Why your organization needs media interview skills training
Why your organization needs media interview skills training
In our dealings with CEOs and other corporate leadership, it is typical for them to tell us that a journalist's job is to uncover sensational details and present them in a way that turns heads and raises eyebrows -- the facts notwithstanding. Many feel that journalists aren't interested in the truth; they are interested in bullying their subjects and making them look bad.
With this point of view, is it any wonder that corporate leaders often play defense when they find themselves scrutinized by journalists? Instead of proactively seeking to take advantage of the opportunity to get their story across or to express concern and sympathy, they insulate themselves away from the media, leaving journalists no alternative but to dig around and speculate.
It is a stark reminder of essential role that media interview skills training plays for those in the executive suite. The first line of defense when an executive is in the company of a journalist is preparedness. Beforehand, they should have conciously thought about what they want to achieve, what their key messages are and what questions the reporter is likely to ask. That's the minimum.
Hopefully, they've gone beyond that and they have practiced fielding questions and then watched themselves on video.
Embracing media interview skills training for your organization's executive team as well as its subject matter experts is a key step in ensuring your orgnization is ready for the unexpected. Here are the essentials:
1. Make preparation a priority. Research the reporter before each interview, including recent stories he or she has published. This will offer insight into their likely questions and it will help in preparing for the interview.
2. Define your key messages. Work with the organziation's leadership to identify three or four core messages, then boil them down to simple thoughts that you can easily remember. If possible, try to think of personal stories that illustrate these key points. Your objective in any exchange with a journalist is to weave these messages into your responses.
3. Brainstorm nightmare questions that you hope no reporter will ever ask. Spending time beforehand considering what a journalist might begin picking at in a worst case scenario can help you grow comfortable quickly bridging to your core points after briefly addressing the question.
4. Capitalize on every opportunity. Almost every reporter asks the same question at the end of an interview: "Is there anything else you'd like to add that we didn't ask?" Take advantage of this opportunity to reiterate key messages and sum up the interview in a positive light.
5. Build a relationship. The journalist may not be interested, but always offer to be a resource in the future. This can increase the likelihood of a constructive future interaction with that journalist and his/her media outlet.
Thanks to today's 24-hour news cycle, a local story can easily become a national story before you know it. There's no telling when a story will spin out of control.
Never let your organization's spokesperson walk into the glare of the media spotlight without experience. Media interview skills training is the best time to make mistakes -- rather than when the whole community is watching.
Why your organization needs media interview skills training - To learn more about this author, visit Daniel Keeney's Website.
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Vice President Dick Cheney isn't the only one whose disdain for the media leads him to make mistakes for which an entry level PR flunky would be fired. Many top executives have seen for themselves how challenging the media can be to deal with. If they haven't personally experienced the cold stares of the press corps, they certainly have seen their friends thrust into the frying pan.
In our dealings with CEOs and other corporate leadership, it is typical for them to tell us that a journalist's job is to uncover sensational details and present them in a way that turns heads and raises eyebrows -- the facts notwithstanding. Many feel that journalists aren't interested in the truth; they are interested in bullying their subjects and making them look bad.
With this point of view, is it any wonder that corporate leaders often play defense when they find themselves scrutinized by journalists? Instead of proactively seeking to take advantage of the opportunity to get their story across or to express concern and sympathy, they insulate themselves away from the media, leaving journalists no alternative but to dig around and speculate.
It is a stark reminder of essential role that media interview skills training plays for those in the executive suite. The first line of defense when an executive is in the company of a journalist is preparedness. Beforehand, they should have conciously thought about what they want to achieve, what their key messages are and what questions the reporter is likely to ask. That's the minimum.
Hopefully, they've gone beyond that and they have practiced fielding questions and then watched themselves on video.
Embracing media interview skills training for your organization's executive team as well as its subject matter experts is a key step in ensuring your orgnization is ready for the unexpected. Here are the essentials:
1. Make preparation a priority. Research the reporter before each interview, including recent stories he or she has published. This will offer insight into their likely questions and it will help in preparing for the interview.
2. Define your key messages. Work with the organziation's leadership to identify three or four core messages, then boil them down to simple thoughts that you can easily remember. If possible, try to think of personal stories that illustrate these key points. Your objective in any exchange with a journalist is to weave these messages into your responses.
3. Brainstorm nightmare questions that you hope no reporter will ever ask. Spending time beforehand considering what a journalist might begin picking at in a worst case scenario can help you grow comfortable quickly bridging to your core points after briefly addressing the question.
4. Capitalize on every opportunity. Almost every reporter asks the same question at the end of an interview: "Is there anything else you'd like to add that we didn't ask?" Take advantage of this opportunity to reiterate key messages and sum up the interview in a positive light.
5. Build a relationship. The journalist may not be interested, but always offer to be a resource in the future. This can increase the likelihood of a constructive future interaction with that journalist and his/her media outlet.
Thanks to today's 24-hour news cycle, a local story can easily become a national story before you know it. There's no telling when a story will spin out of control.
Never let your organization's spokesperson walk into the glare of the media spotlight without experience. Media interview skills training is the best time to make mistakes -- rather than when the whole community is watching.
Why your organization needs media interview skills training - To learn more about this author, visit Daniel Keeney's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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