A little preparation can go a long way...

If you’ve ever been involved in a media training session, you know that some of what’s covered is how you can easily say something that at the very least doesn’t come across the way you intended and, at the very worst, gets you into a heap of trouble.

Does this happen often? Not really. Does it happen more than you’d think? Probably. Could it happen to you? Definitely.  

Each day, members of the media go out into the community to report on what they think is the most relevant to what’s happening right now and what viewers want to see. Sometimes, they’ll find us and sometimes, we find them.  

But there seems to be a misconception (in my opinion) that the media is out to get us. That they are looking for a story within a story and trying to tell something not the way that it is, but the way that it isn’t. I believe that actually it’s just the opposite and that people can be their own worst enemy.

Here’s the thing: a television reporter has about three minutes (give or take) of air time to condense whatever the subject du jour is. They need to take all of the footage and information they’ve collected – sometimes hours worth – and whittle that down to three minutes chock-full of background, sound bites, images, evidence, stand-up, voice over, etc.  

Same with newspaper reporters. They take all of the collected interviews, research and investigation and have to condense that and write anywhere from an average of 500-800 words.  

So – if you’re talking to a television reporter for 30 minutes and they need to fit that interview plus everything else into a three minute segment – by the very nature of time, you’re going to be taken out of context. They have to tell the story through their eyes – how they see it based on all of the collected information they’ve gathered. 

So what’s an interviewee to do? One word, and you’ve heard it before: prepare. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Preparation is as key for a media interview as it is for a job interview or a speaking engagement.  

Is media training part of the preparation process? Absolutely. If you think you’ll ever find yourself on camera, in print, or just in front of people, media training is probably the best form of preparation. But it’s not the only step.  

Here’s an analogy I heard that I wish I had thought of: Someone goes to a great law school to become an exceptional lawyer. That doesn’t mean they don’t prepare for each case they work on. Just because you go through a media training session doesn’t mean you shouldn’t – or don’t need to – prepare for an interview.

If everyone did this to the fullest extent, we wouldn’t have people giving such horrific interviews. Watch the news – each newscast has at least one interview that I’m sure was the best sound bite that reporter had to work with, but someone totally missed an opportunity to say something enlightening or informative or interesting. Ask any fellow PR professional – they see the same things I do every day.  

Preparing doesn’t need to take a lot of time – it could be 5 or 10 minutes. Take the time to think about not only what you’re going to say, but what – here’s the key – what you have to offer to the story.  

It might be an interview about an event that you’ve done for the last 20 years or it might be an interview about a topic that you know so much about you talk about it in your sleep. Even if it’s a hot topic – especially if it’s a hot topic – tell the reporter you’ll call them right back (never say “no comment” and never burn a bridge by not calling them back – but that’s another blog post). Then take the time to think about why you’re an expert about this subject and list the top (no more than three) things you want to focus on. And, just before you make that call back to the reporter, call your PR person and ask them what they think. When the story runs, you’ll be happy you did.  

Tell me – who do you think gives some of the best television interviews? I have my list of top pros (local and otherwise), and would love to hear who you think is the best of the best.