Posted at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Research in Motion missed out on an important opportunity this week to define the next chapter in their corporate history. As RIM's co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepped aside and COO Thorsten Heins took the reins, the company had a chance to set the stage for the future by putting these changes in context and charting the course for the next 12-18 months.
What Heins needed to do in his first set of media interviews was to convey two or three bold, decisive and simple messages to RIM's stakeholders about company's plans for staging a comeback. Unfortunately, judging by the quotes the business writers chose to print from his interviews, as well as the company's share price (which fell 6% the day following the announcement), Heins fell short in this regard.
At a time when people are clamouring for something big from RIM, Heins stated he would continue with his predecessors' strategy and that he plans "no seismic" changes. And for a company that has repeatedly dropped the ball in terms of execution over the past few years, he vowed to instill "discipline in the development process, flawless execution, quality and accountability in the system".
Odds are pretty good the term "flawless execution" may come back to bite the newly-minted CEO. After all, promising that you'll deliver perfection doesn't leave much wiggle room. RIM would be better served by under-promising and over-delivering at this stage in its attempted comeback. For the past two to three years, they've been doing the opposite.
So what kind of message was I hoping to hear from RIM's new chief? To be honest, I'm not sure. Without knowing specific details about the company's product pipeline and next generation of BlackBerries, it's hard to say. What I do know is that RIM had a huge opportunity to punctuate the beginning of this new chapter in their company's history. All they needed was a story. One or two lines to mark the beginning of the Thorsten Heins era and to give hope to millions of BlackBerry users and shareholders. Who knows? Maybe Heins is the man who can reinvent RIM and successfully navigate its second act. The problem, at least in these first few days, is that it doesn't come through in his media interviews.
Rob Ford is on his way to becoming a one-term mayor. And one of the biggest reasons he'll lose any future election bid is his staggeringly awful handing of the media.
Mayor Ford has shown on numerous occasions that he has little time or respect for the media (outside of a few boosterish, right-wing outlets that treat him with kid gloves). His infamous radio interview with CBC the morning after his election win (yelling to his football players and cutting the interview short) was just one example of his rough media relations skills.
But this latest CBC 911 call debacle brings his media relations ineptitude to a whole new level. Mary Walsh's 'Marg Delahunty' character has long been a Canadian comedy institution, buttonholing Canadian politicians and submitting them to satirical interviews. Even robotic Prime Minister Stephen Harper made time to be interviewed by Marg. But rather than go with the flow and poke a bit of fun at himself, Ford called 911 on Marg and her CBC crew - not once, but twice. And media reports today portray his second call as being profanity-laden, with Ford calling the 911 dispatchers 'bitches' and saying, "Don't you f--ing know? I'm Rob f--ing Ford, the mayor of this city!"
If Rob Ford thought he could avoid any media scrutiny by calling 911, he was obviously mistaken. The mainstream media is having a field-day with this story. At the time I'm writing this, there are hundreds of stories listed on Google News in print, radio and TV and all across the country. Most recently, the mayor and his brother Doug have tried to do damage control by telling the media that the 911 call wasn't really as bad as the CBC is making it sound. The result? More controversy and more negative media coverage.
If he had simply gone along with the gag, shown a bit of humour and let Marg ask her questions, it would have been a (mildly) funny bit that a small percentage of Canadians would have seen. But thanks to his ignorance (or indifference) of how the media works, today Rob Ford looks like an arrogant, crude and disrespectful bully.
Posted at 12:55 PM in Bad Media Quotes, Media Training, Reporters, Reputation Management, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Love it or hate it, American Idol has introduced the music-buying public to some very talented performers that, but for the show, might have remained in obscurity forever. At the same time, however, the popular show has served as a venue for some of the most hideous, offensive musical disasters ever to be seen on television. Those cringe-inducing songs being howled by talentless teens whose parents didn't have the courage to tell them that they suck. As a viewer, you sit there watching this acoustic transgression unfold and wonder to yourself: "How could this person possibly think they're qualified to be on this stage?"
It's a perfect analogy for media interviews. It's perfectly obvious, even to the casual observer, which spokespeople are properly prepared to speak to the media and which ones shouldn't be allowed within a 50-foot radius of a reporter.
Sure, the people who excel on American Idol have talent. But they also take their craft seriously and make time to practice. The same thing goes for media interviews. No one is born being a great interviewer. It's a learned skill. And one of the best ways to shorten that learning curve is to invest in high-quality media interview training.
If you recognize the value of media training, you can stop reading here. But if you think you're a naturally-gifted communicator who would knock that media interview out of the park, you might want to pay attention. At the risk of beating this analogy to death, you might just be the media relations equivalent of William Hung.
