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Tuesday, June 29, 2004
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VOLUME 3
ISSUE 4
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Tech Image is in the business of helping our clients gain their unfair share of media coverage. Check out this section to see some of our latest successes. |
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Click Below to See Some Of the Top Placements
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Tech Image In The News
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Tech Image Ltd. Celebrates Success with Move to New Offices
Technology public relations agency upgrades space and ambiance with move to Buffalo Grove
[FULL STORY]
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Mike Nikolich Nominated for Ernst & Young's Illinois Entrepreneur of the Year
Each year, Ernest & Young chooses from a select pool of candidates for its annual Illinois Entrepreneur of the Year. This year, a new name was thrown into the ring – Tech Image’s Mike Nikolich.
[FULL STORY]
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Mike Nikolich Elected to NIU Alumni Association Board
Tech Image CEO is going back to where it all started – Northern Illinois University – as the newest member of the university’s Alumni Association Board. Read about this latest honor, and how Mike plans to contribute to the organization’s future.
[FULL STORY]
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Survey Results
Last month we asked if our PR Intelligence Report readership would be interested in receiving brief promotional e-mails from Tech Image. Nearly 55% said no, while a little more than 1/3 would be ok with it. The remaining 10% or so was indifferent. Looks like we’ll have to find another way to communicate our basket of services to you!
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Seven Simple Steps for Successful Media Interviews
by Tim Boivin
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Interviews can be daunting, especially if it is your first experience working with the media. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. With the right preparation before the interview, even a media novice will be able to successfully communicate the company’s message.
Here are seven simple steps that Tech Image recommends to its clients as they prepare for every interview. Follow these steps, and you will effectively get your message out in the media and become a hero within your organization:
Step 1 – Be Prepared
It sounds simple, but in today’s hectic business world, it’s very easy to put off preparation for an interview. However, it is important - not just for you, but for your company – that you set aside some time before the interview to make sure you know what you want to say and how you want to say it.
That may sound complicated, but there is a way to get this done quickly. First, imagine the headline you want to see on the story. Then, use that as a framework for setting a goal for the interview. Don’t make the goal overly broad, but instead set a narrow focus that will enable you to “stay on message,” as the politicians say.
Think of the three messages you want to emphasize during the interview. They may include the business problem that your company is addressing, how your end users are solving that problem, and the benefits they are reaping from using your products. Stick to one or two examples, instead of trying to cover your entire portfolio of customers to illustrate the answer.
One other thing you will want to do is to research the media outlet and reporter to see what they have covered in the past, and how they have covered those issues. That will help you get a feel for how the reporter works and what you should cover in the interview. A good PR agency will provide this information in advance of the interview.
However, if you don’t have a PR firm, you can do this yourself when the appointment is made for the interview by asking the reporter for the media outlet’s home page and media kit URLs. From there, you can find out about the publication’s readership, which is actually the audience you are ultimately speaking to through the reporter. If it is a member-only media outlet, do a Google search on the reporter to get his biography or examples of his work.
Step 2 – Think of the “Quote”
Once you have done that preliminary prep work, your next tactic should be to think about the quote that you would like to see in print. As a reporter for almost two decades, I developed five to 10 questions prior to an interview that I thought would elicit the information I was seeking. By knowing the reporter, the media outlet, the readership, and previous coverage, you can do the same in developing your answers. Consider the possible questions that could be asked, and then develop and practice concise replies.
One important thing to remember for general trend stories is that your primary role is to inform the reporter, not sell yourself or your company. If it comes off as too “advertorial,” the reporter may end up not using anything you said.
How do you do this? Again, go to the problem/solution/benefit format. Think of one of your clients (or prospects – or potential prospects) and use that company as an example that illustrates how to solve that problem and achieve significant benefits in the process. Of course, along the way your company or product is going to be mentioned as the catalyst for that change, which will help build awareness in your target markets.
Step 3 – Simplify Your Message
One of the most common mistakes made in interviews is when the interview subject realizes he is in trouble. He keeps talking and talking and talking, in the faint hope that eventually he will talk his way out of the fix he got himself into. By simplifying your message with short, concise answers, you can avoid this.
How? Focus on the reporter’s audience and draw a common ground. Stress the benefits, not the features, of how your company or product helps solve a problem. If you know of a compelling statistic that will help the reporter shape his story, offer it to him. Reporters (and their editors) like numbers that communicate that this is indeed a serious issue.
Finally, keep tying your responses back to those three key messages that you developed as you prepared for the interview. That doesn’t mean you have to repeat the messaging mantra over and over and over again. Again, you will not be offering the reporter anything of value if you do that. However, you do want to look at the concise responses you are prepared to give to the questions you are anticipating, and ensure those answers build off of the three key messages you wanted to get out in the interview.
Step 4 – Avoid Technobabble and Jargon
I’ve worked with the military, retail and technology industries during more than 25 years in the media and public relations, so if there are two things I know, it’s technobabble and jargon. They are the biggest enemies of anyone trying to get their message out through the media. The challenge is knowing when it is OK to use technobabble and jargon, and when you need to avoid it like the plague. It all comes down to the reporter’s knowledge level.
