Friendly persuasion: How to excel in media interviews

November 29, 2007

Copyright © 2007 PRSA. All rights reserved.

By Carol M. Rosenbaum

The following article appears in the December issue of PR Tactics.

You are a civil engineering executive. A reporter from a national publication calls to discuss bridge safety. The reporter has a tight deadline and will call back in half an hour. This is a chance for your company to get national attention. Good public relations. What will you say?

Persuasive communication skills are essential to leadership. These skills are especially important in an interview with a reporter. For years, my firm has conducted surveys of people about to go through our leadership communications programs to determine their views of the media and their anxieties about interviews. There’s a lot of distrust of the media out there — a sense that the media isn’t always fair. So, many otherwise confident executives and experts get rattled when confronted with a microphone or a reporter’s pointed questions.

The following is an eight-point distillation of our insights into what makes many of our clients uncomfortable and uncertain at the prospect of being interviewed. Included is counsel, our strategic framework, for what to do about it.

1. Reporters don’t know my business or field, so I need to educate them.

Although it’s true there are few beat reporters anymore, don’t worry about reporters’ expertise — or lack of it. Your job is not to teach them, but to build a case, to persuade. That’s our foundation principle: “Advocate — don’t educate.”  Persuade, change attitudes and behavior — don’t merely inform.

This way of thinking is new for most people. The natural tendency in an interview is to respond to a reporter’s questions by giving as much information as possible. Instead, you need to build a persuasive case about issues that advance your business objectives, using information to support your case.

As an example, consider the scenario that opens this article. The reporter wants to interview you, a civil engineering executive, about bridge safety. Instead of just responding to questions, take a proactive stance: While acknowledging that many older bridges are classified deficient, build a case for why your firm’s bridges are well-designed, strong, safe and cost-efficient. Go into the interview with this agenda, and proactively sell it.

Defining and developing this point of view, and working it into the interview, are essential skills and the key to success. 
In building your case, always tell the truth. Don’t stretch it. Don’t fudge it. Don’t embellish it. Telling the truth is the right thing to do. Your company’s credibility will suffer immeasurably if you are dishonest.

You don’t, however, need to say everything you know. Often you can build what we call verbal fences — protecting people or issues you decide ahead of time you don’t want to discuss. For example: “The issue is in litigation and I can’t talk about the specifics” or  “It’s our policy not to discuss personnel issues. I’m sure you understand” or  “For reasons of company security we can’t reveal that. What I can tell you is . . .”

A word of caution: Don’t apologize for using a fence, don’t say, “No comment” (too abrupt), and don’t let the reporter talk you into changing your mind about the fence.

So how do you decide what your position, agenda or messages should be? It’s not done in a vacuum, nor is it the first thing you do. Over the years, we’ve seen too many knee-jerk responses to a reporter’s call, and too many companies scrambling to create message points before they define their target audience or decide on goals.  As a result, messages are hollow, unfocused and diluted. Opportunity missed. Before deciding on your position or message, first think about your audience. Do this long before a reporter’s query.

2. If I’m talking to reporters, they’re my audience.

Reporters are not your sole audience. It’s a two-step process, really. You’ll want to persuade them of your point of view, of course, so they’ll include it in their story, and so they’ll come back to you again. But reporters are also conduits to your real audience.

Before you can develop messages, ask yourself, whom do I really hope to influence? Whose behavior do I want to change by what I say? Consumers? Legislators? Shareholders?  The answers delineate your target audience, which could be a group or several groups.

Once you’ve defined your target audiences, analyze their demographics and interests. Then, as you build your case, choose a point of view that will resonate with them. Trying to reach consumers? Appeal to their desire for high quality at low cost. Want to influence regulators? Fashion positions that touch on safety, reliability and compliance.

Three major questions will help you frame your goals for any interview: What do you want your target audience to think? How do you want them to feel? What do you want them to do? The answers become your specific goals: To change attitudes, to influence feelings and to change behavior.

Evaluate how closely aligned your audience is now with your viewpoint and how strong a case you’ll have to present to change their minds.  These assessments are crucial to enable you to build positions and messages that will resonate and get results.

3. Reporters have all the control since they are doing the story and they are asking the questions.

You have more control than you think.  Advocating rather than educating is empowering, and gives you more focus, and therefore, more control in the exchange.

You’ve already defined and analyzed your target audiences and set goals for what you want them to think, feel and do. Now, build a persuasive case. It’s finally time to create those messages.
Your challenge will be working your position into the interview as artfully and often as you can.

