Training can maximize your company's media exposure
By Jay MacDonald • Bankrate.com

When the news media comes knocking on your company's door, it often represents a golden opportunity to get your message across in a very credible way to your customers, your investors, your employees and your potential partners.

Are you ready to seize the moment?

Most small-business managers are not, according to Stephen Friedman, chief executive trainer for Detroit-based Franco Public Relations Group. The main reason: they haven't gone through formal media training.

"You wouldn't send your sales staff out without sales training," says Friedman. "In the same way, what kind of an impact can your CEO have in an interview if he doesn't have media training?

"One interview can affect your stock price, your reputation, your whole brand. If you're not going to send your sales people out without sales training, you sure don't want to send your media spokesman out without media training."

When the spotlight's on
We are all well steeped in interviews. From our daily newspaper to radio and television to the Internet, we are bombarded by the thoughts of others. But surprisingly few of us have ever had the camera lights trained on us, the microphone stuck in our face, the reporter with pad in hand asking us for information.

It can be disorienting. Your pulse may race, your face may flush, your breathing may quicken and your mind may unaccountably go blank. Some find themselves unable to discuss their business in layman's terms, resorting to shoptalk. A few have never actually thought about their company's key messages before.

And chances are slim that, as a small business, you will have the opportunity to do enough media interviews to become proficient in the art of giving an effective one.

The good news is, with a little training, you may be able to knock one out of the park, even on your first at-bat, according to Erik Curren, general manager for the western division of Fenton Communications.

"Many things in media relations can be done just great in-house, but with media training, you get a lot more value by going outside," he says. "It's almost like therapy. Our clients find that the greatest benefit their representatives get from media training is just to have a third party that is more objective be able to give an honest assessment of how the executive is doing talking to the media. The executive might think he's great, and the people who work with him might not be able to tell him there are certain issues that he needs to work on."

Preparing to meet the press
So, what do you need to know to meet the press? Here are some key steps to take - before, during and after the interview.

Before a reporter calls, it's a good idea to address three questions internally:

1. Who will speak for the company?

2. What message or messages do you want to communicate through the media?

3. What is your procedure for handling media inquiries?

When contacting a small company, reporters will want to speak with a principal, the CEO or president, or failing that, a vice president. Corporations often have a VP of communications for just this purpose. Remember that whomever you select or whomever the media might stumble upon may be identified as a representative, even if it's your janitor.

"They shouldn't get ruffled; they shouldn't get nervous; they shouldn't look like they're trying to hide something," advises Curren. "They need to be confident, clear, cooperative, and give reporters what they need in a concise way, but that also serves the interests of the company."

Next, settle on your key messages; one is best, four at the max.

"It has to be something specific and something newsworthy," Friedman says. "During the interview, you want to know what you want the headline of the story to be."

And don't forget to establish a company policy of where to direct media inquiries. If you don't, they may be fielded off-the-cuff by whoever answered the phone (bad) or end up on the voice mail of someone out of pocket and be lost due to the reporter's deadline (worse).

In addition, before consenting to an interview, find out who the reporter is, what their story is about, who their audience is, who else is being interviewed for that piece, what their deadline is and how you can reach them.

During the interview
The big day is here. You've done your homework days ago. You've got your key messages and have anticipated likely questions.

Here's how to hit that home run:

• Talk and think in sound bites. Speak in simple, declarative sentences, and avoid rambling explanations and lengthy, run-on sentences.
• Stay "on message." Don't get off on tangents that dilute your main message.
• Deflect "off message" questions by "bridging" back to your key message.
• Avoid jargon, especially acronyms and other industry slang.
• Remain calm. Getting defensive or angry will only hurt your message. Remember, the reporter will always have the last word.
• Don't guess. If you don't know an answer, say so. Don't make things up.
• Speak with the reporter but to the audience.
• Use the reporter's name. This helps to establish a friendly atmosphere.
• Never say "no comment." This response generally comes across as an admission of guilt or complicity.

"It's a physical event. We go so far as to recommend what to eat before an interview -- a very light meal," Curren quips. "Make sure you get a good night's sleep. Don't obsess about the interview right beforehand. Do your preparation a few days before so that right before the interview you can relax."

Friedman agrees that as unnerving as that first visit to a radio studio or television sound stage can be, the worst thing a company can do is to not talk to the media at all.

"People don't realize that the story is going to run, with or without your version of the truth in it," he says. "If you don't provide your version of the truth, somebody else's version of the truth is going to appear in that story. You can't be complaining that the story came out wrong if you refused to talk to the media."

After the interview
The ordeal is behind you. You've sweated through your shirt. You're relieved. But there's still one important step: remaining available to the reporter.

"After the interview, where things often go wrong is the reporter goes back and writes everything up and their editor sees it and there may be more questions," says Friedman. "That's one bottleneck where everything seems to go wrong. People tend to think that once they've done their interview, it's over. But in fact, you're only about two-thirds of the way through the process."

Mastering the subtleties of the effective interview isn't easy. Politicians and movie stars spend years at it.

The basic techniques, however, can be learned in a one-day media training session. Here you will be coached, critiqued and educated on the basics for an average fee of $1,000 to $5,000.

"We find that our clients, after media training, become more intelligent consumers of media. They start to watch TV and look at interviews and say, 'Oh yeah, he's doing that; he's using this technique,'" Curren says.

"It's like ice-skating -- the people who do it well make it look really easy."

Bottom line: Depending upon the nature of your business, professional media training may well be worth the modest investment to make the most of your 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Jay MacDonald is a contributing editor based in Florida.

-- Posted: Feb. 20, 2002