You (company spokesperson) just spent 30 minutes on the phone with one of the top journalists covering your industry. During the interview it was clear that the reporter was not buying what you were selling. Frankly, it seemed like he / she couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.
Now in the aftermath, you’re licking your wounds and asking the PR folks in the room to reconstruct “what went wrong” so you can do better the next time around. Emotions are running high.
In this scenario (unfortunately it’s happened to you before) your PR team tends to exhibit some combination of the following, squirmy behavior:
- Blame the journalist / motherly soothing – “That reporter was an idiot. How dare they talk to you like that! He / she can’t be trusted. Let’s never speak with them again;”
- Ego stroking – “What are you talking about? You were great! These relationships take time. I really liked the points you made when you talked about x, y and z. Don’t change a thing the next time around;”
- Roll out the PR ‘craft’ subterfuge – “This is why it’s sooo important to work on our key messages and positioning.”
As a spokesperson, if you’re hearing these canned responses from your PR folks on a regular basis, chances are they’re withholding some of the more specific reasons why you’re such an interview dud. Why? Maybe you were simply acting like a jerk … and that’s tough feedback to give.
So you really want to know some of the more specific things that went wrong?:
- You started off by asking “so what do you want to talk about today?” Unless the reporter contacted you for a story he / she was writing, chances are that this interview took place because your PR folks initiated the briefing. And nothing kicks off an interview on a lamer note than immediately putting the ball in the journalist’s court and asking them what they want to talk about. You’re not fielding questions at a packed press conference at the Oval Office. It’s largely your job in the first couple of minutes is to build initial rapport, show that you appreciate their time, and tell them why what you want to talk about is relevant to their beat.
- You knew nothing about the reporter or the publication he / she works with. Shame on you. There’s no excuse not to take 30 minutes to at least basically familiarize yourself with the last five articles the reporter has written. They’re taking the time to speak with you on spec that you have something good for them. It’s just flat-out disrespectful to show up with zero context about who they are and what they’re going to find interesting.
- You repeatedly asked that certain parts of the discussion be kept “off the record.” Only ask that something be kept “off the record” if it’s damn interesting or valuable. When you said this five times during the interview, you sounded like a self-important moron.
- You asked for silly embargoes. Similar to “off the record” – the embargo should not be a commonly used weapon in your arsenal. When you ask a reporter to hold coverage for a nothing announcement (that you’re lucky they’re even covering) they make a mental note to ignore your next interview request.
- You mentioned other publicity you’ve gotten. Why did you think that the reporter wanted to hear you boast about the great publicity you got from their competing publications? Think about the interview like a date. There’s zero upside to referencing previous journalists you’ve spoken with or journalists you plan to speak with.
- You went on long-winded monologues and were completely oblivious to the reporter’s interest level. You were a blow-hard. You worked yourself into such a fervor that you became oblivious to cues that the reporter wasn’t interested. You were talking for 10 minutes straight at a time without getting any questions or comments. Did you really think you were that engaging? At one point the reporter had the headset on mute and was setting his fantasy baseball roster. Next time pause occasionally, solicit questions and feedback. Don’t just talk at them for long periods of time. And drop the snakeoil salesman bravado.
- You minimized issues / questions that the reporter raised. You repeatedly questioned the validity of the questions that the reporter raised. When they actually were interested in what you were saying and asked you a question, you said things like “I don’t see what that has to do with this” and prefaced answers with a nasal “as I’ve said already.” You squashed whatever enthusiasm they might have had. You tried to bully to get your point across.
- You told the reporter that he / she should write something. It was very presumptuous for you to tell the reporter that you thought they should write something. The interview is an unspoken ritual of pointing out interesting information and letting the journalist cast the story from his / her perspective. You broke the spell with your brusque suggestion. You were lucky to have the opportunity to speak with them, and this made you come across unappreciative and unsophisticated.
(image by Josh Bancroft’s photostream on flickr creative commons)
