. most of my friends have no ideal about politics. but i live in northwest washington. i do not know a lot of people in my kids' preschool that are pro- life. i think when you do have conversations in all the newspapers i have worked at, you see clues there is a leftward leaning. >> you did not hesitate either. >> i did not hesitate, but i am glad i have the chance to respond. it is much more complicated and complex, which is a certain type

of person that becomes a reporter. generally speaking these are people that have not -- generally speaking the kind of person who is a reporter in washington, d.c., or new york city, has never worked a minimum wage job outside of high school when you work at baskin-robbins or whatever. has never experienced poverty. is not an evangelical christian. like much in the country is. there are lots of experiences for the kind of people that are reporters, editors etc.. that said, i think there is an awareness of that. when there is an awareness is when the best journalism can happen, because then -- because then people are aware the country they're writing for in

people they are on tv for and the desire to get out of washington and talk about experiences. it is not just them that the media leans a little bit left. most publications you can get a sense of what the editors are thinking. i would put a lot more on the editors and senior producers than the day today reporters. -- day to day reporters. you do not see a lot of coverage of poverty. you do not see a lot of coverage of troops. you do not see a lot of coverage of faith. it is simplistic to say it is liberally conservative. conservative. it is about experience and lifestyle. i think there needs to be more of getting outside the comfort zone. >> as everybody said, if you did a survey, more would report themselves -- more reporters report themselves as liberals do -- than not. i have people on all sides in my

personal family. that is healthy i think to understand different parts of the country. i think the issue of bias is conflict. the bias toward sensation, the bias toward the quick and easy and the simplistic. that is our bias and what we have to fight every day to capture the world as we cover it in a more sophisticated, three- dimensional way with different aspects. >> i am not talking about every reporter. i am sure there are lots of reporters that have experienced poverty. >> i felt i had to say yes because msnbc has evolved. i have watched that change.

i also think, personally i have worked very hard throughout my career to be as intellectually aggressive about both sides of the aisle in some places in between in order to not allow myself to be animated by political feelings. i really enjoyed the political discourse. i do not feel particularly swayed one way or another come and that can take a lot of effort over time to be unbiased. i also run into many things interviewing people around the country. people interpret that as i chose to republicans, not understanding we get a signed. -- we get assigned. when you are in an environment that is very conservative and have a chance to talk to people, i have heard quite a lot of

criticism and i take it seriously. i also think that is the world in which they have lived, they are less likely to be drawn into the media if they have been raised in the community, whether we're talking about a school, church, or town that thinks the media is fair. you are not typically drawn to pursuing something in life that you think is not doing its job the best way it can. >> i want to bring you into the conversation in just a moment. while we're doing that, asking a twitter question. will obama enjoy a similar resurgence of popularity after office as bush and clinton? >> i -- clinton? >> i think history shows most presidents do better when they are not president. eisenhower had a resurgence comer particularly in the past

couple of years talking about how he was a much better president than we gave him credit for. truman is the ultimate example. about more, really disliked by a lot of the american public. we exonerate him as the architect of the cold war. we talk about reagan as an icon tom and it strikes me -- as an icon on the and it strikes me that a lot of people did not like him at the time. most tend to look better after the fact. >> even nixon. very specifically, peter baker's wife has done a fantastic job of editor of e magazine. they have a piece talking to historians about the fifth year of presidencies. who has the worst fifth year and a very common answer is fdr.

>> fdr comes out feeling quite empowered and overreaches basically. then he gets snapped back. a lesson that president seem to learn over and over again. >> who had the best -- you had the best third term. >> by far. >> you were an early adopter, innovator on twitter. you are aggressive. >> i am a time waster. >> how has social media changed in the past year at? what do you see happening in 2014? >> for myself, twitter is where i find the stories. >> politico is your politico. >>