With that in mind (and hoping you can get that song out of your head), here are four reasons why media training is a worthwhile investment:
If your company is called upon to give media interviews on a regular basis, consider the benefits associated with this type of training and how it can help improve your media coverage. There's simply too much on the line to ignore it (your company's reputation and your career for starters).
Posted at 10:09 AM in Media Training, Reputation Management, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
What's your 'must-have' tool when preparing yourself or a client for an important media interview? A laptop? iPad? BlackBerry? Skype? Video camera?
As much as I love gadgets (and I do love my gadgets), I would gladly forsake all of these for the lowly index card.
In hundreds of media training sessions over nearly two decades, I have yet to see a tool that has such a dramatic, positive and noticeable impact on peoples' performance in their media interviews.
Here are the top four reasons why the this modest, paper rectangle will always hold a special place as my go-to media relations tool:
One of the biggest challenges when preparing a client for a media interview is getting them to focus on a few core messsages. The tempation for many spokespeople (especially when they're very knowledgeable about a product or company) is to talk, talk, talk. The simulated interviews we do with them tend to go on and on, wandering from topic to topic. When I encounter someone like this in a training session, I'll write three messages on an index card, hand it to the spokesperson, give them 30 seconds to memorize it and then start the interview over again from the top. The difference in their ability to focus on their key messages is usually nothing short of breathtaking.
Index cards are also handy for public speaking engagements. I prefer them over speeches printed out on letter-sized paper. It always irritates me when spokespeople are up at the podium, noisily flipping and turning pages into the microphone. Write out your key points on as many index cards as it takes, put them on the podium and when you're done a card, simply slide it aside and you're onto the next one.
So the next time you're stocking up on office supplies at Staples, be sure to visit the oft-neglected index card aisle and stock up. The next time a media interview or speaking engagment comes around, you'll be glad you did.
Posted at 07:30 AM in Media Training, PR Gear, Reporters, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
You've finally lined up a media interview with that influential reporter you've been after for months. Rather than doing the interview over the phone, however, one of you suggests meeting for lunch (I've seen both clients and journalists initiate this idea).
Great idea, right?
Wrong. A media interview isn't a networking opportunity. It isn't a get-together with one of your buddies. And it certainly isn't a conversation.
A media interview should be a strategic exchange of information aimed at getting your key messages into the final story, whether it's in print, radio, TV or online.
As I explained in a previous post, the ideal media interview should be about five minutes long. The rationale behind keeping it short is to try and have some influence over which quotes make it into the story (and perhaps more importantly, which quotes don't make it into the story). It boils down to simple math. The more sentences you speak, the lower your ability to indirectly control which messages the reporter will select.
I don't enjoy working through my lunch. And I'm guessing you don't either. Having lunch with a reporter isn't just lunch. It's an hour-long interview that happens to take place in the vicinity of food and drink. Keep in mind that anything you say over the course of lunch is fair game for the reporter's story.
So leave lunches, dinners and drinks for family, friends and clients. And keep your media interviews short, disciplined and out of the restaurants. The result will be more control over your messages and better media coverage for you and your company.
Posted at 08:30 AM in Media Training, Reporters, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Fact: The longer your media interview lasts, the less control you'll have over the quotes that appear in the story.
Many spokespeople treat a media interview like a job interview. They sit there passively like a job applicant while the reporter asks question after question after question. The person being interviewed is like a human piñata, getting whacked with questions for 10, 15, even 20 minutes at a time.
The result? A decreased chance of your key messages making it into the story.Think about it. The average person speaks at a rate of approximately 120 words per minute (or perhaps faster when they're nervous). During the course of a 15-minute interview, that's about 1,800 words, or the length of a feature story in a magazine. You have 3-5 important lines you want to convey to the reporter, but you've given them 1,800 words to choose from. It's no wonder so many people say they were taken out of context. Often, what they really mean is that the reporter didn't select the quotes that they thought were most important.
The perfect media interview lasts about five minutes. If you know how to handle yourself in a media interview, five minutes is plenty of time to tell your story and to give the reporter everything they need to complete their piece.
When I tell people the ideal interview is five minutes long, they often ask, "So what happens when the reporter keeps asking questions?" Valid question. So here are four steps to help you get in and out of nearly any media interview in five minutes or less:
1. Develop 3-5 compelling key messages. These are positive, accurate points that tell your side of the story. Your messages should contain motive, they should answer more than one question and they need to be accurate and true. Hint: if you can't fit all of your messages for the interview on an 3" x 5" index card, you need to do some editing.
