Did you ever wish something you said could be grabbed from the air before anyone heard it?
From a high-ranking government official to the owner of a local car repair business no one is immune from misspeaking in an interview, especially in the high-pressure environment of a crisis. Thankfully, there are measures you can take to minimize the chance that something your spokesperson says or does during an interview could damage your organization’s reputation.
I was present at such a moment a few days before the first Gulf War began.
As a member of an oil company’s public relations communications team I routinely facilitated interviews about our products, operations and positions on a variety of business issues. Since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 and the Allied response was primarily about who would control Kuwaiti oil the media was interested in information for stories about how a war would affect oil prices. They wanted to talk to the industry decision-makers.
As a result, one morning I was sitting next to an ABC-TV cameraman in the office of the executive responsible for our company’s crude oil supply. Our executive was explaining to a business reporter the benefits of a then-new online system allowing subscribers to track oil prices in real-time.
After the interview the reporter, a former stockbroker, asked our executive to explain a few more features of the system, which he gladly did. After five minutes the reporter said, “Thanks. I’ve taken up a lot of your time so I’ll let you get back to work.”
“No problem,” our executive replied patting the top of his desktop monitor, “I have to get back to manipulating the price of oil.”
Horrified, I glanced at the microphone control and, sure enough, it was still on. In other words, the entire post-interview conversation was recorded, not with any “got you” trickery in mind, but our executive’s attempt at humor while discussing a serious issue was now in the public domain.
Needless to say there was a crowd at the public affairs conference room late that afternoon watching the ABC World News to see if the reporter used any of the material from the post-interview discussion.
To everyone’s relief he didn’t, but the point is, he could have within the bounds of journalistic standards.
That incident prompted us to make some changes in our two-day spokesperson training program that Crisis Communications Team Leaders might consider adding to your media training plans.
Some of those changes included:
Attitude
Regardless of what you think about the media, the quickest way to disseminate information about a crisis or emergency situation to your stakeholders is through the broadcast and online capabilities of media. Yes, reporters and their crews can be pushy and brusque at times but remember they are working under deadline pressure to gather the news and deliver it to millions of people.
Don’t consider an interview a waste of time or an attempt to somehow make your organization look bad. Rather view it as a welcome opportunity to reach out to your audiences.
Your, or your spokesperson’s, attitude can make the difference between connecting with your audiences or casting doubt over your organization’s competence and credibility. Audiences make judgments about attitude and credibility within a few seconds which doesn’t give your scowling, huffy spokesperson much of a chance.
We added this and other information about making a good first impression and, for lack of a better term, body language to the seminar. While you don’t want to devote the entire workshop to these topics they deserve mention.
Practice
Time and situation permitting, practicing delivering your messages out loud can give you a boost of confidence. Knowing what you want to say can help settle the butterflies.
In a crisis, it’s permissible for a spokesperson to refer to notes during the interview; especially when discussing key messages. You might say, “I have some important information for the residents in the area and I’d like to refer to my notes to make certain I cover all of it.”
We carved out a five-minute practice session for each participant before their on-camera interviews. This gave them one more chance, in private, to fine-tune their message and practice delivering it. Just before or immediately following those interviews our role-playing reporters would engage in some informal discussion with the spokesperson.
For example, during training for Gulf War interviews one reporter would say, “I’ll bet you’re getting tired of doing all these interviews.” That could be answered by the company’s view of communicating; “It’s important that our customers have the facts about this situation.”
And furthermore
Here are a few more do’s-and-don’ts that can make your next media training workshop or interaction with the media a success. By the way, a successful interview is one in which you reach your selected audiences with the information they need to know regarding the crisis or situation.
- The mic is always on. Consider every microphone, camera, tape recorder and mobile phone camera in the area to be “on” the entire time reporters or technicians are present.
- You never know who’s listening. Never discuss the issue you are working on in the midst of people you don’t know, for example, in an elevator, taxicab, airplane or restaurant.
- What you say is fair game. While technicians are making final adjustments before the interview or packing up afterward the reporter might strike up some friendly chit chat. Be careful what you say; it’s all on the record.
- Never go “off-the-record”. Except in extremely rare cases, there is no such thing as “off-the-record” in a crisis. OTR and exclusives should never used especially in the early stages of a crisis. Granting special access and information during the crisis will jeopardize your relationship with reporters from the outlets that are not part of the arrangement.
- It’s not funny. Any attempt to use humor in a crisis will be viewed as tasteless and may indicate your organization is not taking the situation seriously.
- Stand up. When participating in a telephone interview, stand up. Standing can help you project your voice. It also serves as a reminder that you are engaged in a media interview, not a normal conversation.
- Don’t speculate. If you don’t know the answer to a reporter’s question say you don’t know, even if your intent is to calm people down. Tell the reporter you’ll get back to her or him with the answer as soon as possible.
- Don’t lie. Further elaboration is not necessary.
Finally
Remember, from the time you see a media truck’s headlights appear until the taillights disappear, everything you do and say is on the record.
Good luck in your interview.
