- Hubert Humphrey
Yes, roll your eyes, frown, laugh even. You are not alone. Many people - entertainers, high-flying business executives, politicians and other public personalities - with whom I have worked over the years (and who are likely – more than anyone else- to be asked to do a media interview) - scoff at the very idea of media coaching. Generally, those who speak well and are able to make lucid arguments usually feel coaching sessions a complete waste of time, irrelevant to the advance of their careers, and bluntly put, above them. Yet, in an information age where sound bites, images and appearance takes precedence over substance, even the most ego-centric politician or business executive is realizing the importance of intense one-to-one practice sessions or group training designed to make them sound and look good in public.
World's fastest man, Jamaican Usain Bolt faces the reporters' mic
One prominent American business executive understood this reality when he is reported to have warned his employees: “if you lose money for the firm, I will be understanding, but if you lose reputation, I will be ruthless”. The reputation of an organization and/or the image of the public figure is tied up with their ability to effectively to control the nature of their presence in the media, and how they are perceived by their various publics. As soon as the celebrity sits down on a media set, microphoned and lighted for an interview or an executive stands at a podium to deliver a speech for a company event, he or she must recognise that their organisation’s or personal image is on the line. If you needed one more reason to get media coaching, here it is - Few people from the budding entrepreneur to even media practitioners (journalists, editors etc. whose job is communicating!) know how to communicate their expertise, talk persuasively about an issue or even their own careers in the media!
Jamaican entertainers (l-r) Lady Saw, Cecile, Tony Rebel.
At an event recently put on by the Townsville Press Council in Australia, I got the opportunity to see two different speakers in action. One was former opposition Leader of the Queensland State Government, Lawrence Springborg, and Editor of the local newspaper, the Townsville Bulletin. At the time, Springborg was doing the rounds of the election campaign bid to defeat current Premier, Anna Bligh. So naturally, people were happy that he had accepted to speak at the function and keen to hear what he had to say. Springborg, mind you, is a well-spoken politician and an articulate man with an amazing voice (of broadcast quality). Yet, I stood there bored stiff! He droned on in a monotonous tone, failed to connect with the audience and missed an opportunity to wow potential voters. The other speaker at the function, a man schooled in the newspaper business spent his speaking time gripping the podium, his eyes glued to his script and basically read – rather than tell (perform) his speech. I was equally bored.
A good voice is great but not sufficient. That one is able to speak well and carry on a lucid conversation does not mean that h/she will necessarily give an effective public presentation; in short, eloquence does not a good public presentation make. Hence, the need for media coaching. Former New Zealand Prime Minister sought specialist media coaching for the politicians under her watch. Two of these MPs were invited to address a media and politics class I was co-teaching in New Zealand. One carried out a media manual in her handbag while the other boasted of learning to write his own media releases. But let’s get back to the media interview and how to handle it.
The current model used by a variety of public figures is to compel reporters to submit their interview questions and then study them to the death, or, God forbid, ‘wing it’ – go into the media interview totally unprepared and rely on relative eloquence and when all else fails, charm. Bad idea! Winging it I mean; charm and the ability to articulate are necessary components for success. But just because you have been working in your field forever does not mean you can discuss it in a memorable way in a five minute media interview situation.
Jamaican athletic stars, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson
Entertainers sometimes have the hardest time with the easiest questions “How did you get started in the business”? Jamaican entertainers are famous for responding with gems such as “It’s an in-born concept you know”. Sports people also often falter at describing their performance in an athletic event, while business people will grapple with “what do you do or what does your organisation do”. And it is without question that politicians are usually so close to the action that they tend to ramble on and on in defence of their point of view, and instead of listening in attentively, we tune out. But there is hope. There is a skill in crafting key, remarkable messages and being able to redirect biting questions – and it can be learned if you admit that you could use the help. Ok, in the event that you are not ready to do actual coaching, here are a few suggestions to get you on the right track:
1.Prepare, Never Take it for Granted or Rely on Luck
It is now a truism that “luck is when preparation meets opportunity”. Invest the time in processing the general perimeters of the interview (usually this is offered by the interviewer) and conceive in your mind how you might answer various questions. Feel free to ask a friend or colleague to pitch some questions your way, questions with bite that is. I especially love to do with if I have a job interview or oral exams – but this strategy is quite appropriate for a media interview. Tough or hostile questions are a given in a media interview. Experts agree that it is best to be prepared for these by learning to craft and rehearse lucid, honest and appropriate responses by pre-guessing probing questions rather than aggressively shun them, babble on incoherently or forced to admit that you don’t know how to answer a question you could have through preparation.
2. Never Forget Your Key Messages
Every interview has a purpose and the journalist usually has certain questions and themes that they wish to have answered or addressed. Your job is to ascertain what you think the listeners would want to hear. Craft your messages with them in mind, not just the journalist. The journalist is a mere intermediary between you and the target public. Many professionals speak directly to the reporter, become upset with the nature of the questions or the mood of the interviewer. If you can focus on delivering the key messages viz.a.viz the journalist, you would appear more effective; in short – look and sound good in public. In doubt, tape your rehearsal, replay and watch your responses, including your body language and make changes accordingly.
New to the camera and being filmed; nervous? The trick is to totally forget it’s there – focus on the question and of course, your key messages. A good suggestions which usually works to build confidence is to agree to interviews with soft press first. What I mean by soft press is programmes known for information gathering feature type events as opposed to investigative news and current affairs programmes where you are likely to be put on the spot. I also advise my clients to use normal conversations in which they are engaged to practice delivering key messages in a succinct manner.