>> yes and nothing else will be my politico. i find out about a breaking news story on politico on twitter. you are not particularly active on twitter i should point out. dylan and a whole bunch of your reporters are on all the time and promoting each other stories. that is where i find out about them. i follow more than 2000 people from all walks of life and all over the world. it is the way i find out about what is going on. honestly it is a real-time newsfeed. also a way to interact with people. i find it most valuable as a news source. >> it is better because it is every publication, and even obscure publications telling you what is going on from all over the world. someone will put out a list of 20 unconventional

women reporters you should be following. i will click off every single one of them. sometimes they are writing about australian social policy, but maybe my eyes are open to something i did not know about. >> you are chief white house correspondent of the new york times. how do you do that in the age of twitter? >> that is a great question. when i started covering the white house on the it with his it was in 1996. -- it was in 1996. clinton was heading to a second term. you had a beeper. they would let you know a paper statement and would write around 6:00. with a feather, a quill. carrier pigeon. it is a thousand times different.

twitter is now an important way of getting out information. i have learned a lot from twitter. a stream you dip in and out of. >> you three are pretty good. >> thank you. >> by the time you get to that part of the story, you have done often three or four different things for the day. it is a challenge to make the phone call you do not have time to. >> beyond twitter, and instant news era where there really is no news cycle, how does that change how you do your job, and do you see changes in the way our leaders act? >> i think in cable news we had the need for immediacy in terms of my deadline may be a live shot at 11:00 and then another

one at 1:00. so we are writing, rewriting, continuing to report throughout the day. in some ways like radio. we do that as well. i think we are multitasking in new ways. i like twitter or the situation situational awareness. everything from the vice president has arrived, or i am heading to the floor to make remarks. it has been very help all. those who really know me know that i am not technically savvy. thank goodness there are a lot of people around me that tell me which apps to use and which technologies to embrace. so, i bring my eight track and my blue disc and i come to work. [laughter] i have caught myself sometimes being at a news conference with the only one with a paper and pen. there are different ways that

you can be old-school and new school. clearly members of congress had to embrace using some of the social media. some of them do it themselves. chuck grassley is known for tweeting when he sits on his wallet. or those who have staffers that do it. you can tell in terms of the voice of the person coming through. certainly, they have used their facebook pace image -- facebook pages and various outlets to communicate directly with constituents, but there is a utility for reporters as well. >> senator grassley clearly tweets himself if you look at his feed, you can conclude that, but a lot of these guys don't. >> i asked them if they do it themselves and you will find some who dictate.

>> is that not what senator mccain does? >> i think it is a missive that he hadn't his driver tweak and he was driving. -- he had his driver tweeet while he was driving. >> we are about to get the hook here. anyone can jump in. what is a source of news? a columnist, a website, a publication that is the skewer buthat is obscure, that you consider essential? >> i would not tell you. >> everyone should follow the iron sheik. >> who is a good non-obvious tweeter? can't say chuck todd. >> michael, the historian. >> he is great. >> he is the chuck grassley of

presidential historians. >> what i love about that is that if he is tweeting and historical photo in for -- from an age where twitter did not exist, you have this clash of the moment. another thing i was struck by, you will see a rope line of times going by where people look the president in the eye and shook his hand, not doing it like this where they tried to take a selfie at the same moment. there is a blue light at every event. it is the glow of the people's devices, they are not actually just looking at the leader, campaigner, or politician. it is an interesting social change. >> you know who is interesting to follow? he wrote nasty things that i will not defend, that is very -- i didable insider

not know how insider at the time . very, very well-informed. obviously, ultimately that cost him his job. >> last question, you can jump in at any order. people in the audience who want to be you. what is your advice for how to succeed in journalism, d.c., and life? [laughter] >> i would not tell them how to succeed in life, but the two things i would say our -- learn how to be a print reporter before anything else. before you enter broadcast, radio. go to a daily or weekly and learn how to write day in and day out and learn how to work really hard and realize that rejection is 95% of the job. those are the two things i would say. >> i think that for young people i would say -- enjoy the fact that you have some advantages in knowing the technology, being in

the moment, getting a pulse on things, but at the same time have a regard for what experience gives you, lots of mistakes along the way, lots of learning from being there. the experiences i have had over my years, time and again, scenarios i have seen both war, pitfalls i have encountered. you bounce back from it and you keep going. there is so much more to learn, enjoy it in the moment. >> i would say get out of town. a lot of the talks i have been giving around the book, young reporters have been coming up to me. one of them specifically said they were 25 and impatient. all of these people, 30,000 people following them on twitter i want a piece of that, it looks

