Media interviews present a fantastic opportunity to share your brand’s message with the public and get your voice heard. A positive media appearance can create a lasting impression by calming concerns related to a crisis, encouraging action or influencing public policy. But interviews require strategic preparation to ensure your on-camera presence is polished and the message is properly refined and communicated. We had 11 PR professionals answer four questions on this topic. Keep reading to discover how they prepare clients for successful media interviews.
Media Interview Tips
Barb Harris of teamworks communication
#1 INTERVIEW PREPARATION
If we’re going live, we always create a segment... ⇢ read more
As the daily question of whether to bring folks back into office is a real deal for employers…and employees continue to enjoy dressing “business on top and party on the bottom,” it looks like video conferences will be in play for some time.
So whether you are in a standing weekly meeting with the boss, a new business pitch, or in a television interview, here are some reminders on things to focus on before you get in front of that computer camera.
(I actually sent this email to a client this week.)
We were fortunate enough to garner two stories around our lack... ⇢ read more
Read enough crisis communications plans and you’ll see a host of contingencies for communicating with journalists, lawmakers, shareholders and customers. You’ll also see a variety of templated news releases, dark websites and proposed hashtags. Rarely, however, will you see any strategies and tactics directed at one of the most important audiences in any crisis: the employees who work for the organization at the center of the incident.
Why are employees so often overlooked? Maybe it’s because communicating with them is a routine matter at most organizations. Maybe it’s because employee communications lacks the glamor of media relations and executive communications. Or... ⇢ read more
By Amy Kossoff Smith, President Write Ideas, Inc. and Power Hour Editing, and Editor/Founder of PRCG Powerlines
Some 9-5’ers would rather watch anything on TV but something about their career. Whether I’m an entrepreneur who doesn’t know what 9-5 means or a news junkie, I’m hooked on Apple TV’s latest headline, The Morning Show.
My journalist wiring pushes me to ask a lot of questions in a variety of settings. I’ve asked doctors if they think one of my faves, Grey’s Anatomy, is accurate in its representation of medicine. If I knew anyone who sold paper, I'd definitely ask if The Office's Dunder Mifflin... ⇢ read more
Barb Harris and Sharon Kreher, teamworks communication management, www.teamworkspr.com
I read a fair amount of Facebook group and media blog chatter about the love/hate relationship media folks have with PR people. At best, they begrudgingly acknowledge that sometimes PR people can occasionally be helpful. But as most public forums are inclined, complaints about PR folks tend to dominate these conversations. As a PR professional, it’s difficult to reply to or refute these attitudes, as that can fly in the face of our goal of fostering good working relationships with members of the media for the benefit of our clients.
Instead, let me... ⇢ read more
Barb Harris and Sharon Kreher, teamworks communication management, www.teamworkspr.com
I read a fair amount of Facebook group and media blog chatter about the love/hate relationship media folks have with PR people. At best, they begrudgingly acknowledge that sometimes PR people can occasionally be helpful. But as most public forums are inclined, complaints about PR folks tend to dominate these conversations. As a PR professional, it’s difficult to reply to or refute these attitudes, as that can fly in the face of our goal of fostering good working relationships with members of the media for the benefit of our clients.
Instead, let me... ⇢ read more
By Felicia K. Knight, President The Knight Canney Group KnightCanney.com
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! Three winners, actually. Yes, the Powerball has been won. To all you winners, your dreams have come true. But you are about to be thrust headlong into a public relations nightmare—unless you take steps to save yourselves.
None of you live in Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio, or South Carolina, which means, by law, you must be identified as a winner. And that’s when the ticket hits the fan.
Once you’re photographed holding that big check, you will be amazed at the number of relatives,... ⇢ read more
Food safety problems can be a recipe for disaster in the restaurant industry. Just ask Chipotle Mexican Grill.
In the span of two months beginning in October, the company has dealt with an outbreak of E. coli infections that sickened 52 people in nine states and forced the company to temporarily close some locations along with reports earlier this month that up to 140 people fell ill from norovirus linked to a Chipotle restaurant in Boston.
The situation was summed up best by US News & World Report: “For a company founded on fresh ingredients and locally sourced food, it was a... ⇢ read more
I love teachers. Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows my daughter teaches music. She, and most of her colleagues do a great job.
But this is a PR Blog, and hence, it is with a heavy heart I read this article in the Omaha World-Herald. So, I’m taking this opportunity to remind my clients, my colleagues and my followers it is better to confess to the crime (mistake, if you prefer) than to cover it up.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20130507/NEWS/705079937/1694#peanut-butter-cover-up-costs-teachers-their-jobs
I’ll never forget the wise words of a Sunday school teacher and High School counselor, who told us, “It is okay to say you are... ⇢ read more
By Brian Knox, Vice President, Zeppos & Associates, Inc. – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
As a former television reporter and anchor, it continues to amaze me at how many people just don’t take the time to think things through before a media interview or plan how they’ll respond if confronted by reporters on an issue. As PR professionals, you’ll find many firms like ours offer their own unique counsel and proven techniques to help prepare clients for a variety of media situations. Lessons learned from media training programs can help an individual for a lifetime. Yet, there remain those who scoff at the... ⇢ read more
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