Media Tip: Why You Shouldn’t Speak to Reporters

A guest post from Brad Phillips, author of The Media Training Bible.

How would you define “media interview”? Most people would say that a media interview occurs when someone–often a spokesperson from a company, campaign, or agency–speaks with a reporter.

Pretty straightforward, yes?

But spokespersons who define media interviews that way are making a big mistake. A media interview is not a conversation with a reporter. It is a highly focused form of communication aimed squarely at your audience. The reporter is merely the conduit through which you reach it.

That doesn’t mean you should ignore reporters, but rather that you
should focus your answers on those members of the audience you’re trying
to persuade, educate, or inspire.

As an example, let’s say you’re discussing climate change with a
reporter who has covered the issue for a decade. Since the reporter
knows the issue well, you might be tempted to speak at a higher level by
referring to obscure white papers or using acronyms and technical
jargon. That’s a bad idea. The reader, listener, or viewer you’re trying
to reach probably doesn’t know as much about climate change as the
reporter does–and if the quote the journalist uses from your interview
is a bit too wonkish, you’ll unnecessarily leave some members of your
audience behind.

To avoid that problem, think about the “target person” you want to reach
in your next interview. Be specific–identify the person by gender, age,
geography, and occupation. Give the person a name. During the
interview, focus your answers on that one individual. The idea is that
if your target person cares about what you’re saying, the rest of your
audience probably will too.

For one interview, a client of ours visualized that his “target person”
was Pat, a retired 78-year-old African American woman living by herself
in rural Nevada. He further defined her by saying she retired nine years
ago after working as a trauma nurse for 40 years. By being that
specific, he was able to visualize that woman during his entire
interview and aim all of his communication toward her, not the reporter.