Tips & Guidelines for Handling Media Interviews

How To Prepare for Broadcast Interviews

• Prepare a list of primary points you want to make.

• Anticipate questions; prepare responses.

• Practice answering questions … out loud, so that you’re comfortable with how your response “sounds.”

• Know who will be interviewing you, if possible.

• Determine how much time is available.

• Audiences often remember impressions, not facts.

Do’s and Don’ts During the Interview process

• Do’s

• Use specifics and anecdotes.

• Use analogies, contrasts, and comparisons to illustrate the key points.

• Be enthusiastic/animated.

• Be your casual, likable self.

• Be correct.

• If you don’t have the answer or can’t answer, admit it and move on.  Please let CCE know what the question is and we can follow up.

• Don’ts

• Don’t fall for that “A or B” dilemma … “C” may be the answer.

• Don’t accept “what if” questions; stick to the points you’d like to make.

• Don’t think you have to answer every question.

• Don’t speak for someone else … that person should speak for him/herself.

How To Handle Yourself During A Television Interview

• Talk “past” the microphone; avoid looking at it.

• If you’re sitting during the interview, sit far back in the chair, back erect...but lean forward slightly to appear interested in the interview.

• If you’re standing during the interview, make sure that you’re at least at eye level with the reporter.  (Avoid looking up at unflattering, awkward angles.)

• Remember … TV will frame your face.

• Keep your eyes trained on the interviewer—not on the camera.

• Don’t use the reporter’s name in your response to a question.

• Smile as appropriate; be friendly.

Tips On Appearance For Television Interviews

• Dress as appropriate for the interview setting.  Suits and dresses are too formal for farm visits or 4-H fair settings.

• Avoid wearing pronounced stripes, checks or small patterns.

• Avoid the extremes in color (black and white, especially together).  The television camera is not as sensitive as the human eye; therefore, it has trouble with colors that sharply contrast with one another.

• Grey, brown, blue or mixed colored suits/dresses are best for more formal interview settings.

• Grey, light-blue, off-white or pastel shirts or blouses are best.   Again, avoid white.

How To Respond During A Newspaper Interview

• Obtain advanced knowledge of interview topics.

• Make sure you are prepared in detail; print reporters may have more time to research a story than broadcast reporters and may ask more detailed questions.

• Begin the interview by making your points in statement form.  Then expand on key points.

• Try to maintain control of the interview.

• Don’t let the reporter wear you down.

• Set a time limit in advance.

• Don’t get so relaxed that you say something you wish you hadn’t.

• Avoid jargon or professional expressions.

• Reporters may repeat themselves in different ways to gain information you may not want to give.

• Don’t answer inappropriate questions; simply say it is “not an appropriate topic for me to address at this time.”

• Be prepared for interruptions with questions … it is okay for reporters to do so.

• Do not speak “off the record.”

• Remember, the interview lasts as long as a reporter is there.

After The Interview

• You can ask to check technical points, but do not ask to see advance copy of the story.

• Never try to go over a reporter’s head to stop a story.

• Do not send gifts to reporters—it is considered unethical for them to accept them.

Source: Adapted from "Crisis Communication Plan: A PR Blue Print," by Sondra K. Clawson Freeo