MANAGINGMEDIAINTERVIEWS&BRIDGINGTOPOSITIVEMESSAGES

MediaTrainingforHealthProfessionals

VincentRhodes,PhD,APRChiefCommunicaAons&MarkeAngOfficer

BrainstormingAcAvity

2

Whydoweneedtodealwiththemedia?

¨ Alertustoinforma6onordevelopmentswemaynotknow

¨ Providethepublicwithinforma6onorrequeststhatwewishtoconvey

¨ Quellrumorsandreassureconcernedci6zens¨ Generateoutsidesupportandassistance

WhattheMediaCanDoforUs

3

¨  Fiveelementsofnewsworthiness¨  Importance,Prominence,Proximity,Timeliness,Novelty

¨  “News”istheunusual¨  Biggest,First,Only,Out-of-the-Ordinary¨ Manbitesdog!

¨  Newsiswhateverthereporterssayitis!

WhatisNews?

4

¨  Naturallycurious,skep6calpeople¨  Facedwithdifficultjobs(becoming“instantexperts”)¨  Haveeditors¨  Haveajobtodo—getthestory!¨  Generallyrespondposi6velywhenprovidedassistance

UnderstandingReporters

5

RelaAonshipswithreporters…

6

“Treatthemlikeprofessionalsandtheywillbeyourfriends.Treatthemlikefriendsandtheywillbetrayyouevery6me.”

—MarlinFitzwaterFormerWhiteHouseSpokesman

¨ Alwaysaskareporterabouthis/herdeadline¨ TVreportershave6ghterdeadlinesthanprintreporters

¨  Internetreporterswanttoturnthingsaroundinstantly

¨ ConsideraAon:Whoseemergencyisthis?

Reporters&Deadlines

7

¨ Whoisauthorizedtospeakfortheorganiza6on?¨ Whatkindofinforma6oncannotbereleased?¨  Areyourequiredtono6fyanyoneofthemediacontact?

¨ Whatkindofcommunica6onssupportisavailable?

KnowOrganizaAonalMediaPolicies

8

¨  Agreetodotheon-cameraorin-personinterview¨  Answerques6onsoverthephone¨  Turndowntheinterviewopportunity¨  Referthereportertosomeoneelse(districtspokesperson,etc.)

YourOpAons

9

¨  Whenareporterrequestsaninterview,askenoughques6onstogainafullunderstandingofthestory¨ Whatisthestoryabout?Whatisyourangle?¨ Whatkindofinforma6ondoyouneed?¨ Whoelsehaveorwillyouinterview?¨ Whatpromptedinterestinthisstory?

InterviewtheInterviewer

10

Releasingbadnews…

11

“Badnewsisnotlikewine.Itdoesnotimprovewithage.”

—ColinPowellFormerGeneral&SecretaryofState

¨  Mostreporterswillhaveananglefortheirstory—butyoucanalwaystrytobringthemaroundtoyours!

¨  Conveyyoursugges6onsforwhatshouldbeinthepieceintheformoffacts:¨  “Youknow,theques6onIgetaskedthemostaboutthisis…”

¨  “Whatmanypeopledon’tknowis…”

Pre-InterviewTricks

12

¨ Atechniquefortransi6oningfromanega6veques6ontoposi6ve,pre-determinedresponses

¨ Worksinmediainterviewsandinmee6ngswithstakeholders

WhatisBridging?

13

¨  An6cipateques6ons¨  Writeoutanswers¨  Interviewplanningsheet

¨  Keyfacts

¨  Analogies¨  Examples¨  Prac6ce“bridging”technique

¨  Beawareofyourgestures/expressions

Prep&PracAce

14

Content:BridgingtothePosiAve

15

Major Weaknesses

Bridging Transition

Key Messages

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

¨  “Theimportantthingtorememberis…”¨  “Whatparentsreallyneedtoknowis…”¨  “Thebo^omlineis…”¨  “Therealissueis…”¨  “But…”¨  “However…”¨  “And…”

BridgingTransiAons

16

17

Content:BridgingtothePosiAve

Major Weaknesses

Bridging Transition

Key Messages

Negative Aspect Bridge

Positive Message

Positive Message

VIDEO:BridgingtoPosiAveMessages(1)

