One of the key factors in a successful media interview is who you choose to be your spokesperson. If you have arranged an interview with a journalist, you ideally want to maximise the impact and coverage for your organisation or business.
Media Training for Spokespeople
You’ll have worked out your main talking points and what questions are likely to be asked. But there are two things that you need to consider before you move ahead:
- Who is the right spokesperson? The head of the company or CEO is not necessarily the best person to conduct the interview. You need someone who is good in front of a microphone or camera, with excellent presentation skills and who is on top of their brief.
- When and how should they be briefed? Some people require more time to prepare for a media interview, others can pick up the main talking points with just an hour or two of notice. You also need to understand the spokesperson’s workload and what they’re doing at the moment – in short, whether there is sufficient time to brief them fully.
Flexible Preparation
The simple answer when it comes to the briefing is that there is not a one size fits all approach that works for everyone. It’s very much down to the individual spokesperson. Some like copious notes, while others prefer simple, easy-to-digest bullet points. Some want it written down, and others like a pre-interview chat to go over the basics.
Often a mix of talking through the interview and providing supporting notes helps prepare an individual for a media interview. There may be specific areas that you need to cover in the briefing and having a template to work from can help. The process might include refining the important messages, exploring human examples that help back these up and looking at how to handle more negative questioning.
The Right Messaging
The key to preparing your media spokesperson is getting that basic messaging right. One thing that media support often gets wrong is making this too complex.
Overcomplicating or blurring the lines by producing too many different messages can mean that the spokesperson finds it difficult to focus properly. It can cause issues if counter-questions arise that challenge the initial messaging.
However good someone is at dealing with the media, making sure the messaging is uncomplicated and easy to explain is critical.
Storytelling – Messaging is one thing but backing it up with real-world examples is the power behind good media interviews. When preparing a spokesperson, it’s essential to have relatable stories that support a point of view or stance – the more personal these are the more they are likely to leave the right impression.
Interview Practice – Another consideration when it comes to media interviews is the format. A telephone interview is different to one on camera or a face-to-face talk for a print article.
For example, if you’re being interviewed in a news studio, you’ll likely have just a few minutes at most to get your message across. If you are being interviewed for an article, then you’ll have a lot more time.
Simulating the interview is also a great way to get a media spokesperson confident of their responses and change to explore any potential hurdles. A lot will depend, of course, on how much time you have to prepare.