The Trouble with Press Conferences
The Trouble with Press Conferences
By Anthony Mora
Copyright© Anthony Mora 2006
It's important to know when to hold a press conference. If you think that a press conference is the way to go, nine times out of ten you're going to be wrong. Although there are many types of press conferences, they are primarily utilized to give the media up-to-the-minute information on breaking news stories, or when a celebrity or well-known person is addressing a topical issue. Countless other types of press conferences are announced, but few receive any coverage. Breaking news stories, politically-oriented stories and press conferences often do go together. Those are naturals.
But keep in mind, what you consider to be a breaking or urgent story, may be viewed differently by the media. When you are asking the media to be at a certain place at a certain time to cover your story, the odds are against you. Your story then is being set on a very specific timeline and is being forced to compete with every other potential story in your city, the nation and the world. If there is another story that the media considers more urgent, or more ratings-worthy that breaks at the same time - you're out of luck.
We have held some very successful press conferences. But we've also held some conferences that were passed-over because of a car chase in progress, a breaking murder story or a celebrity scandal. There was one case where two TV crews had arrived and were setting up to cover press conference we had scheduled, suddenly each producer was paged. Next thing I knew they were packing their gear and heading out the door. A fire had broken out at a local refinery and they were on their way to cover it. Needless to say, that was the end of that particular press conference.
In my experience most press conferences are often ineffective, because the story or pitch usually does not warrant a press conference. Try to think like the media, play devil's advocate. If you were a harried producer or editor, and were pitched a story on your proposed press conference would it be of interest to you? If the answer is no, forget going the press conference route. Reframe the hook and pitch it as a different type of story. Give the media and your story options
For Further information Visit:
www. Anthonymora.com
The Trouble with Press Conferences - To learn more about this author, visit Anthony Mora's Website.
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The Trouble with Press Conferences
By Anthony Mora
Copyright© Anthony Mora 2006
It's important to know when to hold a press conference. If you think that a press conference is the way to go, nine times out of ten you're going to be wrong. Although there are many types of press conferences, they are primarily utilized to give the media up-to-the-minute information on breaking news stories, or when a celebrity or well-known person is addressing a topical issue. Countless other types of press conferences are announced, but few receive any coverage. Breaking news stories, politically-oriented stories and press conferences often do go together. Those are naturals.
But keep in mind, what you consider to be a breaking or urgent story, may be viewed differently by the media. When you are asking the media to be at a certain place at a certain time to cover your story, the odds are against you. Your story then is being set on a very specific timeline and is being forced to compete with every other potential story in your city, the nation and the world. If there is another story that the media considers more urgent, or more ratings-worthy that breaks at the same time - you're out of luck.
We have held some very successful press conferences. But we've also held some conferences that were passed-over because of a car chase in progress, a breaking murder story or a celebrity scandal. There was one case where two TV crews had arrived and were setting up to cover press conference we had scheduled, suddenly each producer was paged. Next thing I knew they were packing their gear and heading out the door. A fire had broken out at a local refinery and they were on their way to cover it. Needless to say, that was the end of that particular press conference.
In my experience most press conferences are often ineffective, because the story or pitch usually does not warrant a press conference. Try to think like the media, play devil's advocate. If you were a harried producer or editor, and were pitched a story on your proposed press conference would it be of interest to you? If the answer is no, forget going the press conference route. Reframe the hook and pitch it as a different type of story. Give the media and your story options
For Further information Visit:
www. Anthonymora.com
The Trouble with Press Conferences - To learn more about this author, visit Anthony Mora'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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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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