Top tips for telephone interviews with journalists

At Media First, we are recognising that telephone interview training is becoming an increased priority with our media training clients. There was a time when journalists spent most of their working lives out and about, notebook in hand, as they ferreted out stories from people face to face. These days, largely due to the downward pressure on costs, journalists spend most of their time interviewing people on the phone. Spokespeople are discovering that unless you’re the subject of an in depth profile or (perish the thought!) you’re being doorstepped because of a crisis; the chances are that you’ll find yourself talking to a journalist on the other end of a phone line.

How to handle these interviews is something on which we put considerable emphasis during our media training courses. We do this not just because this interview format is increasingly common but also because it involves particular risks and pitfalls. Journalists often find it easier to be tougher and more aggressive with interviewees on the phone than they do face to face, for instance.

On the other hand, as with any interview, once you know about these challenges, as well as how phone interviews work from the journalist’s point of view, you can often improve your coverage in the final article.

Here is our media training guide to telephone interviews:

Plan Your Key Messages: As with any interview, getting your message in up front and including examples, case studies and anecdotes to support it is essential during a telephone interview.

The Importance of Delivery: Delivery is almost as important as content. The phone quite often deadens the voice slightly so adding extra energy and enthusiasm, without shouting of course, will help to counter this. Standing up during the interview will also help add to the energy that you can put into your voice. Salespeople often stand up and many of us will do the same when we’re talking to our bosses or somebody important.

Stick to Your Messages: No one likes an embarrassing silence. In a face to face interview you can see when the journalist is still scribbling away or is pausing for thought. In a telephone interview this isn’t obvious and so there can sometimes be a temptation to fill this awkward silence. The danger here is that having your key point, you then find yourself saying something extra that you hadn’t planned. This could end up being the focus of the interview – and it might not be helpful to you.

Prepare Examples: One of the advantages of a telephone interview for the interviewee is that you can keep a brief note of your key points and a reminder of some good examples.

Supply the Journalist with some Notes or a Factsheet:  Sending the journalist some important facts, figures or statistics ensures that they have the correct information at their fingertips and that your story is likely to be factually reported. It may also establish you as a helpful expert and valuable contact in the eyes of the journalist.

Consider the Advantages of Skype: A lot of these tips apply to another increasingly common but also potentially hazardous format – Skype interviews. Here you might have the added dimension of vision, either because you’re doing a TV interview or because you’ve decided to talk to a print journalist in vision as well as sound. The advantage here is that you can use graphics and even facial expressions and body language to help make your points. But don’t forget to think about what you’re wearing – dark colours are especially inappropriate. Also, make sure that there is nothing embarrassing or distracting behind you. Switch on all lights so that you have a bright, attractive environment that suggests openness and optimism. Finally, look slightly above the camera in your computer rather than directly at it, as this will give a better eye line.

Doing an interview remotely brings extra challenges but by following a few simple tips you can use it to improve your coverage.

Media First are media and communications training specialists with nearly 30 years’ experience. To find out more about our highly practical courses, contact us here. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog.