We listen and watch a lot of media interviews at Media First.
It is good to keep a keen eye on who performs well in media interviews, but it is also interesting to see those which could clearly be improved, especially when they include simple mistakes that can easily be eradicated.
And this week has seen interviews with plenty of mistakes other spokespeople could learn from - as well as one of the strangest media performances we have ever seen.
So we have put them all together in a blog to show how they can be avoided.
Here are the seven lessons from this week’s interviews:
Commenting on speculation
On our media training courses we always advise delegates about the importance of avoiding commenting on speculation.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tried to shut down a speculative line of question about his leadership when he appeared on BBC Breakfast.
But by using ‘fake news’, a term so closely associated with Donald Trump, he gave the rumours more momentum and ensured the headlines and social media posts would be about the subject he was trying to avoid.
Here are a couple of examples:
Jeremy Corbyn accuses BBC of reporting ‘fake news’ when challenged on resignation rumours The Independent
Jeremy Corbyn accuses BBC of reporting ‘fake news’ that he will quit as labour leader Huffington Post
His answer would have been much better if he started with his subsequent line about being ‘proud’ to lead the party and then moving back to his main message.
Not knowing the full package
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid found himself in the uncomfortable position of not knowing what had been said on a related subject earlier in the programme when he appeared on the Today Programme on Tuesday (2hr10)
During an interview which primarily focused on the Government White Paper on the housing market he was asked by John Humphrys whether he had heard an item about six parish councillors resigning after the Government ‘overrode’ their decision to build on a particular site.
Mr Javid admitted he had not heard the item but despite protest from Mr Humphrys said a ‘legal challenge’ prevented him from commenting on that. A fortunate escape.
When a spokesperson is preparing for an interview that preparation must include a guide to what else is in the news at the time which they may get asked about and an understanding of who else the programme will be speaking to in its coverage of the story.
Jargon
During the same interview Mr Javid was lambasted by Mr Humphrys for his use of jargon. The interview had moved on to social care and Mr Javid was asked if there was a ‘crisis’ in the system.
He began by replying with the vague phrase ‘it is a challenging situation’ and the presenter was not amused.
Mr Humphrys said: “Challenging is one of those pathetic words isn’t it, which could mean anything. It is challenging to run the 100 metres in nine seconds or something.”
We’ve said before that journalists do not like jargon.
We can understand why he was trying to avoid the word ‘crisis’ but he could and should have spoken more directly about the need for reform – which he eventually went on to say.
In case you missed #r4today with Sajid Javid this morning, here's a recap. pic.twitter.com/tgU0J35wVc
— Ron Moore MP (@RonMooreMoreRon) February 7, 2017
Repeating the negatives
Steve Morgan, chairman of Redrow Homes, fell in to a common trap when he appeared on The Today Programme (1hr14) on Wednesday to discuss his company’s latest financial figures and the Government’s White Paper on the housing market.
Asked by the reporter if the market was broken because large house builders were making ‘too much money’, he replied: “We are not making too much money.”
Repeating negative language in a reporter’s question is something we see happen a lot when people are defending themselves and rebutting accusations. Often it can lead to the negative language being attributed to the spokesperson. In this case it sounded overly defensive.
Mr Morgan would have been much better served by beginning his response with what he went on to say about the industry recovering from deficits caused by the last recession.
Talking over the presenter
The interview between the Today Programme presenter Nick Robinson and politicians Kate Hoey and Anna Sourbry on Thursday was a somewhat untidy affair.
The main problem was Ms Hoey repeatedly talked over Mr Robinson as he tried to ask questions, causing him at one point to say ‘I thought I’d ask a question if that’s ok?’.
Talking over questions can agitate journalists, distract audiences and it means the spokesperson may not be fully aware of what has just been asked.
What you wear
A debate about fake news and trust in the media on Channel 4 News on Tuesday featured author Jarett Kobek.
I’ll leave the summary of this to my wife who said ‘I have not heard a word he said, I have just been trying to work out what is on his head’.
Now, it is highly unlikely that any corporate spokesperson would ever choose to wear the same ensemble as Mr Kobek, but it goes to show how poor wardrobe choices can completely distract an audience. You can find out more about what to wear for television interviews in one of our earlier blogs.
And while I'm at it, if you look again at the Jeremy Corbyn interview at the start of this blog, it is clear he needs some lessons on how to tie a tie.
Short answers (in very bizarre interviews)
Ronnie O’Sullivan has provided his fair share of interesting interviews over the years, but his latest performance was simply bizarre.
The snooker star made a farce of his interview for ITV Sport, initially by only providing exceptionally short answers and then by adopting a strange robotic voice in his later responses.
Short answers should always be avoided in media interviews as they sound defensive and only serve to increase the pressure as the journalist asks more and more questions.
On our media training courses we always stress the importance of spokespeople not appearing like talking robots – but we have never heard one quite as bad as this impression.
It was later revealed his actions were in protest at recent disciplinary action taken by the sport’s governing body – the robot voice, however, was the focus of subsequent media reports.
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