2. Time your interviews. A media interview can be like a rollercoaster in that it can mess with your sense of the passage of time. You might think the interview you just finished was three minutes long when in reality, it was actually more like nine minutes in length. Trust me. I've seen this happen dozens of times in our training sessions where I time the interview and then ask the interviewee how long they thought it was. The results can be surprising. Timing your interview is easy enough when it's being done over the phone. Use the stopwatch function on your smartphone. Start the timer when the reporter asks their first question. And if it's a TV interview, consider getting someone from your communications team to keep track of the time and give you a subtle cue (*ahem*) around the 4.5 minute mark.
3. Create your exit in advance. Before the reporter even asks the first question, say: "Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to your readers/listeners/viewers. We really appreciate it. I should probably tell you that I've only got about five minutes or so, so I hope I can give you what you need in that time." As long as you can actually deliver responses that help both of you meet your objectives, you should be golden.
4. Use that exit you created in Step 3. Around the 4.5 minute mark of the interview, you should have delivered the majority of your messages. At that point, you can politely remind the reporter, "As I mentioned, I'm a bit pressed for time right now...I think I've got time for two more questions." Answer up to two more questions, finish on a strong note, thank the reporter again for their interest and voila - the interview is over.
This technique does work. It works for trade media, mainstream media, print, radio and TV. This past summer, one of our clients did four network TV interviews in one day on a fairly sensitive and high profile topic. I timed each interview on my BlackBerry (I videotaped them too, but that's another post for another day). The shortest interview was 4.5 minutes long and the longest was just under 6. In each case, the client told the same story in an interesting, yet disciplined manner. And in each case, the reporters said they had everything they needed. The resulting media coverage was interesting. But more importantly from a communications perspective, it was predictable. The messages on the client's index card were the ones that made it onto the evening news.
Before you try this at home, be forewarned. There will be situations where this won't work. For example, if you stonewall the reporter with a string of one-word answers, you're in for a long, painful interview. That's because the reporter won't have anything to bring back to their newsroom and they're going to hear it from their editor. Likewise, this technique won't always work in an unfolding crisis situation, a technical briefing, an interview panel, etc.
If, however, you possess the chops to effectively navigate a media interview, in the majority of cases, this technique should help you wrap things up in five minutes or less. It will also help you increase your control over which quotes appear in the story and, perhaps more importantly, which ones don't.
Last November, Christine O'Donnell gave late-night talk show hosts a gift in her 'response to accusations of witchcraft' TV spot (which I addressed in this blog post). Yesterday, she reinforced her inability to handle the media by walking out of an on-camera interview with CNN's Piers Morgan.
O'Donnell was on the show to promote her new book, Troublemaker. But while she was happy to receive the free publicity, she clearly wasn't interested in answering any of Morgan's questions. The host quizzed her on a number of topics, including last year's 'witchcraft' flap. The question that made O'Donnell snap, however, was about her stance on gay marriage. By that point, she was becoming visibly frustrated and had accused Morgan of being "a little bit rude". She then looked to her PR handlers and bailed out of the interview, saying "I'm being pulled away...we turned down another interview for this." One of her people then stands in front of the camera to obstruct the view. Then, O'Donnell takes off her microphone and leaves.
The most revealing part of the interview occured just before O'Donnell pulled the plug, when she said to Morgan, "Don't you think as a host if I say 'This is what I want to talk about', that's what we should address?"
So...in less than 60 seconds, O'Donnell managed to break three important media relations rules:
1. She told the reporter how to do his job ("This is what I want to talk about"),
2. She attacked the reporter ("You're being a little bit rude"), and
3. She walked out of an on-camera interview.
If you haven't seen it yet, you can view the clip of her walk-off here.
Posted at 11:57 AM in Bad Media Quotes, Media Training, Reporters, Reputation Management, Television, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
It seems the Mayor of Orillia, a city here in Ontario, has had enough of those bothersome phone calls from the media.
Mayor Angelo Orsi announced yesterday that he is no longer accepting phone calls from the media. A memo from the mayor's office to the media stated that "all media questions are required to be in writing and e-mailed to Orsi". His rationale for the move? "This approach helps me keep track of what I am asked, what I did state, and see what gets printed. It helps keep my side of the story in check with what is used in relation to the context of the story."
If only it were that simple.
The media exists to serve as the eyes and ears for the working public, to question our leaders, keep them honest and report on the goings-on in our communities and governments at all levels. This move by the mayor of Orillia to put the local media in his inbox is a shortsighted tactic that I suspect is destined to backfire.