4. I’m unsure of how to work in my own agenda if the reporter asks questions that lead me in a different direction.

Our mantra: Look for an opening  and make a segue.  Answer the question, but look for an opportunity to segue to your message points. For example: Let’s say you want to make a case for forward-looking changes you’re making in your health system. But the reporter asks you about the health system’s financial picture.

Question:  Why were your last quarter’s results so poor?

Answer:  We had many unanticipated expenses, coupled with rising costs for equipment and staff, but (here’s the segue) we’ve taken some innovative steps to ensure a strong financial picture for the rest of the year.  We’ve set up two new satellite outpatient facilities that will generate a growing revenue stream and we’ve created community education programs that will bring in patients.

The segue is a graceful way of connecting two otherwise unconnected points. This is hard to do at first and takes practice — but the results are worth it. Creating segues is proactive, rather than reactive. Taking control, rather than being controlled.

5. I’m afraid I won’t be convincing and credible.

Your credibility is built on public perceptions of your company’s, your industry’s and your own:

• trustworthiness
• competence
• strong convictions
• good will, including compassion

Think carefully about how your target audience perceives your company and industry regarding these traits, and decide which of them you’ll need to reinforce.

For example, if you represent an energy company and environmental groups are your target audience, they may have a negative perception of your industry and your company’s mercury emissions. So they may question your trustworthiness and competence.

Go into the interview prepared to proactively highlight your strong record, high standards and commitment to lowering emissions.  Do it with conviction.  This helps buttress your credibility, which, in turn, makes your target audience more open to your case.
Your strong credibility also helps you establish a good working relationship with the reporter. Being trustworthy, competent and caring, and acting with conviction — even while presenting your own viewpoints — helps your chances of being tapped as a resource for future stories.

6. In their stories, reporters often paraphrase me inaccurately.

Paraphrasing happens if you’re not concise. Boil down your persuasive positions to a few punchy sentences, including supporting points. For TV that means articulating your points in 10 to 15 seconds or less. Even for print and radio interviews, practice being concise. It helps your chances of being directly and accurately quoted. Speak too expansively, and the reporter will be far more likely to paraphrase you, and possibly misinterpret your point of view.

7. I’m afraid I won’t say things strongly and my body will give me away.

Having the mind-set of a leader means making strong word choices. Use clear, vivid, forceful language, free of jargon. For instance, “Our work force is highly trained,”or  “Our safety procedures are thoroughly and rigorously tested. ” 

Avoid words that express weakness:  “I think (believe/feel) we’re on the right track”  or  “I hope we can exceed our goals for the month”  or “We’ll try to meet your expectations.” Instead, choose authoritative words: “We’re convinced that” or  “We’ve taken strong measures to,”  or “We’ve committed to.”  Work on polishing phrases and language ahead of time.

Own your ideas, and express them with conviction. Keep in mind that conviction is one of the four elements of credibility, so keep your energy up.

Interestingly, we’ve found there’s a natural and unconscious tendency to mimic the energy level of the reporter. That can spell trouble if the reporter is soft-spoken and low-key. Remember that your interview is not a conversation with friends, but has a performance dimension.  Use your hands to express yourself. Maintain direct eye contact. During a phone interview, stand up and walk around. You’ll think more clearly and sound more engaged.

8. I don’t know how to handle hostile questions and I sometimes lose my cool.

Don’t take hostile questions personally. As spokesperson, you represent the company. Keep your composure. Allowing your ego to be bruised telegraphs weakness, and raises questions about your competence under duress.

In fact, a hostile question can be an opportunity to show mental agility and grace under fire. When asked a hostile question, such as, “How do you expect to be credible with your rotten reputation in forecasting market trends?” artfully disagree and take issue:  “I don’t see it that way,” or “On the contrary” or “Actually” This allows you to refute a point without being combative, and, just as important, without repeating the hostile premise. You don’t want to say, for example, “I don’t agree that we’ve got a rotten reputation.”  That just underscores the hostile premise in the audience’s mind, gives it added credibility and makes you vulnerable to being quoted as saying something negative instead of positive.

In the end, good media interviews don’t just happen. They result from thoughtful preparation, a persuasive case built on strategically crafted messages, verbal skill, and an understanding that a solid interview supports your company’s and your personal goals.

Carol M. Rosenbaum is senior associate with Martel & Associates, a leadership communication firm in Gulfstream, Fla., and Philadelphia. For more, visit www.martelandassociates.com.

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