3.When crafting messages, Abide by the 4 C’s – Conciseness, Control, Credibility, Charm
A media interview is not the space for speech-giving and the provision of contextual information. Get to the point. An interview is a conversation with a purpose. It is not your normal conversation in which you speak at will. The reporter/journalist is the one in charge: they ask the questions and you are obliged to answer them. Does this mean you sit back in your chair and play dead? No it means that you ought to respect their position in this purposive conversation, get your key messages across while answering the questions posed. In this sense, control also means that you are able to be ‘in control’ versus ‘taking control’ of the interview. You may want to begin by deploying the so-called icebreaker. Talk to your interviewer- ask them about their interests, their job, their day – in other words – create a rapport and a genuine friendliness. This energy and air will spill over into the interview and render it interesting and you are guaranteed to feel much more relaxed and confident. A sense of openness and camaraderie - along with integrity and forthrightness in responses - will increase your believability. Credibility is critical to effectiveness in the media interview.
4.Decide on Your Game Plan
I talked about preparation before the interview. Now, I wish to address what to do during the interview. What is your game plan; your line of attack. In my public relations class to undergraduates, we talk about goals, strategies, tactics, messages and target publics constantly as crucial elements of planning and implementing PR related projects. The celebrity, business executive whomsoever in a media interview situation, the requirements are the same. Before you open your mouth to represent yourself or your organisation, it is important to be clear what your objective is, what is the goal of the interview and your goal in it; strategies that you will use to get your message across, the key messages you will present and crucially to whom are you speaking: who is your target public. It is downright silly to go into a media interview without these basic tactical tools.
5.Watch your non-verbal Cues: What are you saying with your body that your mouth is not saying?
Do you notice when you are on the telephone, your tendency is to move around a lot. This makes you more relaxed and aids in being more confident and assertive during the conversation. But in an on-camera or radio interview, you are clipped with a microphone and placed to sit on a chair and your interviewer strategically positioned close to you. You can’t move; you are imprisoned in the moment. If you don’t know how to manipulate your body language, you will appear as dead as a doornail; as stiff as nails, even in a positive interview situation! This will impact your credibility. I have offered the following suggestions to clients over time:
If you are doing a phone interview, stand up. You will sound more authoritative, relaxed and credible. For on camera interviews, try to walk around and relax your body prior to going on set. Onset, try not to fidget, sit with each vertebrae of your spinal column on top of the other; in other words, sit up. And men, please do not cross your legs, especially not at the knee. It is distracting and uncouth. And LOOK ALERT.
6.Know When to Shut Up: Consider that once its Uttered, It’s on the record
Recently I heard a BBC World News reporter say on a live stand up ‘This is what Ministry officials told us ‘off the record’. I wondered for days about the ethics of that kind of revelation and concluded that the rules may have changed for ‘off the record’ remarks. The truth is they haven’t but the responsibility of the journalist cannot be relied upon. So the simple rule is: do not reveal anything that you wish to stay hidden. This goes for all appearances, not just media interviews.
Whatever irresponsible or off the cut commentary you say as a public figure will – in the world of technology– can take a long time to go away. With youtube, gaffes are broadcast endlessly and your one hiccup becomes a permanent blotch on your career.
7.Stick to Your Message
Earlier I spoke about the key messages that you must arm yourself with in a media interview. But it is equally important to stick to your message. A skilled interviewer will divert attention from the focus of the interview to concentrate on issues that you may not wish to discuss. In other words, they will cause you to go off your message. You must learn to stay on track with your message. In extreme cases, it is advisable to stop the interview. Ask for a restroom break, glass of water, whatever it takes to restore some semblance of balance to you and help you to bring the interview back to its central focus. I have seen this technique used during the re-enactment of the David Frost interviews with President Richard Nixon. Under the pressure of the interviewer’s question, the Nixon team asked for a break. They had begun to lose control of the interview and needed to correct that. This goes for especially for recorded interviews. The producers are interested only in your on camera performance so make it the best.
8. Learn how to Deflect and Bridge
This tip follows from that above. Deflection and bridging are two interview techniques which allow you to redirect any efforts to derail your key message. Bridging is essentially a transition. Here you simply answer the question directed at you, then transition to the key message you intend to communicate. Bridging phrases may include “Let me put that into perspective”; “That is an interesting point but its important to remember”, “In addition to that” and ‘That is great but you may be interested to know…”
9. Prepare byte thoughts
What I mean here are important points that you want the audience to take away from your presentation or interview. They say that people only remember a 1/3 of what they hear from a media interview or speech. Catch phrases, anecdotes and recreations they remember as they are usually wrapped up in succinct thought bytes. The trick is to plan these facts or points beforehand. Deliver these thought bytes passionately and forcefully, sometimes through repetition. ‘Buy and throw away, buy and throw away, buy and throw away” I recall from a speech I heard years ago given to the United Nations by a 12 year old Canadian child. What she did was narrow the focus of her presentation to a few thought bytes and delivered those with passion, and the effect was that the audience had no choice but to walk away thinking about those essential points. The media also loves to package thought bytes into ‘sound bytes’ for the news and so these are crucial.
10. Evaluate Your PerformanceIt is always important to evaluate your performance in order to make necessary changes and improvements. Watch back your interview if you can or have a honest friend tell you where you could make improvements. Ask colleagues if they thought the key messages were obvious. You will only perfect this skill if you undertake honest evaluations and have the confidence and intelligence to alter it where necessary.
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Dr Hume Johnson is a Communications Consultant. She teached Journalism and Communication at James Cook University, QLD, Australia. Send enquiries to thecommunicationworkshop@gmail.com
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