so exciting. i tell them that they live in a community, the stories they see affect the people on the street every day. the ephemeral buzz of having a twitter following and being close to the people is something you can do later, maybe. >> i tell them not to do what i did. the path that i followed and that you followed is no longer the path in journalism, right? started a paper, go to the times dispatch, "washington post," eventually making your way to national affairs and what have you. the world is different today. every path is different. what i tell people is to embrace the new technology, the new and different possibilities out there, but hold onto the old value of journalism that we care about today. i still love working at a print paper, but i do not think it matters as much anymore how you get your news as long as what is

produced has an essential value. >> the tragedy chronicled in "the outpost," partly it was leadership failures. what was the leadership lesson from "the outpost," and the reporting you did around afghanistan? >> obviously there were leadership failures that had to do with placement of the outpost. >> failure to respond. to fix it. >> there were so many leadership failures, but one of the big ones was that in order to do the job, the soldiers were tasked with doing from 2006 to the end of 2009, they did not have troops or assets. there were not enough helicopters in the country or

soldiers on the ground. that is for secretary rumsfeld to discuss at another time. but that is a huge mission failure. i would also say that when it came to the obama administration, there was a lot of focus early on by not just the people in the white house, but the people across the river in the pentagon about who was going to control the surge, who was going to control the next direction of the war. there was a lot of back-and- forth, and at the end of the day i cannot help feel that all of that wrestling for power, control, resentment over leaks, this and that, took away from what the focus should have been. not just beginning about policymakers, but in the media i was certainly more focused on the job than of what i should have been focused on, which was ultimately what i wrote about in the book, soldiers on the ground, family at home.

those are just huge leadership failures. >> as we say goodbye, kelly, you are the only person on this panel who has been on jeopardy. [laughter] what was that like? >> terrifying and fabulous. a charity game that we played last year, it was a lot of fun and a great experience. it is all in the buzzer. >> we are appreciative to the people watching live streaming, to the bank of america for making these conversations possible, all of you for coming out, and our authors on the stage have been kind enough to sign copies of their book. so, we have nine visits from santa. if you look under your chair there will be a card hopefully telling you that you are a winner. i want to thank our panelists were a great conversation.

thank you very much. merry christmas. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> next women entrepreneurs talk about networking and the careers as part of politico's women rule series. this just just over 20 minutes. i may defense reporter at politico. i'm delighted to be joined by a senior white house correspondent and this group of women about the new network. we are joined by the founder of the news, i career development platform and she was named two years in a row on forbes list of

30 under 30 in media. we also have a social platform for awesome women. he is also a camel us -- columnist. we also have the co-creator of take our daughters to work day. a leading nonprofit of resources for women to grow micro businesses and $2 million to prices. last but not least, we are joined by the founder and executive director for black girls rock that is meant toward -- that mentors women of color in their careers. #womenrule. is let's get started. >> we're talking about

networking and how specifically this applies to women. it is something that a lot of people may be uncomfortable doing because it forces them to obtain self promote beyond their comfort level and may be forces you to be outgoing if you're not completely outgoing. we wanted to talk. this is something that we discussed ahead of time. we want to talk about practical applications for this. talk about something that is maybe an example in your own life or in some sort of advice you have given someone in a networking situation. fan of networking. i used to be opposed or afraid of it. when i started my business, then use, my success was depended on getting in front of investors and potential clients. i had to quickly put myself out there. one of the things i found that was most effective was coming up with one or two things that i potentially wanted that someone could help me with.

we were talking about this earlier. [laughter] i got very good at it. at one point we wanted a partnership. we wanted this partnership and no way of getting it. a for entire month come every time someone asked me how it was going and what i was up to, i said things were great. working on trying to get a partnership with yahoo! or something else. how are you? the conversation would continue and 3% would say their colleague's sister's post man works at yahoo! [laughter] i got seven authors of connection and three followed up on one idyllic us. >> -- one had a deal with us. >> wow. is there way to push forward? >> i think the flipside of this is people showing up. media candidate dissented

sense of connection -- can give sense ofeptive connection that is not as deep. what you want is having a sense of who you're speaking to and what they can offer. that we're not blaming walking up to people and saying, here is what i have. you walk up with the novel of knowledge. people want to be helpful, but you want to make it as easy as it is for them to be helpful. you do not have to do deeper likeing -- deep googling for a first date. [laughter] have a sense of what they consider valuable so you can figure out how to message what you are doing better. >> what do you think? i think ishe things most important in washington is

