Spokespeople should be properly briefed before being interviewed by a journalist or any other media interviewer. The better the brief, the better equipped they will be to prepare for the interview. A good brief will give them more confidence and allow them to anticipate questions that are likely to come up.
Going in blind will put the spokesperson in a vulnerable position and experienced journalists could use this to their advantage. It could also damage the spokesperson’s credibility and put his or her company at risk.
A written brief in time to prepare
A simple written brief with bullet points will suffice, and the spokesperson should receive this in plenty of time to prepare for the interview. A proper briefing should be a prerequisite for all types of interviews, including situations where spokespeople are interviewed by the company’s PR consultant or a hired journalist for writing a press release.
The brief should include basic information such as:
The purpose of the interview.
Whether it is face-to-face or on the phone.
The topic to be discussed.
A few discussion points around the topic.
A two-sentence CV of the media interviewer.
The name of the publication or radio or TV station.
The type of article or programme.
Whether the interview is face-to-face or on the phone.
The venue, address and directions if applicable.
The time allotted for the interview.
Handling sensitive issues
The spokesperson should also be aware of any sensitive company issues that might come up during the interview, such as a pending deal, merger or acquisition, an ongoing court case, market rumours or an old skeleton in the company’s cupboard. Journalists have been known to have hidden agendas when they request interviews on a seemingly benign topic.
The brief should specify how to handle with these questions if they come up, for example with a statement like, “I am afraid our corporate policy dictates that only our CEO can discuss that,” or “That question would need to be directed to our media communications people.”
If a formal interview has been arranged by the company’s internal media liaison or communications department or by an external PR company, the person who set it up should give the spokesperson a written brief outlining the interviewer’s expectations.
Similarly, if interviews have been requested by a number of journalists, for example as a result of a news leak or market rumours, it is even more important for the spokesperson to be briefed on the situation, the type of questions that are likely to come up and how to handle them. Spokespeople should be briefed on a similar basis when preparing to address a press conference or when making a presentation to any audience that might include journalists.
Unexpected phone calls
Even when spokespeople receive an unexpected direct phone call from a journalist or radio interviewer looking for comment it will pay them to obtain a brief on the spot by establishing a few things before responding. For example, by saying something like, “So that I can give you the best value here, could you tell me which publication this is for and what type of article you are writing.”
Depending on the circumstances, it might also be useful to establish whether the journalist has spoken to or is intending to speak to anyone else on the topic. Asking questions like these will give the spokesperson time to collect his or her thoughts and respond more confidently to questions.
In addition, knowing how long the interview is likely to be, will help the spokesperson to prioritise the information he or she is imparting and be even more concise if it is a short interview.
No excuse for not being briefed
During the media training workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions I run, spokespeople often complain that they are never briefed properly for an interview. My answer to this is that if they should insist on a brief or draw one up themselves, because if they don’t do this they could jeopardise their progress with becoming a sort-after spokesperson.
CEOs and directors of small businesses that don’t have their own marketing departments or external PR companies will need to brief themselves for media interviews. In my experience, many spokespeople in this category are a lot better at this than some of those who come from bigger companies and have a marketing and PR department to support them.
Having lunch with a journalist?
Spokespeople should also be briefed when they are meeting a journalist for lunch who they have not been exposed to before. During a recent one-on-one media training session the spokesperson told me his marketing people had organised a lunch with a journalist the following day.
I asked him the purpose of the lunch and he said he had not been told, and did not know anything about the journalist or the publication. He had just been told to pitch up at the restaurant. When I asked him how he felt about this, he said he was quite nervous because he didn’t know what to expect or what the journalist expected from him.
I suggested he, his company and the journalist might achieve more out of the lunch date if he asked the person who had set up the meeting for a brief. I also suggested that if he found out more about the journalist’s publication and the topics he or she writes about beforehand, he could break the ice by showing an interest in this.
From the feedback he gave me afterwards, this tactic worked wonders, the lunch went really well and it led to a subsequent interview.
Jennigay Coetzer is a business and technology journalist with 25 years experience. She has run more than 150 media training workshops and writing skills workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions. She can be contacted on +27-(0)83-212-5754 or at: jennigay@icon.co.za. Her website address is: www.jennigay.co.za
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