Remember Janet Jackson's infamous wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl? The NFL instituted a change to the half-time show after that incident - a change that you can use to your benefit in your media interviews...
Bad things happen. They can happen in any sector or industry. For the most part, the public will not judge your organization on the circumstances of your crisis. They are much more likely to judge you on the way you handle it.
You wouldn’t get the guys at the quick oil change place to install a new engine in your classic car. You wouldn’t go to your dentist for complicated dental surgery. I think you see where I’m going with this…
When companies let their PR or marketing agency facilitate their media interview training sessions, they’re taking the path of least resistance. They’ll say things like, “It’s included in our monthly retainer" or “We already have a relationship with them”.
Read MoreWhen is your media interview over. That’s easy. It’s when they stop asking questions, right? Not so fast! There are a lot of things you can do or say after the last question that can derail your media relations plans. It’s never over until it’s really over. Here are a few things to consider on that note.
Interview regret…
It’s that nagging feeling, right after you’ve given a media interview, that you didn’t quite nail it. That you could have done a better job.
If only I had answered that one question differently. Did I say ‘um’ too many times? Could they see that I was sweating? They’re not going to put that last thing I said in the story, are they? If they do, our competitors are going to have a field day with it. What’s my boss going to say?
Cue anxiety. Self doubt. Interview regret.
Read MoreIt's the Achilles heel of way too many spokespeople. And it's completely preventable if you know what to do. The #1 reason why people underperform in media interviews is that they don't make the time to prepare in advance. You don't need a ton of time. Just 20-30 minutes. But for whatever reason, spokespeople seem to think they can improvise a media interview and have it go well.
Take a leap of faith and throw the teleprompter away (or at least sell it on eBay). When your executive does a corporate video reading from a teleprompter, they look stiff and stilted. There's something about reading from a screen that just takes the soul out of your videos. I know you want to stick to the script. But there's a better way.
No, I'm not talking about walking across hot coals. But there is one element of what Tony Robbins talks about that can be particularly helpful when it comes to preparing for a media interview.
You did an interview with a journalist but you or someone at your company didn't like one of the quotes in the story or didn't like the way your company was characterized. Should you go back and ask for a correction? Here's my take on that question.
There's a line in The Art of War that says every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought. I really believe this is also true in media relations - a point that I expand on in this clip. I also give a real-life example of an interview I did a while back with The Canadian Press and how I put these techniques into practice (and how you can do it too).
"Is there any way to make your association's good news story more appealing to journalists?" Someone asked me this question after my talk on media relations at the CSAE National Conference in Newfoundland. Here's my take on getting reporters to pay attention to your media pitches... FYI, I reference my sister a few times in this clip. Just for context, so you know who I'm referring to, my sister is Carly Weeks, a health reporter at The Globe and Mail.
One of the quickest things you can do to improve the quality of your media coverage is to focus on creating shorter, more powerful messages that tell your story in a way that will be interesting to journalists and your audience.
When your messages are too long, journalists are forced to edit your answers, which increases the chances that a partial answer may be taken out of context.
So...how long should your messages be? This is my take on that question.
I did a talk in January on the importance of doing videos for your business. For years, I've been telling companies and clients this but I refrained from doing it for my own business. The biggest reason is that it's outside my comfort zone. I prefer to be the guy behind the camera. But I asked everyone in that room to create a video and I promised to do one myself. So here it is. If I had to do just one video, this had to be the topic. Persistence. I truly believe that's the main reason I've had any degree of success in building a business over the past 14 years. The link to the video is in my bio. Thanks for watching and please share it with anyone who needs a nudge or a kick in the butt to pursue their goals.
Read MoreBeing asked to prepare a company's spokespeople to deal with the media is a huge honor and it's a big responsibility. One way or another, as a media trainer, your ability (or inability) to coach these people will impact the quality of their company's media coverage, their brand and, to an extent, their professional legacies. Because there's so much riding on the outcome of your media training program, if you're serious about preparing your executives to deal with the media as effectively as possible, you need to stay away from media training 'tourists'...
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