Good News Gal

Preparing for an 8 Second Sound Byte

When you break it down, typically you have only 8 seconds to get your point across during a broadcast news clip. That's not a lot of time. All too often people waste the opportunity to deliver their key messages (often referred to as talking points) effectively during a broadcast interview.

It makes me cringe when I hear someone answer a journalist with a simple "yes" or "no" answer and don't use the the question as an opportunity to answer with a statement on who they are & their mission.

It makes me even more nuts when a spokesperson uses the interview to talk about their emotions towards a particular topic. What a waste of an opportunity to hear a sound byte such as "I am so excited," or "this is awesome." 

It's OK to show some emotion as long as you do it before or after stating one of your talking points. Like this... "I am blown away by amount of support that we received today by the local community. The ADA relies on # volunteers each year to help raise the money needed for diabetes research and advocacy programs." The first sentence in this example is based on emotion and the second includes a key message about volunteers and the mission of the organization.

A good way to evaluate your interview is to ask yourself if the audience is now equipped with new information that they can act upon.  If the answer is no, then you better pick up the phone and arrange for a session with media coach.

I heard a great interview on the NPR Toronto radio today.  Living in Upstate New York, I sometimes pick up Canadian air waves. The topic of the interview was heart disease. The radio personality asked the guest on the show, a woman who represented a local Canadian organization that supported research programs for heart disease, why should woman be concerned about heart disease. The guest began answering the question by explaining what organization she represented, their mission and capabilities, startling facts about heart disease and then finished up by answering the question with statistics on women & heart disease. She got all of this information across in about 4 sentences. Pretty good, huh?  I think so!

A Model Spokesperson

I was sitting in my office pounding away on my computer (with one of the major news networks on in the background, CNN or MSNBC) when the media first announced that after a three day search rescuers found Michael Auberry, the 12 year old boy who was lost in the North Carolina mountains.

I had to stop what I was doing so that I could strategically situate myself in front of the TV to see who was delivering the breaking news via press conference. I was blown away by National Parks Service spokeswoman, Tina White's, professional manner and ability to articulate the message.

This is by far one of the best spokespersons that I have listened to in a long time! Why?  Check it out for yourself. Click here to view video from the press conference.

The official delivered the breaking news with accurate facts, incorporated them into a time-line and delivered it with just enough emotion to get her point across - that this was a joyous occasion for many.  When asked "how do you feel," she responded, "I feel great" (with a big grin on her face and then went into further explanation). Way to go Tina! Now that's a brave woman who isn't afraid to show some emotion in the public eye! I see no problem with that as long as the emotion is real (and appropriate) and does not become burdensome to the audience.

When she took questions from the media, Tina responded with confidence and was willing to answer questions. I've seen many spokespersons during Q&A sessions who appear hesitant because they either don't have all of the facts (and are afraid to admit it), or that they "can't disclose all of the facts at that time" becomes used too frequently and valuable information never gets released during the conference.  Talk about a total waste of time for everyone involved! So many spokespersons are afraid to the "the story." This was not the case with Tina White. And I understand that this is partially because she had good news to report. However, if you followed this story early on in the search, she didn't have "good news" to report yet her spokesperson skills still shined.

At one point during the press conference, a journalist questioned Tina on the accuracy of her timing of when the initial report from rescuers was released. I think she may have been off by a few minutes.  Although her response to this question was outstanding!  She kept her cool and admittedly said that her timing could be off and explained why. She certainly regained her credibility in a matter of seconds!

The only thing that Tina could have done better would have been to restate the questions posed during Q&A before answering them. At times it was difficult to hear the media.   

The media response's in this particular crisis was quite unique. It was the first day that the media was allowed to visit the site where the missing boyscout was last seen.  The initial announcement that rescuers found the missing boyscout happened to come through at that time. 

A happy ending to what could have been a tragic story.  The type of stories us publicists just love to work on!

Off the Record!

Today, I had an opportunity to meet with top senior fashion editors for some of the most popular luxury lifestyles magazines during national media interviews in New York City.

During one of the interviews, I had the priveldge of meeting Ms. Karen Alberg Grossman. Karen is the editor-in-chief of MR Magazine, a fashion trade publication that she launched with Stu Nifoussi, publisher, in 1990.

In the January issue, Karen's editor's letter entitled "Off the Record" discussed her frustration with publicists monitoring their spokespersons every word during a media interview and executives who are reluctant to discuss industry issues "on the record." You can read her letter here.

Karen also brings up a good point on "Why some of our industry’s best thinkers never get credit for their thoughts." It's because they are too afraid to take responsibility for what they say.

One thing we have to remember as good publicists is to work with spokespersons in developing key messages prior to going on any media interview. We should be asking ourselves whether or not the message(s) tells a story that is newsworthy, noteworthy and would appeal to the audience that you are trying to target.

Karen's points are valid. If you are talk "off the record" too often, then you run the risk of losing an opportunity to get your message(s) out and positioning yourself as the expert on the particular subject matter. Afterall, that's what PR is all about, right? You can also end up really irritating a reporter who sets out to cover a story, but comes back without any newsworthy informaiton - and nothing to report on.  There's a fine line between giving the reporter just enough information that  will help gain media coverage, but not giving out information that could become alienating.

There certainly are times when it is appropriate, however, to talk "off the record." For example, if you are trying to capture a reporter's attention prior to announcing something and it is necessary to release information as it unfolds. Or, when informing a reporter on a particular occurrence that you feel is necessary to share,but could jeopardize your employment status, reputation, etc.

If you do decide to conduct business "off the record," I highly recommend having a written agreement between the parties involved stating exactly what the disclosure guidelines are and an effective date. I suggest shying away the verbal agreements. It gets too confusing to remember what is fair game to discuss publicly.

Karen gives all of us publicists some great advice to follow!