18

Source: Mastering TV Appearances: The 5-Star Survival Guide for Effective TV Interviews, Center for Advanced Media Studies

19

VIDEO:BridgingtoPosiAveMessages(2)

Source: Mastering TV Appearances: The 5-Star Survival Guide for Effective TV Interviews, Center for Advanced Media Studies

¨  A=Acknowledgeandaddresstheques6on(1-2seconds)¨  yes,no,Idon’tknow,I’mnotabletoanswerthat…

¨  B=Bridge(3seconds)¨  but,however,whatIcantellyouis…,let’sbeclearaboutthis…

¨  C=Coverkeymessages(8-10seconds)¨  Clearlyandconciselycoverposi6vepointsfromyourinterview

planningsheet

¨  D=Dangle¨  what’sreallyinteres6ngis…

UsetheABCDTechnique

20

¨  BEWARETHEPREGNANTPAUSE!¨  Resisttheurgetofillthesilence

¨  TVreportersfacesignificant6meconstraints¨  Silencewillbeeditedout

¨  BEWARETHEREPEATQUESTION!¨  Yourfirstanswerisgenerallythebest¨  “IthinkI’veansweredthatques6onalready”

SurvivalTips

21

¨  Don’tspeculateorofferopinionsorpredic6ons.S6cktothefactsasyouknowthem.

¨  Don’tbeafraidtosayyoudon’tknow¨  Don’tplaceblame¨  Don’tusejargonor“sciencespeak”¨  Don’tstonewall,mislead,orlie

SurvivalTips(conAnued)

22

TellingtheTruth

23

“Lyingtothepublicisnodifferentfromlyinginacourtroomunderoath.Thesentence,however,canbetougher:lossofcredibility,lossofrespect,lossofcustomers,lossoftrustbythecommunity,andbyshareowers.Thereisnosuchthingsasa‘halflie,’a‘smalllie,’ora‘whitelie.’” —CaroleM.Howard&WilmaK.MaDhews

Authors,OnDeadline:ManagingMediaRelaKons

¨  NOCOMMENT:Noma^erwhyyousayit,theviewersthinkthismeanseither“I’mhidingsomething”or“I’mguiltyasHell!”(Differentfrom“Ican’tanswerbecause…”)

¨  OFFTHERECORD:Onceit’ssaid,it’ssaid.Youcan’ttakeitback.Onlyspeak“offtherecord”ifyoutrustthereporterwithyourjob!

¨  BESTADVICEFORBOTH:Don’tdoit!

TwoThingsToNeverSay

24

¨  LoadedQues6on¨  BaitQues6on¨  PersonalOpinion¨  SpeakingonBehalfofOthers¨  Don’tKnowtheAnswer¨  ProhibitedfromAnswering¨  BoxingYouIn¨  Emo6onallyLoadedQues6on

¨  Hos6leQues6on(ButTruthtoIt)¨  PersistentQues6oning¨  OpenEnded/VagueQues6on¨  Hypothe6calQues6on¨  Rumor¨  Mul6-PartQues6on¨  Advice/Recommenda6ontoBoss¨  Sympathe6cApproach

TricksoftheMediaTrade

25

¨  Confidence¨  Haveconfidenceinyourownknowledge.Youknowyoursubjectbe^erthan

thejournalistandmoststakeholders.

¨  Clarity¨  Useaclear,conversa6onalstyle.Establishamaximumofthreekeymessages

andillustrateyourpointswithanecdotalexamplesforcolorandcredibility.Avoidjargon.Simplify!

¨  Control¨  Takechargeoftheinterview/discussion.Prepara6onisthekey.Thereisno

suchthingasawrongques6on,onlywronganswers.

RemembertheThreeC’s

26

¨  “Theaudiencelistenswithitseyesfirst…Thenitsears.”

¨ Nearly87%oftheinforma6onwegetdailyisvisual

¨ Onlyabout7%oftheinforma6onwegetissound

Delivery:ThinkVisually!

