The Media Interview

Can’t take credit for the title of this piece - it’s a phrase I found on Ike Pigott’s old blog Accentuate the Positive (the new and improved Ike is at Occam’s Razr) and I think it’s a perfect name for those situations where a loose cannon needs media coaching to get reigned in. Here’s the link to the article that Pigott was referring to when he coined the term.

I love what Lorri Allen is doing over at her Soundbites blog. She’s got an interview with author Mellanie True Hills (A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life) about what it’s like to be interviewed and what Mellanie’s best advice would be for any interviewee, not just authors.

Reading through a post by Mr. Obie Joe about his disappointment upon hearing a favourite online journalist speaking live, I was reminded of one of my favourite scenes from the movie Singing in the Rain, when silent screen star Lina Lamont opens her mouth to do her first talkie. Yikes, does she sound like THAT?

A similar revolution is happening in the world of the internet and in mainstream broadcast media to some extent. Everybody is getting their 15 minutes on camera or on mike - sometimes a lot more, sadly - and maybe they should have stayed in print or been completely anonymous.

Who cares if you’re coming across poorly on some video blog? Well, if you’re just after YouTube fame, maybe it doesn’t matter, but if you’re interested in credibility, think about preparing yourself for ANY media opportunity. As we love to point out on this blog: what goes on the net, stays on the net.

UPDATE: Here’s what happens when someone tries to make the transition to video unsuccessfully - you get blogbasted!

Would you like weekly samples of real-life PR that did and did not work? Then subscribing to Touchdowns & Fumbles will help fill that need. Produced by Veritas Communications, this weekly email newsletter has plenty of media coaching hits and misses, so readers of this blog will be well pleased too.

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A public relations firm out of Florida recently offered to media coach President George Bush, for free. An article in the South Florida Daily Business News says that O’Connell & Goldberg Public Relations made the offer back in August. According to the article, the firm feels

there’s plenty that could be done to help polish the president’s presentations, from his vocabulary, tenor of speech, inflection and pace of delivery to posture, facial expressions and overall body language. The agency would work with President Bush to enhance his vocal dexterity and help him project a positive image. In addition to reviewing the keys to a winning interview style, agency professionals would place the president before a camera during simulated scenarios and critique his performance to reinforce proper interview techniques.

No word on whether Bush took them up on the offer. And isn’t a bit late to be offering up what I agree was needed years ago?

Thing is, you know the President gets media coaching; you cannot be in high-level politics these days without getting it in some form. So why are there still many weaknesses in his delivery?

In her blog posting, The High Cost of a Six-Figure Book Advance, Sallie Goetsch makes the following points, which apply to anyone trying to get the word out about their product, not just authors:

Getting into the public eye

To get visible enough fast enough, you probably need a publicist, which means shelling out several thousand dollars. In order for media attention to do you any good, you have to look good and sound good every time you appear. That means getting professional media coaching before you start lining up interviews to make up for not being a celebrity. You need to arm yourself with a repertoire of sound bites for all occasions and rehearse until you can spout them in your sleep.

That doesn’t just take money, it takes time. It takes work. And no one can do it for you, either, because you, as the author, have to be the one in the limelight.

I can’t stress Sallie’s last point enough - media coaching costs money, yes, but what it really takes is time; the time to practice the skills you learn and to keep revisiting them even when you’re experienced at interviews.

As with anything, a coach doesn’t do the work for you; they help you understand what to do and how to do it. Your time with a media coach is just the beginning of a lot of practice.

You’re a former contestant on American Idol. You’ve just finished having lunch, and as you leave the restaurant, some guy sticks a cellphone or other small camera in your face and starts asking questions about your career. You give a few answers as you try to walk away, including your opinion of Britney Spears’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Bingo! Now you’re a headline on TMZ.com: “Idol” Loser Sticks Up for Brit.

Quick tip: either take a lawyer with you anywhere in public or don’t say anything other than the name of your next album, the date of your next tour, and how much you appreciate your fans.

The days of hiding behind the microphone in a radio studio are long gone, at least for anyone in the public eye. Either the video media is covering the interview, or the station itself is making a video, or it’s even being simulcast over the web or some TV channel. Just look at the number of videos on YouTube that were shot during a radio interview.

So, what do you do? First, always ask whether an in-studio radio interview is going to be on video. If it is, dress for TV and not for radio. Still talk to your radio listener and don’t talk to any cameras. It’s always important to assume the microphone is ON while you’re in a radio studio - now you have to assume that the cameras are always rolling too.

In the rush to fill a 24 hour cable news channel, ABC News demonstrates the dangers of throwing interviewers still in their first month of broadcasting school straight onto the air…

Ok, the “first month of broadcasting school” may be a bit unfair to Merry Miller of ABC News Now, but I can certainly say that her bosses need to review their on-air selection process.

Thanks to Eric Deggans and his blog The Feed for tipping me off to this video.

And for interviewees - it’s just another example of the kinds of people you’re going to be interviewed by, and even at the national level - so be prepared to deal with them. Kindly in this case, I think.

Readers of this blog know that I’m no fan of what I call “the will to fill” - the habit of filling in pauses in speech with words such as like, ummm, ahhh, etc. Turns out there’s a website devoted to this very problem: www.ummlike.com and they have a top ten list of offenders. Go have a look and vote for your favourite filler.

For on-going coverage of fillers-in, stop by the ummlike blog.

Thanks to Breaking Human Resource News for tipping me off to this site.