Of the hundreds of media training sessions I've facilitated over the past 17 years, some of the most challenging were with municipal mayors and councillors. They've always mostly been pleasant, well-meaning people, but local politicians play by a different set of rules. I've had councillors say they simply don't answer calls from the media and that they never will. Many of these politicians say they're suspicious of the motives of reporters and in speaking with these individuals, I can see that many of them have a palpable fear of dealing with the media.
On more than one occasion, I've had municipal politicians ask me whether it was acceptable to simply ask reporters to conduct interviews by email. My answer has always been the same. "No." That isn't to say email doesn't have a role to play. There will be times when email is the quickest way to get back to a reporter with a short response or to clarify an answer. But trying to limit all local media relations to email won't work over the long-term.
The mayor's announcement implies he's running the show when it comes to the local media. As he may find out over the next few months, that's not the case. Ultimately, it's the reporters who are in control. Here are a few predictions about what's (hopefully) going to happen in Orillia over the next few months:
- First, reporters will start going to other spokespeople for quotes on their stories. Other councillors, committee members, heads of local citizens' groups, etc. There will also be an increase in the number of 'anonymous sources' being quoted in the local media. Reporters are like water. They will find the path of least resistance. If the mayor's office is too slow to respond, or appears to be responding with outright 'spin', they will go to other sources. And that's a lost opportunity for the mayor, who may find himself on the sidelines when it comes to telling his story.
- If there is a contentious issue in the community, the mayor may find himself being ambushed by reporters desperate for information. At the grocery store. At the airport. At a hockey game. At his home. Imagine a food or water contamination situation where the mayor will only conduct interviews by email.
People who run for public office have an obligation to speak with the media. That includes phone calls and face to face interviews. Time will tell if this 'email only' approach will work in Orillia. If I were a local reporter in Orillia, I can tell you I wouldn't be too thrilled with it. And I hope the local media takes him to task for the decision, before other politicians try to follow suit. Even as someone who coaches spokespeople on how to conduct better interviews, I disagree with the approach. What's next? "I'll only conduct interviews by text message?"
No matter how well-meaning the intentions might be, I suspect this move by the mayor of Orillia to keep the media at arm's length won't sit well with reporters or the public. Even if it's not the case, it smells vaguely of fear and mistrust. And that's not a solid foundation for successful media relations.
If I were running for mayor of Orillia in the next municipal election, I know what my platform would be: Openness, accountability and a willingness to speak with the media (and, by extension, the public) face to face.
Posted at 10:04 AM in Bad Media Quotes, Journalism, Media Training, Reporters, Reputation Management, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I'm just back at my desk this morning after a couple days deliving social media training sessions out of town. Clients have so many questions about this area right now. How to use the tools. What NOT to do (to avoid embarrassing their employers or getting fired). How to protect their privacy. How to integrate social media into their existing communications and marketing efforts.
Anyway, for the latest road trip, I spent some time updating all my social media stats and wanted to share them while they're still (somewhat) current. That's the funny thing - these numbers change on a monthly basis. So while they're fresh, here are some cool social media facts that you might want to use for your next presentation:
LinkedIn:
Flickr:
YouTube:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Posted at 10:46 AM in Social Media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Anyone who bothered to check out Charlie Sheen's webcast show 'Sheen's Korner' over the past few nights knows it's virtually unwatchable. I checked it out on night #1 and was impressed to see nearly 100,000 viewers logged on before the show had started. But shortly after it began, the numbers started to dwindle. And fast. And with good reason. The content and production quality were pretty lame.
No matter what you think of Charlie Sheen or his antics of late, the guy has a Twitter audience of two million (and growing) and the attention of the TMZ-loving public. And not that he's in the mood for advice, but here are some quick ways for him to elevate the quality of his online show - and these would apply to any company or individual trying to create and retain an online audience:
1) The first recommendation would be to cancel it altogether. Unless you have something of substance to say, maybe a show isn't for you. Sheen has proven that he can read someone else's scripts. But when it comes to writing his own stuff, the results were less than impressive.
2) Lose the Howard Stern format. After seeing his lively, manic interview on 20/20, I was surprised to see Sheen sitting at a desk with a crew of hangers-on chiming in with updates, sound effects, etc. like the Howard Stern show. In addition to being a blatant rip-off, the format didn't allow him to connect with his audience at all. It quickly became an impediment. He would have been better served to simply talk into the camera, give a tour of his house, etc.
3) Invest in decent sound/lighting. For a guy who makes $2 million per episode (well, until recently), the production quality was pretty shabby. Hell, the 10-year-old Lady Gaga fan had better production quality in her house in Winnipeg. For an online show to succeed, people need to be able to see and hear you. The lighting and sound were awful and could be fixed with a little forethought and a very small investment at Best Buy.
