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Common Mistakes when talking to the Press

Common Mistakes when talking to the Press

The following things are worth bearing in mind before you start talking to the press – or indeed before you do anything in a business! Whilst it is not meant to be an exhaustive list it should suffice for most interviews.


Interview Do’s

 Listen carefully.
 Keep your answers short and to the point.
 Always be sure of your facts.
 If you don’t know the answer, say so and tell them that you’ll get back to them with an
answer. Please remember to do so though; remember the press won’t give you a second chance.
 Always tell the truth.
 Steer every question back to the message that you want to make.
 Always reinforce your points with proof points – where has this deployment been successfully introduced.

Interview Don’ts

 Remember the golden rule “If you don’t want it printed – don’t say it in the first place”.
 You should never knock the competition, whilst trying to promote your own product.
 Never say “No Comment”. Since at best the journalist won’t bother to print anything and at worst he’ll assume that you’ve been found out.
 Never, ever lie. You never know when it will come back and bite you.
 Use unnecessary jargon.
 Patronize the interviewer.
 Get emotional or confrontational.

Some common mistakes to try and avoid

 Trying to “sell” your product to the editor.
 Following instead of leading.
 Talking too much or too fast.
 Not listening.
 Failing to communicate the key messages.
 Answering “Yes” or “No” – Instead try “I’m very glad you asked me that question, .” and bring it back onto message.
 Answering when you don’t know.
 Making projections, that could prove to be misleading.
 Putting word’s into partners mouths, without their prior agreement.

If you can achieve all of the above points then you should be well on your way to conducting a good interview with the press.





Common Mistakes when talking to the Press - To learn more about this author, visit Charles Bows's Website.

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About The Author


Charles Bows
(Visit Charles's Website)
Formed in early 2005, we are a broad based communications agency - with particular emphasis being placed on IT, Telecoms and the Computer Games (PC, Console and Mobile) markets - specialising in the following areas: - Strategy - Public Relations - Branding - Hospitality - Web Creation. We've set about transforming the way Small and Medium Business go about attracting greater interest in their own companies.
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