There’s a world of media training advice out there. Some of it good, some of it great, much of it quite dated. The good news is that you don’t need to be an expert to talk to the press about your company, you just need to be a human who is prepared. If you’re lucky enough to get a press interview request before you have someone leading your PR efforts, this is your cheat sheet.
After you develop and internalize your key messaging, it’s just a matter of understanding a handful of things to do before, during, and after your interview. This isn’t an exhaustive list but it covers many of the basics.
Before the interview
While you might be inclined to wing it - resist the urge. To maximize your chances of a successful interview that results in actual press coverage, take a little time to prep. No, you don’t have to memorize canned responses and zingers, you just have to run through this quick checklist.
Develop your key messaging. The most important thing before any interview is to understand the messages you want to relay. Prioritize developing a key messaging package for your news and take the time to internalize it.
Research the journalist. Here’s your opportunity to turn the table a little bit and do some research on the journalist. Familiarize yourself with their focus areas, priorities, and recent articles. Not only is this a great way to discover ice breakers, it can help you flag and prep for tricky areas before the call.
Schedule a prep call. If the request is inbound or it’s a long-form interview, you can ask the journalist for topic areas they would like to discuss so you can prep in advance. .
Stay current on the latest news. Are there news topics or conversations happening that are relevant - even tangentially - to your business? There is always the potential that a journalist will ask you about it, so stay up to date on those topics and practice bridging them back to your key messaging.
Dial down your stress. Taking a few deep breaths to focus before starting helps signal your brain to turn off the fight-or-flight response.
During the interview
Haven’t had media training yet? Get familiar with the fundamentals and you’ll be fine.
Stay on message. Pause. Answer. Bridge. Message. That’s your order of operations. Answer questions in a way that help you bridge back to your news. Your goal is to maximize the inclusion of your key messages in the interview, and minimize the inclusion of anything else.
Use short, complete, declarative sentences. Keeping your (on-message) answers short helps make you more quotable, and helps avoid a rambling aside becoming the story.
Assume that everything is on the record. If you really want to say something off the record, you have to indicate that before you say the thing. There isn’t a universal consensus for what “on the record” actually means anymore, so just assume that if you say it, it’s fair game.
When you don’t know the answer, it’s okay to say you’ll follow up. Don’t lie, don’t say “no comment,” and don’t try to wing it. You can also frame your response by what you DO know by saying, “Here’s what I know…”
Be a human, having a human conversation. Maintain steady eye contact, lean forward slightly, and speak more slowly than may be comfortable. Speak with passion and energy, and remember to pause before answering a question and gesture to emphasize points.
Pretend you’re in-person. If you’re on a phone interview, stand up (don’t pace) and gesture with your hands the same way you would in person. Smile as you answer to sound more approachable. Don’t focus on your computer, focus on the conversation you’re having.
Avoid common blunders. Defaulting to old messaging, overusing cliche industry jargon (disrupt! SoLoMo! reimagine!), talking about yourself instead of your company, and straying from key messaging are top offenders.
After the interview.
There are two phases post-interview - the time between the interview and publication, and the time after a piece has been published. Here’s your checklist of what to do and when:
Follow up via email. As soon as possible after the interview, send the reporter any outstanding information you promised, high-res files for any photos, screenshots, or logos, and relevant URLs. Include a reminder about embargo timing if relevant. Thank her/him for their time, reiterate your key messages in an authentic, genuine way, and offer to help with anything else they need for the story.
Respond quickly. The time between the interview and before the anticipated publication is about maximizing the chances of a piece actually going live. The reporter may reach out on a tight deadline with fact-checks, follow-up questions, and requests for images. Gather what they need quickly and efficiently to keep the potential story moving toward publication.
Ask for corrections immediately. Once a story goes live, do a quick scan before you share it out. Look for spelling mistakes, factual errors, or broken links. It’s totally acceptable (and often welcome) for you to shoot the reporter a quick email to let them know about things that need to be corrected. The reporter’s opinion/editorial of your news, however, isn’t fair game for correction. Keep in mind that any pushback you give to negative (or less than positive) coverage is on the record. Also keep in mind that it’s up to the journalist (and the publication) whether to link back to your site.
Say thank you. Take a moment to send a genuine thank you to the reporter for any neutral to positive coverage. Consider including a line or two that you particularly like. Offer to keep them posted on future news.
Handle disappointments gracefully. There’s an old saying - ads are what you pay for, press is what you pray for. There’s no guarantee ever of a story going live until it has gone live. It’s common for stories to die on the vine. It’s a disappointment, even more so when you’ve spent a lot of time on it. Be graceful in your handling of this.
Amplify the story. Send an email to your investors and friends of the company with a link to your news, some suggested copy, and a request to share out. Make it easy for them to help. Do the same with your employees, asking (not telling) them to help share the news and giving them a little guidance on how to frame it. In your own social channels, tag and thank the journalist and the publication.
Put your new coverage to work. In addition to sharing with your network, include favorable press mentions in email signatures, your social media profiles, and your company’s press page. Distribute to your sales team to help give them extra incentive in pitch meetings. If it’s top-tier coverage, consider including the name of the outlet or logo on the company press page or potentially home page and pitch decks.
We’ll be doing more posts on media training in the future. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me at jamie@fuelcapital.com.