QUOTE OF THE MONTH:  Everything I say is fully    substantiated by my own opinion.
(Seen on a T-shirt–author unknown)

I’ve said it many times, and in a number of different contexts: you must be PREPARED before you go into a media interview if you want to succeed.  You may not have a lot of time to prepare if it’s a fast-breaking emergency incident - say, a fire in the facility with black smoke drifting toward the neighbors.  But you can still put together your main talking points before the camera starts rolling.

When it’s an interview that you agreed to conduct at a pre-arranged time, either one-on-one or a press conference, there is absolutely no excuse for not preparing.  You need to spend quality time with your closest advisors, figuring out how to deliver your organization’s message as effectively as possible.  Preparing does not just mean, however, that you develop your key points, or “must air messages” as crisis consultant Jim Lukaszewski calls them.  It includes thinking carefully about where the reporters will be coming from when they start asking questions.  What’s on THEIR minds?

Take a Lesson From the San Francisco Mayor

A dramatic example of the reputation damage that can occur if you fail to do this kind of preparation comes from a recent local TV interview with Mayor Gavin Newsom.  Mark Bernheimer, a fellow crisis communications expert and leader of MediaWorks Resource Group, was good enough to forward me a video clip of this interview (which I subsequently shared with some of my past clients). You can see the whole interview yourself by going to cbs5.com; click on “Video Library” and search for Gavin Newsom; the one you want is Nov. 19, 2009)

Mayor Newsom had decided a few weeks previously to drop his bid to become California’s next governor.  Soon afterwards, he pretty muchdisappeared from public view for almost a month.  It’s fairly obvious when a Mayor does that — he missed numerous functions at which he was expected. And his press secretary was not able to provide much information about his whereabouts.  (No, he wasn’t “hiking on the Appalachian trail,” which later turned out to be “flying to South America to be with my soul mate” like South Carolina Governor Sanford. But he was absent nonetheless.)

When the Mayor chose to return to his public life, he accepted an invitation to an interview so he could talk about the city’s $552 million deficit.  He obviously had his talking points on this subject memorized and was anxious to discuss it. What he failed (miserably) to do was to anticipate that his prolonged, unexplained absence from the Mayor’s office would be uppermost in the mind of the public and, therefore, the primary area of questioning from the reporter.

The first interview question, pointedly directed to the reason for his long absence, was met with an icy “A $552 million deficit!  That’s what we need to talk about!” complete with his fist pounding his hand.

Things Went Downhill from There

I would assume that, at some point in his career, Mayor Newsom had undergone some media training.  Apparently he wasn’t focusing during the part when the instructor explained what a “bridge” is.  It is NOT being so intent on conveying your “must air messages” that you totally ignore a legitimate question from the reporter.   It is NOT naively believing that you, as the interviewee, can totally control an interview.  By obviously trying to circumvent the topics he didn’t want to discuss, he just fueled the reporter’s investigative fires. Instead, he should have come to the interview with a few well thought-out statements about why it had been necessary to miss some public events (perhaps he really was ill for some of them, as he claimed) and what he had been doing during his absence from the office.  THEN he could have bridged to his major message with an “It’s important for you to know what I’ve been working on is…”

As it was, the reporter and the Mayor continued to verbally spar over his refusal to give acceptable answers to reasonable questions.  The situation escalated, with tempers flaring.  It may not have been informative for the viewing public, but it sure was  entertaining!  Emotional outbursts are dramatic, and drama makes it to the newscast.

The Mayor became so flustered,he didn’t even make decent points about what he was going to do about the deficit; he just gave some gross generalizations about having “a lot of work to do.” Then the Mayor stood up abruptly and moved toward the door.  On his way out, he made another error. As he reached for the doorknob, he called back over his shoulder, “Off the record, I am amazingly disappointed.”  Guess what, Mayor?  That was in no way off the record!  As also should have been explained in media training, to be considered “off the record,” you have to obtain the reporter’s agreement PRIOR to saying anything you don’t want reported.

The Moral of the Story: Think Like a Reporter

As much as you want to do your best to try to manage an interview, you must always remember that there are two parties to the interaction.  Your interests are best served when you can anticipate most of the likely questions a reporter will pose and take time to compose - and rehearse - the best possible answers and then effectively bridge to your major messages.

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SPECIAL NOTE:  I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving.  And now it is on to the next holiday! If any of you are looking for a gift, consider this: I am having a HUGE sale on the book in which my chapter, “Taking the HEAT: A Powerful Tool for Dealing with Angry People,” appears.  It outlines the four-step process that I teach in mini-workshops and seminars on how to get someone who is really angry with you to calm down enough that you can talk to them reasonably and try to come to a resolution.  It works — with colleagues, customers, teenagers, spouses, in-laws, neighbors, etc.  Mine is one of 70 articles (including folks like “Chicken Soup for the Soul” author Mark Victor Hansen, motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, and others.  They cover topics like Overcoming Obstacles on Your Way to Prosperity, How You Think Determines Your Life, Business Tips for Success, Keeping Your Health, and Balancing Work and Family.  The book has been selling for $16.95, but I have to make room in my garage shelving for a new printing of “Keeping Cool on the Hot Seat,” so I would be happy to let you have a copy for $5.00 plus $2.75 for shipping via Media Mail.  Just let me know by e-mail that you want to take advantage of this offer for “Walking with the Wise”, and provide your mailing address.  (Don’t order on my website as you won’t be able to get the sale price.)

Until next month….KEEP COOL!

Judy Hoffman
www.judyhoffman.com
jchent@earthlink.net
1-800-848-3907 PIN 2145

JCH Enterprises, 116 Nelson Lane, Clayton, NC 27527, USA