Most people get terrified if the media want to interview
them for a news, current affairs or magazine program. These
can be on television or radio, or be in print or on the
internet. However, it's the television or radio interview
that get's the blood curdling in most executives that I've
met in media training workshops.
There's a reason for this ' the television interview is the
hardest to handle. Any sweat on your brow, even it's caused
by a harsh light shining on you, can be misinterpreted by
the audience as though you're hiding something. They don't
see the light; all they see is the sweat. A bob of the
Adam's apple, a slight lick of the lips, nervous glances
away from the interviewer, a shaking hand or leg, a
stumbling response ' all these are negatives that can
quickly have the audience totally against you and what you
stand for. The solution, which comes out of proper media
training, is preparation.
When a journalist calls you for an interview, don't fall
for the trap of launching straight into the exchange there
and then. Use a white lie if you have to but put off the
journalist till you've had a chance to properly prepare. If
you start answering questions on the phone without this
preparation you might find that when the journalist arrives
to record the real interview, your responses, after
preparation, might be different and then you have a whole
new ball game called contradiction ' the new news story.
So, what does this vital preparation involve? For a start,
check what you should say or shouldn't say. This is the
filtering that's so important if you're going to protect
your career. You should be using some pithy catch-phrases
or analogies and these take time to prepare. The main part
of preparation though is to work out the two to three main
messages that you want to get across in the media interview
and then hone them so you have them razor sharp in your
mind. Don't overload with a lot of messages. You'll be more
successful if you repeat your main three messages several
times rather than get nine different messages once into the
interview.
You see, in a pre-recorded interview which will be most
television ones you might do, the reporter will dip into
one answer for news, or several for a current affairs
program, so if you repeat your main messages the chances
for your grab to be used actually increase. Other items to
check off during preparation are grooming, use of props or
backup video/stills to illustrate your story, researching
little examples to enhance your main points and doing a
Google search on the topic to see what the journalist might
be discovering through that channel. Take the wider view
rather than a narrow view so you're prepared if the
journalist throws an industry wide comment at you. Or
indeed, that might be a region-wide, state-wide, national
or international comment gleaned from his/her Google
research.
A final tip for media interview preparation ' have someone
in your organisation put you through a mock interview or
two before the real one is recorded. We do this for clients
and it works a treat in getting them up to speed before the
big event.
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The author Graham Kelly has an extensive background in both
journalism and media training. Over the past two decades he
has trained thousands of executives in how to handle a
media interview. His main website is at
http://www.kelly.com.au and his site for his new book,
Managing the Media, is at http://www.mediatrainingebook.com
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