being able to quickly let people know what it is that you do. how can you be helpful to them? it is a two-way street. women in particular are challenged by this. banks and bills we use as our careers grow. people did not say their names necessarily. you have got to say her name. where are you from? this is what i am about. oppositen hear you from where you're sitting. how do you quickly get to know each other see you can start to see how you can exchange information or help? we do a two-minute pitch in the small business world. if you have one minute down of im so and so and this is what i do and i am looking for a promotion or a new job or whatever it is -- none of the women sitting at my table said

they kind of hoped something would change, only one someone told someone i work of a promotion they wanted. it is a lot about telling people what it is you're looking for what you want whether it is in the workplace or networking situation. >> say it aloud. >> absolutely. if it is in your head, you're the only one who knows. [laughter] ssay it. someone to talk to about these things. ors is not a female anything. this is a conversation of looking at someone and saying i'm looking for this. it is a different, friendlier open exchange. >> you have a unique situation. you are a formal model and dj and decided to create a group called black girls rock. how is networking coming into play?

what are some tips you get from that? >> i'm actually one of those leaders that is challenged by networking. i was pushed into the spotlight, especially when i began black girls rock. i knew it was a necessity to start the organization. i do not necessarily want to be the spokesperson. i wanted to do my work and lay back. that did not happen. i was forced to be in the spotlight. , i made thess network amongst each other. it helps them build their confidence and it helps me build my confidence up. my table, event at table 16 shout out -- [laughter] -- we did introduce ourselves.

it is about letting them know who you are what you have to offer and how you can work together. a lot of people want to network, but they do not necessarily know how to make themselves of a service to you as well. >> i want to ask a question about networking. an ordered to be a successful new web worker -- in order to be a successful networker, do women need to act like men? >> now. we are not men -- no. we are not men. we need to be ourselves. a way. there is you need that short explanation of who you are. you want to work with them. you want to meet them halfway and have them understand who you are and where you are and maybe what you have to offer them and

that is the same know what you want to understand about them. do you need to do it the same way? absolutely not. be yourself. i'm thinking about networking with men. it is much more straightforward in a lot of ways. they had you a card and if you wanted do something calming. -- call me. i asked more questions. i think we can lead them into a conversation or both would end up knowing more about each other and whether it is worth calling -- following up or not. it is being incumbent upon us to really try to engage and get some sense of who is doing what and how we can be helpful to each other. there's leadership women can provide where everyone might get more out of it. [laughter] networknk when you say

like men, what you are end to beg is women t shyer about declaring their needs and what they want. confused --it is infused with a sense of apology and not what needs to be addressed. it is difficult to walk into a group of people that you don't know, but you need to get rid of the sense that you are asking permission and just say here is what i want. don't apologize. it goes perfectly with what i was thinking. how do you network in an aggressive environment? i have gotten better at it. especially when you run a tech startup in a field that is often added percent male investors --

80% male investors. mistakeould regularly me for the significant other or the girlfriend. [laughter] to have any conversation i had to get over my fear of self- promoting and say it is great to meet you. what do you do? i run a tech startup. all of a sudden they're not writing me off. it was not something i was comfortable doing in the beginning, but i felt i had to do it to get heard. it made me better in general. that a lot of you probably encountered this. some people have been very helpful. that is great. you can get introductions to incredible people. she explicitly asked someone,

mayor see. i am so excited to meet these people. do you have any men in your network i should speak to as well? his head when, all my goodness. he is right. >> i hear you guys -- being more involved in the conversation and change the mindset. you seem like some who is more reserved. how did you change your mindset? >> it is a process of growing into your confidence. you're forced to because of your business. black on black in 2006. i did not speak on mic until 2009. i was really forced to speak to the world. i had to go into that. it took a while. -- i doffer from that

not want to say that i wasn't worthy, but apologetic. >> are grateful that they asked you. >> yeah. sometimes now i find myself almost fascinating, even when you call the for this panel. [laughter] like, really? you want me? i had to get through that and understand and value what i bring to the world. that is a process. >> speaking practically about networking, what has worked for you and what has not worked for you? facebook? e-mail? twitter? what are your thoughts on social media and how it has impacted networking? >> i and my co-founder are strong on social media. media isce on social

