At the start of our media training courses we always ask participants what they think about the media and journalists.
It’s fair to say the perception is often quite negative, particularly among those who have not previously had any interaction with reporters.
One theme in particular regularly emerges – a fear of being misquoted or words being taken out of context.
This is probably caused by a combination of a lack of media experience and a fear of creating negative headlines.
And of course we can all probably remember high profile people claiming to have been misquoted when an interview has resulted in less than favourable coverage.
So how do we, as expert media trainers, get spokespeople over this concern?
Well on our media training courses we tell participants there are steps they can take to ensure their words are more likely to be reported accurately.
Pace
It sounds simple, but speaking more slowly is crucial. The faster you speak the harder it is for a reporter to accurately record what you are saying either by shorthand or typing it straight into the computer. If the interview is being carried out on the telephone, try to avoid using a speakerphone which can reduce sound quality and make it harder for the journalist to understand what has been said.
A good tip for radio and TV media interviews and presentations, which is also relevant here, is to speak at a pace that feels too slow. Then slow it down again. Speaking slowly doesn’t mean you can’t sound excited, animated and passionate. It just means that people will have more time to soak up and process your words whilst they carry on doing all the other things they are doing (loading the dishwasher, letting the dog out the back door, picking up lego from between their toes).
Signs
Watch and listen. If you can see a reporter is struggling to keep up with their notes, or can hear them typing furiously on the phone, these are signs you need to reduce the pace and even repeat what you have just said to ensure their notes are accurate.
When an interview is recorded or it’s a telephone interview, and you think you could be talking too fast, simply find an appropriate moment to check with the reporter by asking. Ultimately, you should be working together to make the most of the opportunity so they’ll be pleased that you’ve checked in.
Jargon
Journalists hate jargon – and so do their readers, viewers and listeners. But we still often see spokespeople use it, particularly when they are discussing something complex. The danger with jargon is that it makes quotes unusable and can mean different things to different people, causing confusion and a lack of clarity. A good tip is to use the language that you would use to an elderly neighbour or 10 year old child. This is not dumbing down – it’s explaining something simply to a mass audience.
Don’t ramble
The more long winded responses are in a media interview the harder it is for a reporter to follow and that creates more potential for mistakes, confusions and misinterpretation. Case studies and human examples will support your point and help ensure you are not misinterpreted. Good body language and tone of voice are also important here.
What if
Journalists love to speculate about what might happen in the future. And they often invite spokespeople to do the same with questions such as ‘what would happen if…’.This is risky ground for interviewees and can see them commenting on a subject they are poorly prepared for and that topic becoming the focus of the resulting article.
Of course, you and your comms team might want to speculate. The key here is to make sure that you have signed off this speculation with your comms team and have practiced this in a realistic messaging session, ideally during one of our training courses, so that you can be sure your crystal ball gazing won’t lead you into unnecessary trouble.
Off the record
‘Off the record’ is a phrase which means different things to different people.
It has no legal significance and is purely a matter of trust between you and the reporter. We tell participants on our media training courses to assume everything they say to a journalist can and will be attributed to them. After all, if a reporter is armed with a notebook, dictaphone or is recording the interview on a smartphone, can you ever truly be ‘off the record’?
Don’t get too comfortable
Try and remain calm and relaxed but never go into auto-pilot and not properly consider what you are saying. Or you can begin to view the journalists as a friend and overshare. This is a particular risk in a feature interview where you will inevitably spend more time with the reporter than any other type of interview
Negative or loaded language
Journalists will sometimes use negative or loaded phrases in their questions and very often the interviewee repeats the negative language, even when they are defending themselves and rebutting the accusation. For example, the reporter may say: “This is very disappointing isn’t it? Aren’t you disappointed?” And the interviewee could answer: “I wouldn’t say it is disappointing….”But they just have. The journalist’s negative language can now be attributed to the spokesperson.
Prepare thoroughly
Yes, we know you’ve been told about the importance of interview preparation before. But we make no apologies for repeating it because we see so many interviews go awry through poor preparation.
'Many interviews go awry simply through poor preparation' http://bit.ly/2v7e7f1 via @mediafirstltd
Spokespeople need to ensure they don’t just know what they want to cover in an interview, but also have anticipated the negative questions the reporter might ask and the wider issues they could get asked about.
You may wonder why we haven’t suggested PRs or their spokespeople record interviews with journalist. If the journalist is doing it why can’t they? This is a divisive subject and there are strong arguments for and against. But our view is that in most situations it creates an unhelpful air of mistrust. If you want to read more of our thoughts on this topic you might like to check out this blog.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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