The roles of the interviewer and the interviewee may seem like worlds apart.
One has all the questions and the other needs to find the answers. The spokesperson is also likely to be much less experienced and for some it can feel like an alien environment.
But the roles are actually more similar than you may presume and by thinking like a journalist, spokespeople can actually deliver better media interview performances.
1 Research
The journalist is going to do their research on you and your organisation and you need to the same about them.
Look at the issues they have been reporting on recently and what they have been posting comments about on social media - 96 percent of UK journalists use social media every day and 92 percent do so on Twitter, so there is bound to be some background information you can gather.
For example, when new Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney agreed to be interviewed on Talk Radio, some quick research on the Twitter account of reporter, and vocal Brexit supporter Julia Hartley-Brewer would have enabled her to anticipate some tough questions on her pro EU views and helped her to avoid a disastrous interview.
For broadcast journalists you may be able to find some of their previous interviews on You Tube and that may give you an indication of their style.
It is also worth researching the outlet the reporter works for and what they have reported on recently. An interview with a Daily Mail reporter, for example, is likely to include very different questions than one with a regional radio station.
2 Statistics
Journalists love statistics because they are attention grabbing, create strong headlines and can help to make complex issues seem pretty straightforward.
And when used correctly by spokespeople they can be a really powerful tool which can support messages and make them memorable.
The key is to be creative with how you use them. For example it was recently reported 3.3 million people in their early twenties and thirties live with their parents. If you are like me that may sound a lot but you are not too sure and by the time the programme has moved on to the next story you have forgotten what the figure actually was.
How about when it is presented as one in four people in their early twenties and early thirties now live with their parents? Suddenly the figure is brought to life. It has become relatable, much easier to put into context and now has a ‘wow’ factor.
3 Plain English
Journalists hate jargon. It makes quotes and sound bites unusable and can often mean different things to different people, causing confusion.
They also know it causes audiences to lose interest and switch off.
One of the keys to a successful interview is to use language the audience will understand and that means avoiding corporate speak and jargon.
Use the same language you would use to tell the story to a family member or friend who does not work in the industry.
4 Support your messages
A journalist would not present a story full of unsupported claims and statements and even if they tried it would be unlikely to get past a news editor or editor until they could back it up with evidence.
And the same rule applies to the messages you use in media interviews. Without evidence or examples the messages are simply rhetoric. Or, as I recently heard one of our current working journalist tutors put it during a media training course, ‘messages without examples are nothing’.
'Without evidence or examples messages are simply rhetoric' http://bit.ly/2rUocXC @mediafirstltd
Think about how you can support your messages with case studies which bring the messages to life.
5 Human interest
It is no great secret why reporters look for the human interest angle in stories – people love stories about people and they have an emotional appeal which cannot be matched.
For the spokesperson, this mean they need to show what the story they want to get across means for people. Think about the impact what you are announcing will have on customers.
It also means they need human examples and anecdotes to support their messages and stimulate emotions in the audience.
6 Sound bites
Journalists look for sound bites because they are attention grabbing, make great headlines and can enable a story to be boiled down to a 15 second clip of around 20 words
We place emphasis on them during our media training courses because they can make a spokesperson’s messages memorable – the shorter the message the easier it is for people to grasp and remember.
Strong sound bites can also get more coverage as the reporter can use them in the headlines at the start of the news as well as in the main story.
Short, pithy messages are also less likely to be harshly edited or misinterpreted. Some spokespeople feel their message is too complicated to be delivered in such a succinct manner and it can seem daunting.
But, as Albert Einstein once said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
7 The bigger picture
Journalists are understandably going to be pretty clued up on what is currently on the news agenda and are likely to have a good understanding of the wider issues impacting your sector.
This means that at some point during the interview, generally towards the end, the spokesperson could face a ‘while I’ve got you here’ type question on an unrelated, but topical, issue.
For example, a business leader being interviewed about the number of apprentices they are taking on could face a question about the impact Brexit is having on their sector, or possibly about an issue affecting a rival company.
The key for the spokesman is to try to anticipate the sort of wider issues they could get asked about in an interview and prepare how they will respond without detracting from their main message.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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