Don’t Sweat Interviews with the Press
by Kathy Keenan
Business executives often face press interviews with sweaty palms and furrowed brows. This painful tension seems to be based on the belief that the reporter will turn into Mike Wallace and begin grilling executives on their role in the Iran-Contra affair.
On the other hand, some businesspeople have approached press interviews with a blithe heart — only to be shocked by the negativity of the resulting press.
“I never said that,” they say, looking hurt.
All of this trepidation and disappointment can be avoided with a little preparation and a firm grasp of the ground rules.
It is important to understand that the press is not there to communicate your marketing/corporate messages to your customers or investors. Nor is an interview a casual conversation between friends who will overlook each other’s foibles. Each publication has a specific audience, and the reporter’s role is to communicate facts — as the reporter can best determine them — that will be of interest to that audience. If the reporter doesn’t view your information as factual or relevant to his or her audience, that information will not see print, and what does get printed may not be what you intended.
However, the press is not necessarily adversarial. Mike Wallace deliberately attacks people because this makes for dramatic television. Most reporters are there to get a story that fulfills their mission, nothing more or less.
Before the Interview
Knowing that the reporter has a general mission, try to find out the specific agenda for the interview. Ask what topics will be covered. Some reporters will be happy to tell you; others will prefer spontaneous answers. If the reporter isn’t willing to discuss the questions in advance, accept this gracefully, but take time to prepare.
If you don’t already know what audience the journalist’s publication serves, find out. For instance, if you are a vendor of multimedia software, it would be helpful to understand whether PC Sources is directed at corporate purchasers, end users, developers, value-added resellers or new-age crystal healers.
Knowing the agenda and the audience, set objectives for the interview. Select two or three key points to communicate. If you try to say too much, you may wind up giving a garbled and fragmented interview. Write your key points down and review them before the meeting.
Don’t get blind-sided by failing to think about negative issues that may arise. Pinpoint potential trouble spots and decide how to deal with them if they come up.
Other ways to prepare for interviews are to create a question-and-answer document to help think through potential questions and issues, and to undergo a mock interview. Get someone to interview you who will ask the obvious questions — and slip in some tough, nasty ones that will be hard to deal with. The actual interview may be a picnic by comparison, but you will be ready to deal with the worst.
During the Interview
Select an appropriate place to talk. A conference room works well because it takes you away from your busy phone and provides a surface the reporter can use to take notes.
Arrange to hold all calls. Stay focused on the interview. Keep to the subject and don’t be distracted by fascinating digressions. If you think there is any possibility the reporter has misunderstood or misinterpreted what you have said, take the time to confirm the journalist’s understanding.
You are responsible for bringing life, color and excitement to the interview. Many interviews with businesspeople are dull because the interviewee is monosyllabic and lackluster. If you are excited about your business, show it. Use analogies, descriptive language and comparisons that people can relate to. For instance, you could say, “This storage device has a capacity of 1.5 gigabytes.” Or you could say, “In a space the size of a cassette tape, this device can store an entire set of the Encyclopedia Britannica.”
On the other hand, if you are talking to Electronic Engineering Times, go ahead and say, “This storage device has a capacity of 1.5 gigabytes." The key is to use technical jargon where it’s appropriate and avoid it where it won’t be understood.
Answer questions concisely and don’t fall into the trap of rambling on just because the interviewer hasn’t posed another question. When responding to a question, your replies will have more impact and be easier to understand if you state the point first, then explain it. Don’t begin with the explanation and then lead up to the point — it can be confusing.
Don’t try to downplay negative news, but don’t play into negative questions, either. For example, if you are asked, “How do you explain last quarter’s disastrous financial results?" avoid repeating the negative terminology (“Our results could hardly be called disastrous!” The reader never sees that the negative wording came from the reporter. He or she only sees the negative wording of your quote, and the defensiveness of your response.
Instead, respond with your own words in a positive manner if possible: “Last quarter’s results reflected our divestiture of the Sprocket division. Now that we’ve trimmed down to our core business of widget deburring, we can be a great deal more productive.”
Note that this response did not repeat the negative terminology, even to deny it.
Assume that anything you say will be printed. Don’t be tempted to talk “off the record” (especially about financial results or future products) unless you have an ongoing and trusting relationship with the reporter — and you’ve made it clear before you’ve said anything that your comments are not for publication.
Never, ever, ever lie to a reporter. You might get away with it once. You might even get away with it twice. But sooner or later you will be found out, and then you will have lost forever your only asset with the press — your credibility.
If it is possible to answer a potentially negative question with a positive response, go for it. But be careful you don’t come across as waffling or insincere. Thinking through those negative issues before the interview helps.
If you want to convince a reporter you have some really lovely dirt to dig up, say, “No comment.” You may as well wave a red flag at a bull.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so, and promise to get the answer as son as possible. Then do it. Follow through on all commitments to provide more information or materials to a reporter. Journalists are human beings, too, and they remember people who keep their promises, as well as those who don’t.
Don’t answer hypothetical questions. For instance, if asked, “What action would management take if there were a movement to unionize the plant?” you might reply “I can’t speculate about an issue that hasn’t even come up.”
Outside of Geraldo Rivera and his ilk, few reporters will go out of their way to be hostile or accusatory. But if you run into one, keep your cool. Don’t argue, don’t be defensive. Above all, keep you temper and continue to be honest and direct. There just isn’t any other way of successfully dealing with this sort of person.
After the Interview
Once the interview is formally over, resist the temptation to relax and let your hair down. You can still be quoted.
Don’t ask to review the reporter’s story before it is printed. The press is not your PR organ, and you do not have the right to control what is published. If the journalist requests a review of the article for technical accuracy, confine your comments to just that. They have copy editors and stylebooks back at the office.
Becoming a frequent source to the press. Is the best way to become an “industry expert.” Offer to provide the reporter with additional material, photos or background information, and make yourself available as a source of industry information. Make the offer in a way that the reporter knows you don't expect coverage from this kind of contact. Refer he reporter to other sources of information that can bring a different perspective to the topic.
I Never Said That!
Nobody’s perfect. That’s as true for reporters as it is for the rest of us. If you talk to the press, you will be misquoted and you will be misinterpreted from time to time. Don’t sweat it. If the press prints something that is untrue or misleading, ask for a correction in print. You’re likely to get better results in the future if you stay cool and exercise restraint. Keep in mind that reporters are generalists who must cover myriad topics on a daily or weekly basis. They cannot be in-depth experts in any one field.
Save your complaints for the big stuff, and let the minor misquotes go. As P.T. Barnum said, “I don’t care what the papers print about me as long as they spell my name right.” (Probably a misquote.)
A misquote or two, even a bad story or two, aren’t going to ruin your business. Over the long term, an ongoing relationship with the press based on accessibility, honesty and cooperation will yield positive coverage during the good times, and take some of the sting out of the bad times.