How To Look Like A Pro: Media Training Tips 101

One of the fundamentals of PR is having clients meet with media for interviews on radio, television and in print. It’s important that when the client goes to these engagements they’re fully versed in speaking with media and have a good understanding of how to conduct themselves.

Here are 5 tips to ensure that you are well on their way to being trained for media interaction.

SET GOALS

Work with your PR agency or firm to set goals around your messaging for each appearance. Be sure that you’re considering your objective, strategy, tactics and audience for each spot – as the messaging may need to be altered to cater to the specific outlet.

BODY LANGUAGE

A tense person can have a huge impact on the credibility of the organization or the message that is being conveyed. Remember that practice makes perfect, and it’s worthwhile to have a PR pro grill you before you head in to the interview.

STAY FOCUSED

If the interview goes off track, it’s important to be able to bridge the conversation and move it back to the talking points you may have. Work towards having some conversational tools to use should you need to redirect the interviewer.

NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD

What you say and do may be used against you in a court of media. Be sure that everything you discuss is something you’d be comfortable seeing on TV or in the news.

SUMMARIZE

When the interview comes to a close, be sure to have a handle on how to summarize everything you’ve touched on and re-enforce any talking points or plugs you might need to make.

Media interviews are should never be done ‘on the fly’. You’ll feel much more comfortable, and look like a pro if you enter these situations fully prepared. If you’d like more info, or to obtain media training, EDPR offers a range of preparatory sessions to make sure you walk out a winner at every engagement. Feel free to shoot us an email with any questions you might have.

•