Any serious leader and manager will agree that media training is an essential part of their professional development.
You will learn how to deal effectively with media interviews by completing Media Interview Training.
First-timers in media relations can experience nerve-wracking anxiety by learning how to present television news.
This is why we recommend you take our media training courses and these are essential tips.
Take a look at the archive of any commercial TV station. You will see that the average quote from the interviewee is about 60 seconds.
The average commercial television viewing time will be seven seconds if you keep your stopwatch handy and take a note of each news item or sound bite.
It is also known as McNuggett news. Although it is quick and easy, the results are not satisfying.
This shortening in length can be explained by three factors
1. Increased competition to our diminishing attention spans
2. We live in a world of more choice, clutter, and noise.
3. Combining information and entertainment, disguised as news.
In seven seconds, how can you communicate your complex and detailed message to the media about an important issue?
You need to determine your message, and then deliver it as a media-friendly quote.
It is possible to do it wrong only once. My professional television news crews are always telling me stories about interviewees who call them afterwards and what they say. “can you come back, I forgot to say this and that?”
Media are notoriously time-poor and deadline-driven, so they rarely return.
You only get one chance to maximize your media time.
This is how you achieve this feat, particularly for television. These are my top 10 tips:
1. Be Well.
You will be judged on your appearance in television’s powerful visual medium. The impact of an interview on television will depend upon the quality and style of clothing. Clothing with many patterns or designs should be avoided. On camera, a dark jacket (blue or black, charcoal, navy, or navy) with white blouse/shirt looks great. You can learn a lot from the television newsreaders’ outfits. My mother is right: “it is better to pay the extra and buy one really good suit than have many of inferior quality.”
2. Warm Up Your Voice.
Tiger Woods would not go out and play in a tournament round without first warming up. As a professional communicator, official spokesperson, you should not engage in conversation with media members without first warming up.
3. Talk with more energy
Talk at a higher volume and tone than normal. Think of having a conversation and being animated at the same time as you normally would.
4. Use your feet to anchor and slow deliberate movements.
Moving around a lot can cause your body language to distract from the message. Interviews standing or even on radio will improve your ability to communicate clearly and increase your authority. Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, keep your toes firmly planted on the ground. Standing only one foot apart, you will find it difficult to sound convincing.
Des Guilfoyle, my co-author, shared with me the lesson that deliberate, slow and fluid movements can increase your referent power and charisma, as well as personal magnetism, at the launch of Understanding Influence for Leaders At Every Level.
TIP: Listen to your interview with the sound off in order to better understand your body language.
5. Keep calm.
Reporters will quickly fire back at you aggressively, assertively, or even angry, as if they were shooting bullets from a machinegun. They will speak fast and intensely. Avoid getting drawn to matching or mirroring their speech patterns. Take a deep breath, and talk slower than the interviewer in these instances.
6. Memorise Your Three Key Points.
These must be delivered flawlessly, without the need to take notes. First, make a list. Not only does it help to fix the thoughts, but also seeing them clearly written down can make them easier to remember. Next, create a visual representation of the words. Place them visually in the upper left hand corner of your brain. These points will be instantly remembered if you look at the brain’s top left.
According to brain experts, the left side of the prefrontal cortex (just above the forehead) receives increased blood flow when new episodic information is entered. Actually, brain experts have shown that the brain’s vocabulary is distributed in several parts of the left cerebral cortex (Source: The Odd Brain, Dr Stephen Juan, Harper Collins 1998).
7. Never Make a Comment.
Journalists are likely to believe “where there is smoke there will be fire”. Don’t comment but support your claim with evidence.
8. Get Plenty of Water
Before an interview, keep hydrated. Dry mouth is caused by the gums that are made from milk. Dry lips is a common nerve habit.
9. Be Present.
It is a skill that elite athletes use to practice in the zone. This allows them to perform at their peak. Do the same.
This is how it works: Close your eyes, relax, and then take three deep, focused breaths. Next, visualize a time in your past when you were very inspired and confident. You can then take that memory in your head and hold it. This mental image should be placed inside your right palm. Now, clench and make a fist. This fist should be covered with your left arm. You can continue this procedure until your performance is at its peak.
10. Evaluate, Review and Incorporate.
Review every interview with media
Which of these worked?
Is there anything that could be done better?
How will I improve my next experience?