Keep it Cool, Folks….

The media can often be seen as a scary thing, especially if you’re being interviewed on camera, over the airwaves or for a newspaper report. And it’s likely that at some point every organisation – be it a council, a private company or a charity – could be called to speak on camera or radio.

But journalists aren’t a group of people you should be afraid of. In fact, they can be one of your most vital assets when it comes to telling your story – and through them, you have a chance to reach customers, clients, community groups or anyone else you want.

We’re recently helped one of our clients get to grips with how to handle a media enquiry, stay cool under pressure and come up with an engaging but appropriate response to interview questions. The training gave our clients a new perspective and helped them to understand the role the media can play – both negative and positive – in shaping their reputation.

They learned how in any media interview it is important to:

• tell the truth (clear and accurate information)
• go straight to the point and MAKE IT INTERESTING
• use interesting examples to help add colour and emotion to a subject
• avoid jargon – you might understand it, but the odds are the audience won’t

But what about the bad news? After chatting it through, it was understood that the words “no comment” are a taboo phrase as far as we’re concerned. The best thing is to always make a statement, if only to put across a message of sympathy, or have a chance to put your version of events across.

We advised:

• show concern and apologise if you need to
• tell people what action you’re taking
• give examples to support and give credibility to your reassurance

Media training was a great way to help our clients understand how to engage with journalists, what to say

and when, and how to handle publicity once it’s happened. It’s something we’d recommend for any organisation… and our door’s always open!