How to write the perfect media briefing for your spokesperson

Your media spokespeople are busy.

So, how can you ensure they are best prepared for that crucial next interview?

Effective preparation always begins by checking they have had recent media training.

But ahead of any media opportunities, they should also be given a media briefing document that covers what they need to know. And ensures they are able to communicate with clarity and confidence.

Here’s what that briefing paper should include:  

Logistics

Let’s start with the basics of an effective briefing paper.

It may not be the most exciting part of a briefing document, but it is crucial spokespeople know where and when the interview will take place and whether it will be live or pre-recorded.

In the current media landscape where many interviews are taking place remotely, Zoom or Teams meeting details will need to be included.

Do your research on the journalist

Your spokesperson will need to know who they are talking to.

Are they a specialist reporter for your sector? Have they reported on your industry before? Have they covered a story on your organisation before? What about your competitors? Are they known for having a particular interview style? These are questions your briefing paper should cover. 

If you don’t know much about the reporter, take a look at their social media accounts. This will give some insight into the stories they cover and their interests.

And who they work for

It is also a good idea to include some detail about the media outlet in the briefing paper.

Who is their audience? How influential is it (readership, viewing/listening figures)? Is it known for holding a particular stance?

Also, look back at how it has recently covered stories on your organisation and your sector.

Learning points from your last interview

Before you get into the next media opportunity, it is worth considering any lessons the spokesperson should remember from their last interview.

Are there things they did well that you would like them to repeat? Are there areas where they could do better?

Maybe you noticed they didn’t hold that crucial eye-contact with the reporter or repeated the negative language in the journalist’s question. Did they ramble or lack energy during their previous radio interview? 

Perhaps they gave a great example or used the bridging media training technique brilliantly when faced with a tricky question.

This is key information that should be included in a briefing paper. 

Aim

You briefing document should also outline the aim of the interview. What are you hoping to achieve?

The key consideration with identifying the objective is to think about what you want the audience to do, think, or feel once they have seen it.

If something has gone wrong, and you are in crisis communication mode, the aim could be to make people aware your organisation is sorry and the steps you have taken to improve the situation.

If you are launching a new product, the objective could be to show the difference it will make to people’s lives and how it differs from what is already on the market.

Message

This is how you achieve your interview goal you've just outlined in the briefing note. 

The temptation is to create several key messages.

But a good briefing document will whittle this down to just one.

While some people may think that is not enough, few watching or listening to an interview will remember more than one major point.

The message should be simple and brief. And it must be capable of being summarised in a single sentence of no more than 20 words, otherwise, it is likely to be too complicated for people to remember.

It may be worth reminding your spokesperson they do not need to memorise the message word for word.

Empowering them to use their words (within your corporate guidelines) will increase confidence and help bring messages to life.

Examples

The briefing note must also consider the examples you can use to support that message and make it resonate with the audience.

This is crucial because without strong examples, messages are just empty statements.

Examples need to be relatable and have a human element. The best ones are those which are personal to the spokesperson.

Personal stories and anecdotes help make the brand relevant, provide a human side to the organisation and help spokespeople speak with confidence and sound more fluent.

This may feel like a part of the briefing paper your spokesperson should fill in themselves. But, if you know them well, you will probably already have a good idea of examples and stories they could use.

Ultimately, this part of the briefing paper works best as a team effort. 

Questions

Even if the interview is on a good news story, thought still needs to be given in the briefing document to difficult questions that could be asked.

So, spend some time identifying them and planning how your spokesperson could answer them.

To give you some examples, if your organisation had a period of negative coverage a few months ago, that could be brought into the interview. If the CEO’s pay or bonus has attracted controversy in the past, then that too is likely to become a line of questioning, particularly if they are giving the interview.

Remember that the tough questions might be about wider issues. Your spokesperson could be asked to give their views on the impact of Brexit, how the government has dealt with the COVID crisis, or a competitor who has been in the headlines.

Over-prepare

This is where we run the risk of sounding a little contrary.

But you don’t want your briefing document to over-prepare your spokesperson for interviews.

You want to help them to produce a confident, assured performance.

You don’t want to turn them into a corporate talking robot who has memorised answers to specific questions. Or someone unable to create a natural-sounding conversation.

Additionally, a 10-page briefing paper will be too much for any spokesperson to absorb and recall when the pressure is on. It is information overload.

So, your briefing documents needs to be succinct and should be no more than two to three pages.