Media interviews
Doing media interviews are inescapable if you want to get free publicity. Journalists use interviews to add spice and colour to stories. If you’re unwilling to do them, then find someone in your business who will (or hire someone). Every business needs a spokesperson.
Remember that the media are not your enemy. They’re not your friends either, they’re just doing their job. Stick to these interview rules and you should be OK.
Lock your business down
The easiest way to get bad press is to accidentally let whoever answers the phone at your business become your spokesperson. Make sure all your staff – every single one – know who to pass all media enquiries to. And that they mustn’t make any kind of comment – not even confirming or denying basic information. It’s smarter to have a single source of information.
It’s strongly suggested you keep a log of media calls. It doesn’t have to be anything clever, just a list of who called, when, what they wanted, what you said, etc.
Interview preparation
Don’t try and wing it. Re-read any press release you have sent out, and any source materials. The journalist will consider you to be an expert on this material, so make sure you know it inside out. But it’s also OK to have facts and figures to hand to add more spice to what you’re saying. Consider what negative questions might crop up, and prepare responses. If a journalist calls you out of the blue and you’re not prepared, tell them you’ll call them back in the next 10 minutes. It’s OK to say you don’t know the answer to one of their questions, as long as you tell them when you can have the answer to it.
During interviews
Never ever lie. It will come back and haunt you. And don’t say no comment, that implies you have something to hide. Give a clear concise answer. If you don’t know the answer, don’t guess – offer to find out. Bear in mind the audience that will ultimately see or hear the interview, and make sure you don’t use any jargon.
There’s no such thing as “off the record”. It’s an overused phrase that doesn’t really count any more – unless you want to hand over some information and hope it’s not traced back to you.
Don’t argue or get angry
It’s a old journalism trick to throw statements, accusations or seemingly stupid questions at you to introduce emotion into the interview and loosen your tongue. Don’t fall for it. Keep a clear head and stick to your agenda. Watch out for the journalist converting a rumour into a fact and asking you about it, in the hope you will confirm it (i.e. how long have you been ripping off customers?).
Also watch out for the journalist putting negative words into your mouth. If they ask you a negative question or make a negative statement, try to give a positive answer (i.e. why did your business deliberately ignore Mrs Smith’s complaint? They want to hear you say we didn’t ignore Mrs Smith, but it’s much more positive to say our business talked to Mrs Smith to help resolve this as soon as we knew about the problem).
Clever tricks
Finally, there are a few tricks you can use as well. Remember you have given your permission to be interviewed, so if you need to, you can end it when you’re done. Don’t let it drag on if the journalist seems to have the information they want but are asking more and more ridiculous questions – they’re just fishing forsomething better. Don’t give it to them.
Use your social skills to make the journalist at ease. Make and keep eye contact. Find out their name and use it. Find out the name of the media they represent and drop that in. And unless it’s a negative story, make sure you smile – when you smile your voice tone changes and becomes more pleasant.
At the end of the interview give the journalist your mobile number in case they have any further questions.
Different kinds of interviews
In newspaper interviews, journalists will do a general fact find about the story, then ask you some questions to gather good quotes. They may then go back and check facts. They will probably be making notes using Teeline shorthand, so be prepared for them asking you the same question 2 or 3 times – they’re making sure they get the relevant facts and quotes down correctly.
In radio interviews, journalists will be looking for soundbites from you. Treat every microphone as live, if you don’t want it recorded, don’t say it! Be natural, don’t try and use a “radio voice”. You will think you sound different on tape than in real life; that’s because when you hear yourself talking you are picking up vibrations through your skull as well. When you hear youself on tape, that’s how other people hear you.
Radio is a one on one medium, so don’t use phrases such as “people out there”. You can talk as one person to the listener as one person. And use your imagination, radio works best when people paint pictures in listeners minds. Journalists will appreciate – and regularly turn to – people who can do this.
In TV journalists, again the journalists are likely looking for a soundbite from you. Follow the journalist’s intsructions about where to look (i.e. at them, not at the camera).
Open and closed questions
Be aware of the difference between open and closed questions. Closed questions have a limited number of answers – such as Do you use the phone every day? An open question has an unlimited number of answers, How often do you use the phone? Learn to recognise these different kind of questions; journalists will use each deliberately. There’s nothing more frustrating for a journalist then a closed answer to an open question!
