This is the first in a series of blogs that address the importance of and “how-to” of media training.
Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of watching some incredibly talented and intelligent CEOs and other senior executives master media interviews they participated in, either on television, radio or with a print reporter. Alternatively, I have seen others fail miserably at trying to communicate to a broadcast interviewer or print reporter. Invariably, “bad” interviews will always be blamed on the reporter. “They were out to get me/the company,” “They didn’t understand my/our business,” “They asked stupid questions,” “They didn’t give me enough time to finish what I needed to say,” are only a few of the many excuses I’ve heard from company spokespersons I’ve worked with as to why the media interview they participated in either did not result in a story or did not communicate the messages the spokesperson/company wanted to communicate.
When it comes to the media interview, here are a few facts that most company spokespersons who have experienced the “bad interview” fail to realize:
If I have learned nothing else from the two-plus decades I have practiced public relations, it is this: whether you are a member of the C-suite, a subject matter expert or a company spokesperson, media training is the only way to help ensure that the media interviews you participate in will result in the story you want to run. I have found this to be true 99 percent of the time. The other one percent is usually because an editor decided to change a story or an interview didn’t run or was cut short either because of an important new story or late-breaking news that pre-empted all other media coverage.
So, if media training is that important, why don’t more people who participate in interviews get trained? Again, my experience here varies. When I worked on the corporate PR side, there was more control over deciding who would be media trained. Many corporations have policies that do not allow anyone outside of the PR Department to speak with the media unless they’ve been formally trained. On the agency side, my experience in this area varies. While a handful of clients welcome the opportunity for media training, many do not. “I don’t have the time to commit,” “We don’t have the budget,” “I don’t need media training,” are some of the more popular excuses I’ve heard. I also believe that some company spokespersons are afraid of retribution or recrimination should they participate in an interview that doesn’t go well.
So – for all those company spokespersons out there who are reading this post, this is my advice to you:
In subsequent blogs, you will learn the basic tools of media training, how to prepare yourself for succeeding in the company spokesperson role, and the importance of practice.