far less of a comfort zone for me. it depends on what level you are starting at. people up and meeting and shaking hands and putting your face in front of them is the most important thing to me. when i have met someone and i can associate a face or a conversation or event with them, i feel so much more likely to respond to the e-mail or the facebook invite. when i look at my own career in media that took off in 2007- 2008, attending all of those events was the game changer. i know that twitter was in such a player at that point, that showing up and saying hello increases exponentially your chance that when i see an e- mail, it will trigger a response. i associated with something more substantial. >> i think of it as the first time he needs someone -- if you

see that person -- if you meet person,and you see that you almost want to move past that and become friends. >> allies. >> exactly. i love going into rooms and seeing if there is some i have met once before and finding them and saying i am glad to see a familiar face even if i know a lot of other people in the room better. it is like to say i recognize you. i know you. this.break this -- brave everyone is uncomfortable to a level. most people are happy to make that connection. the other thing i do is i start at the food table. [laughter] first of all, i'm always hungry. is food, you have funny conversations. you asked them about whether they have tried the granola. a let you have a conversation

with less force. if it is an evening party, a gives you an excuse to leave to go to the bar. [laughter] practicale information on this, whether you are going into a room full of people are making a phone call to try to get a meeting, how do you prioritize who you are calling? how do you state your goals clearly? how do you go in with an articulated goal? >> i would be as straightforward as possible. an terms of the phone calls, who are you closest to? who is the most direct link to what it is you want? how much research do you have to do to understand who knows that person best that you know? you can call them and say i am

so-and-so and so-and-so is a friend of mine and told me that i should talk to you and this is what i am looking for. the thing that drives me insane are these long stories that i get. i am sitting there. what do you want? [laughter] what do you want? seriously, get to the point. she is doing all of those hand signals. [laughter] if i listen to, all of the stories, i would not have done half of what i'd done. say i am so-and-so and here is who i know and can you help me with this? will get ame you sending more situation -- send me more information, but you have gotten your contact. what is it that you want?

be clear. the person you are asking -- think about who it is. they have got more going on or too much going on. of the task lexicon that they will perform and make it easy for them to help you. make it easy for them to help you. most people want to help you, but make it easy for them. >> that is the most important thing. even when i started black girls rock, before we were on television, we had a strong and healthy group of well-known people that supported this. it was because i was clear about the mission and what the problem was and what the mission was and what we wanted them to do. they responded in a way that was favorable. it was not because i wrote them long letters about the issues. i just made it clear this is a problem and i wanted do something about it and here's how i'm bout to you about that change.

-- how i'm going to bring about that change. >> women tend to have that sense of apology. you can be polite and direct at the same time will stop -- same time. be subject line has to direct. state it right there. the e-mail doesn't have to be blah, blah, blah personke it easy for the to help you. don't get wrapped up in the thinking that you are abrasive or rude. this is what i need. [laughter] >> it is easy. >> yes or no. >> it is kind of fascinating. when you look at studies, women

do not always articulate their career goals. this is something i can identify with. what do you want to do next? excuse me? are you asking me how much i weigh? that is very private. advice do you have an terms of articulating career goals? >> i think it is something a lot of women struggle with. you got to have all. -- haggle. seriously. you have got to think about this. it will not happen to you. you make it happen. got to spend time. someone will ask you -- hopefully a lot of people ask you. i amill have to say considering such and such with so-and-so. what do you think? it is not like you have to -- i was at table 18. they're talking how to make the right choice. put it out there though they can get back to what the right

choices for you. it cannot all be in your head. today,e that is here write down what you want in your future. it can be three things. anytime anyone ask you, you have got that. that way the conversation can continue other than sitting and saying, gee, i missed an opportunity. commit to yourself. answer that question. if you can, you will get there. if you can articulate it, you can have it. runninge unfortunately out of time. we will leave it there for this morning. mary see so much for spending time with us. -- thank you for spending time with us. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

tonight on c-span's "q&a" hugh hewitt. that is all by the british parliament review at 9 p.m. >> this week on q&a, network host hugh hewitt discusses his latest book titled the happiest ife. >> hugh hewitt and your latest book the happeniest life, you said it's the first time you've ever discussed your kids. >> yes. >> why. >> early on we had an untournt experience of a