4) Rehearse. When the first episode of Sheen's Korner took to the air, it was clear that he was just winging it. Practice improves performance.
5) Look at the camera. If you're speaking to your online audience, we find it very disconcerting when you're looking off-screen while talking. Connection with viewers broken.
6) Less is more. At one point in the first broadcast, Sheen talked about making the show a nightly broadcast. Bad idea. When you have a bad show, people don't want more of it. The frequency should reflect the amount of quality content. And as we've seen, there hasn't been any yet.
Posted at 07:19 PM in Bad Media Quotes, Crisis Communications, Reputation Management, Social Media, Television, The Value of PR | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 04:01 PM in Bad Media Quotes, Crisis Communications, Media Training, Monthly Newsletter, Reporters, Reputation Management, Social Media, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Alberta Health Services, Cookie, media training, Stephen Duckett
The Lesson: There are two lessons here. The first one relates to the 1999 interview in which she referred to "dabbling into witchcraft". Even if you don't aspire to hold public office one day, this probably isn't the kind of life experience to bring up in a network TV interview. The other lesson is about not repeating negative language. The TV ad would have been more effective (or at least less damaging) without the phrase "I'm not a witch." Even though she's refuting the claim, her statement has the opposite effect, serving as fodder for her opponents, critics and the media. In the end, O'Donnell lost her election bid.
Note: This story is taken from our 'Manage your Message' e-newsletter. To get your own copy sent to your inbox each month, sign up here.
Posted at 10:51 AM in Bad Media Quotes, Crisis Communications, Media Training, Monthly Newsletter, Reputation Management, Television, The Value of PR | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 10:42 AM in Bad Media Quotes, Media Training, Monthly Newsletter, Reporters, Reputation Management, Television, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Rob Ford, the mayor-elect of Toronto, is no stranger to the media. In fact, he's done hundreds of interviews in the past year alone, driving home his message about stopping the 'gravy train' of wasteful spending at City Hall. But none of those interviews was as baffling as the national radio interview he granted to CBC just one day after his resounding victory.
Posted at 10:27 AM in Bad Media Quotes, Journalism, Media Training, Monthly Newsletter, Reporters, Reputation Management, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 03:13 PM in Blogging | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 10:51 AM in Crisis Communications, Media Training, Reputation Management, The Value of PR, Well Said | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A big thanks goes out to all of the reporters across North America who supported this campaign from its earliest days and who took the HHOF to task for this bewildering error in judgment. I owe each of you a cold beer. Email me if you'd like to collect.
Burns
will be inducted some day. But instead of making the speech himself, it
will likely be his wife or one of his children. That's a shame. The HHOF missed a great opportunity to do the
right thing for one of their own. Here's hoping the former coach is
still with us in 2011 when we try again.
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Note: This story is taken from our 'Manage your Message' e-newsletter. To get your own copy sent to your inbox each month, sign up here.
Posted at 08:56 PM in Monthly Newsletter, Social Media, The Value of PR, Well Said, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Preparation is the key to success for any media interview - whether you're being interviewed by Peter Mansbridge or the kid next door. Recently, high school student Keith Wagner interviewed Arizona State Senator John Huppenthal. During the interview, the student asked a few basic questions about massive budget cuts to education funding. Huppenthal is clearly caught off guard and appears to know less about his own voting record than the student journalist. After Huppenthal agrees that the cuts are terrible, the student reminds him that he actually voted for a bill that would cut $550 million from education. Huppenthal's body language gets more uncomfortable as the interview progresses. He excuses himself and doesn't return. The interview has been seen more than 340,000 times on YouTube.
The Lesson: 95% of a successful media interview occurs before the first question. Do your homework, anticipate questions (even the bad ones), Google the reporter's previous work and never underestimate a reporter because of their age or experience level.
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Note: This story is taken from our 'Manage your Message' e-newsletter. To get your own copy sent to your inbox each month, sign up here.
Posted at 08:40 PM in Journalism, Media Training, Monthly Newsletter, Reporters, Reputation Management, Social Media, The Value of PR, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The Lesson: First, wear a suit. During the special, James looked like he was stopped on his way to a picnic. Second, rent a copy of Bull Durham. In the 1988 movie, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) teaches Ebby 'Nuke' LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) how to survive sports media interviews by keeping it simple and cranking out clichés. It's boring, but non-controversial.
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Note: This story is taken from our 'Manage your Message' e-newsletter. To get your own copy sent to your inbox each month, sign up here.
Posted at 08:30 PM in Bad Media Quotes, Media Training, Monthly Newsletter, Reputation Management, Working with Reporters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)