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Children, Canines or Felines Interrupting Your Interview? 4 Pros Demonstrate How to Keep Your Cool. Social media is all over several hilarious interruptions during recent TV news shows. Here's how the 'victims' handled it.

By Joan Oleck

entrepreneur daily
Rudy Bouma | Facebook

Three unscheduled, but ultimately comical, interruptions of TV news shows have recently involved two adorable dogs and a rather insistent tabby cat -- plus their three human "victims."

Turns out, though, that the humans weren't victims at all but seasoned pros in how they handled the interruptions. Specifically:

Meteorologist Khambrel Marshall, a member of the (Houston) KPRC Local 2 Severe Weather Team, was reporting on Texas's scorching heat when Angel, a poodle-mix pup, wandered in from the the next segment promoting the Houston Humane Society. "Look what I got here!" Marshall calmly noted, smoothly picking up Angel and finishing his forecast with a timely reminder for pet owners to remember to keep their animals hydrated.

Meteorologist Josh Judge of New Hampshire's WMUR-TV was also talking weather, when Bella, an enormous Newfoundland, casually sauntered across the studio behind Judge, grabbing her five minutes of fame ahead of a segment on veterinarians. "[There's a] system pulling away right now, and sunshine is increasing -- and there is a dog behind me," Judge exclaimed, following up with the insta-quip, "It's not the dog days of summer just yet."

Polish historian and political scientist Jerzy Targalski was giving an interview to a Dutch news show when Lisio, his orange tabby cat, leaped up on his shoulder, curled his tail in front of Targalski's face and proceeded to lick his left ear. Targalski didn't miss a beat, continuing on with his comments as if nothing had happened.

Of course, no one can forget perhaps the viral (social media-wise) "interruption" of a year ago:

Professor Robert Kelly, a specialist on South Korean politics, was giving a BBC interview when his daughter marched into her daddy's office as if she owned the place. Right behind her? Kelly's baby, scooting into the room in a rambler, followed by Kelly's obviously embarrassed wife, struggling to get both kids out of the camera shot. "Pardon me, pardon me; my apologies ... sorry," an unruffled Kelly said, with a little smile on his face, cool as a cucumber.

Related: How to Stand Out During a Job Interview

The lesson here? Life happens. But if you're a pro, and you've got an important message to deliver, you stick to the script.

Joan Oleck

Entrepreneur Staff

Associate Editor

Joan Oleck is an associate contributors editor at Entrepreneur. She has previously worked for Business Week, Newsday and the trade magazine Restaurant Business, where a cover story she wrote won the Jesse Neal Award.

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