By doing the initial preparation, you can quickly determine the level of expertise the reporter has in your topic area. For instance, if they have previously covered your Advanced Application Random Digital Voice-Activated Radio Keyboard (AARDVARK), then you know they will understand that animal of an acronym when it starts rolling off your tongue.
If not, it is best to gauge early on in the interview the reporter’s knowledge level. Ask them if they have heard of AARDVARK, and if they understand why their readers would want to know about it. Then shape your messaging for the rest of the interview based on the reporter’s knowledge level.
If you are dealing with a reporter who has a very basic knowledge of your technology, it is best to be brief and use common words they understand. Try to paint word pictures that clearly communicate the product or technological situation you are discussing. If you can think of appropriate analogies, use those to help draw the word pictures for the reporters.
Most important, keep your answers short and to the point. Technologists often speak at such a high level that it is difficult for the reporter to comprehend what they are trying to say. By keeping your answers short and to the point of the reporter’s question, you will effectively communicate your message while also providing the reporter with the information he needs for his story.
Step 5 – Stay Cool
Whether you are preparing for a big sales conference or developing a presentation for your executive board, preparation builds confidence, and it shows when the spotlight is on. The same is true for media interviews.
If you are doing the interview in person, be sure to make eye contact with the interviewer, and avoid having your attention wander to other things going on in the background. If you are doing the interview by phone, close your door and clear your desk (and your computer’s desktop – especially your email box) of anything that may distract you during the interview.
No matter where you are, mutli-tasking during an interview is not a good idea. If the interviewer doesn’t have your full attention, you may not fully comprehend the reporter’s question, or you may give an answer that opens the door up to an unexpected line of questioning that could put you – and your company – into a tight spot.
Focus clearly on what the reporter is saying, and you will be able to stay cool when it comes time to answer those tough questions that you may not have anticipated. It is also important not to get forced into hypothetical corners, which could cast your company in a bad light. And avoid trashing the competition, even if the reporter tries to steer you down that path. That only opens the door for your competition to point out your company’s own shortcomings when the reporter contacts them – and believe me, he will.
Step 6 – Take the Time to Get it Right
You know your stuff, and that’s great. But there is a danger in being the man or woman who knew too much. People who are more interested in what they know instead of what the interviewer wants to learn are more apt to make assumptions very quickly about a reporter’s interest. They dive head-first into answering a question before the reporter has even finished stating the entire question.
Besides demonstrating good manners, there is another reason you should listen to the entire question and not interrupt. Most reporters don’t ask simple, one-sentence questions. Often, they spend a few sentences describing a certain situation or conflict, and then ask for your perspective of both sides of the issue. By jumping in early, you may make a totally inaccurate assessment of what interests the reporter; or worse yet, you may provoke the reporter into a line of questioning he didn’t even plan to cover. Reporters love it when that door gets opened free of charge, and they barge through quickly.
Also, I counsel my clients to not get pressed into a quick response. Take a quick moment after the question is asked to pause in thought before blurting out your response, especially if you think there may be landmines along the way. This enables you to decide how to shape your key messaging into your response. You can also buy some more thinking time by restating the question back to the interviewer to make sure you have it right. You don’t want to drag every question out like this – just the more difficult ones that you think may lead you up some dark alleys.
Reporters are note-takers, so you want to make sure they are getting what you said correctly on the record. However, if you have a quick speaking pace, that may be difficult for the reporter to do, especially if you are going a mile a minute. By keeping your answers short and concise, you can avoid this problem.
If a question does require a longer answer, pause at key intervals to make sure the reporter “gets it.” Listen or watch to see how quickly the reporter is writing or typing up notes. If you get a sense they can’t keep up, pause or slow down. One very smooth way to do this is to ask the reporter periodically if they understand the answer. That gives the reporter the chance to catch his breath, and gives you a brief pause to develop your messaging strategy for the rest of your answer.
Always Speak on the Record
During the perfunctory introductions and the post-interview chit-chat, you can often find yourself revealing information that you thought would be “off the record.” Don’t kid yourself. Once you are speaking to a reporter, everything is on the record. Seemingly innocuous preliminary and post-interview comments very often do find their way into print, and those statements can dramatically change a story.
Once the “official” interview starts, you may be asked a tough question that you aren’t sure how to answer. If you are not sure of how to respond, avoid saying “No comment.” Instead, say “That’s a good question. Let me get back to you.” That buys you time to seek out counsel off-line after the interview with your PR agency or corporate communications department before responding to the question.
Finally, don’t let your guard down. One charming interview doesn’t make life-long friends. Reporters are hired to do just that – report the news. In a way, they are mercenaries, but that doesn’t mean they have to be adversaries. As the desk sergeant used to say in Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there.”
The art of participating in a media interview is really like your other business processes. Your ability to effectively manage that process will enable you to get the most out of your interactions with the media. By following these seven simple steps, you will have a much greater chance of successfully getting your message out to your key publics through the media.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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Published by
Tech Image Ltd.
Copyright © 2004 Tech Image Ltd. . All rights reserved.
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Buffalo Grove, IL 60089,
888-4-TECH-PR
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