There have been some high-profile car crash interviews recently.
Make sure you’re not next.
Here are my 3 Golden Rules for Interviews that every spokesperson needs.
Golden Rules for Interviews
The car crash interview always begins with… no practice
We have known each other our whole lives and professionally for almost a decade.
We have run multiple training sessions BUT…
We still rehearse, every time, individually and together, dropping in the odd mistake to see if the other is actually listening!
It’s all about the practice, so when we do it for real we are focussing on the people we are training and what’s going on for them.
There is no corner cutting. And as sisters, we would be the first to call each other out if we were to try!
Make the time, do the practice, make every interview worth it.
What’s the point of media training?
What’s the point of media training? Actually, this great comment from a happy client sums it up perfectly.
Our media training has always been about the live interview experience, a bit of a grilling and lots of confidence boosting to produce your best performance.
You never know, when it comes to the real interview, you might just enjoy yourself!
Dissecting a successful interview – the media trainer’s diet
Listening to and watching interviews is my lockdown fix. News bulletins, current affairs and podcasts – I am compelled to tune in. And as a media trainer, I tell myself this is a healthy, if unconventional daily diet.
The definition of a successful interview depends on whether you are reporting the story or ‘in the chair’. Every journalist has an agenda and as I always explain in media training, interviewees too, need a plan to make themselves heard. And tuning into 3 recent interviews, I heard three people, in very different circumstances, making a success of their air time.
Continue reading “Dissecting a successful interview – the media trainer’s diet”
The pros and cons of video statements
Over the last few weeks there seems to have a been a flurry of “recorded statements” in response to major crises. To be clear, rather than put someone forward to be interviewed by the press, the boss records a statement and it’s posted on the website or via social channels.
The Business of Local Newspapers
Local newspapers have long teetered on the edge of survival, at risk of relegation to a picture postcard England past, where cub reporters cover village fetes, write the splash on local crime and all before tea time. So the announcement that local publisher Johnston Press is being bought out has triggered further analysis on the future for local news. Facebook has stepped up with a suspiciously well time announcement of £4.5m, to hire and train 80 people as community reporters. Johnston Press is reportedly one of three local publishers in conversation with the social media giant. Continue reading “The Business of Local Newspapers”
Pattiserie Valerie – Serves up a showstopper interview
Less than a week after revelations about the financial future of Patisserie Valerie made headlines, executive chairman Luke Johnson gave an interview to the same newspaper where he regularly contributed a business column.
The move navigated some tricky reputational waters and a creeping narrative about British retail and high street horror stories. Continue reading “Pattiserie Valerie – Serves up a showstopper interview”