27

Source:MasteringTVAppearances:The5-StarSurvivalGuideforEffecKveTVInterviews,CenterforAdvancedMediaStudies

VIDEO:FacialExpressions&Gestures

28

Source: Mastering TV Appearances: The 5-Star Survival Guide for Effective TV Interviews, Center for Advanced Media Studies

¨  Ifstanding,avoidrockingbackandforth¨  Ifsinng,sitatbackofchair,sitontailofcoat,andleanslightly

forwardatwaist¨  Assumeyouareon-airatall6mes¨  Keepappropriatetone/facialexpressionsduringthecut-awayshot¨  Placeyourmostimportantpointsatthebeginningofeachresponse¨  Refertothereporterbynameearlyandooen

TelevisionInterviewSurvivalTips

29

VIDEO:TVNewsStoryStructure

30

Source: Mastering TV Appearances: The 5-Star Survival Guide for Effective TV Interviews, Center for Advanced Media Studies

¨  Provideavailablefactssheets&suggestothersourcesasappropriate

¨  Providepromisedinforma6onASAP

¨  Volunteertoconfirmquotesoranswerfollowupques6onsifyou’reavailable

¨  Askwhenthestorywillairorbepublished

¨  Suggestaposi6vestoryideathatthereportercanreturntocoversoon

¨  Ifthereportercoversthestorywell,sendacongratulatorynote/e-mail

PostInterview

31

¨  FEWwillrememberyourname¨  TheyWILLrememberyourorganiza6on¨  ALMOSTNOONEwillremembermuchofwhatyousaid

¨  NEARLYEVERYONEwillrememberiftheylikedyou

FourTelevision“Absolutes”

32

Source:MasteringTVAppearances:The5-StarSurvivalGuideforEffecKveTVInterviews,CenterforAdvancedMediaStudies

¨  Acknowledgethedifferencebetweenwhatiscorrectandwhatyoudon’tlikeaboutthestory

¨  Inmostcases,becharitableanddonothing

¨  Insomecases,contactthereportertorequesttheitembecorrectedfortherecord

¨  Inafewcases,writeale^ertotheeditor

¨  Inrarecases,youwillbejus6fiedinaskingthepublica6ontoprintacorrec6on

¨  Innocaseshouldyoucontactacompe6ngpaper/sta6onto“settherecordstraight”

¨  Iftheerroriscri6cal,postthecorrec6ononyourwebsite

HandlingErrors

33

Source:OnDeadline:ManagingMediaRelaKons

DiscreAon:thebeaerpartofvalor

34

“Neverarguewithsomeonewhobuysinkbythebarrel!”

—aDributedtoMarkTwain,BenjaminFranklinandOscarWilde

—alsoaDributedtoWilliamGreener,pressaidetoPresidentFord

NomaDerwhosaidit,it’sagoodsenKmenttoremember!

¨ Numberofmen6ons(countclips;considerwhethereachisposi6ve,nega6veorneutral)

¨ Shareofeduca6onstories(comparedwitharea/regionalschoolsordistricts)

¨ Appearanceofkeymessages(evenin“nega6ve”stories)

EvaluaAngYourSuccess

35

¨  November,February,&May¨  “Sweeps”months:6meperiodswhenTVsta6onsget

ratedbasedonviewership¨  Ra6ngsusedtosetadver6singrates¨  Toboostra6ngs,storiestendtobeevenmore

sensa6onalthanusual(“hard-hinng”inves6ga6vereports,“shocking”stories,“localizing”na6onalstories)

BewareSweepsMonths

36

¨  Setgroundrules¨  Knowyourfacts¨  Writeoutyourresponses¨  Rehearseyourperformance¨  Sayitin15secondsorless¨  Prac6ce“bridging”

Review

37

Resources

38

MasteringTVAppearances:

The5-StarSurvivalGuideforEffecKveTVInterviews

Media Studies

www.mediatrainers.com

Resources

39

On Deadline: Managing Media

Relations

Carole M. Howard & Wilma K. Matthews

QUESTIONS?

40

MANAGINGMEDIAINTERVIEWS&BRIDGINGTOPOSITIVEMESSAGES

MediaTrainingforHealthProfessionals

VincentRhodes,PhD,APRChiefCommunicaAons&MarkeAngOfficer