How to Master Your Media Interview

This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post.

Media interviews provide the ultimate dose of credibility. After all, if the New York Times or CNN thinks you’re worth talking to, who am I to argue? Even appearances in local newspapers, radio programs, or trade publications can significantly bolster your reputation. But, conversely, media hits gone wrong can damage your credibility and hinder your chances of getting another shot.

So how do you ensure that you’re prepared when your big moment arrives? Here are five key strategies.

1) Know the specs. Sometimes, in the excitement of booking a media appearance, little details can get overlooked. Be sure to find out whether the program is live or taped, with or without callers, and what the precise topic is going to be. (You don’t want to go in blind, armed with only general business bromides, if the host plans to discuss a particular company in depth.) Make sure you know how long the interview will last, if there are other guests, and whether it’s on radio or TV (for unfamiliar stations, call letters can be surprisingly ambiguous).

2) Know what you want to say. Don’t assume you can “wing it.” Depending on the length of your interview, plan at least three main points in advance that you’d like to raise. Write them on a notecard so you don’t forget.

3) Know what you don’t want to say. It’s inevitable — reporters have a different agenda than we do. You may want to promote your product, while they want you to trash the competition. You may want to talk industry trends, while they’re seeking comment on today’s scandalous breaking news. Be prepared. Write out a list in advance of random questions they may throw at you, related to current events, your competition, failures, corporate secrets — anything to make you squirm. Make sure you’ve got a good response that allows you to dodge the question without seeming too obvious or oily. (“You raise a good point, Joe, but it’s our company policy not to discuss our competitors. However, I can say that in general we believe…”)

4) Control the information. Research the reporter beforehand. Does she have pet issues she likes to focus on? What has she been writing about lately? Is he known for having a rightward (or leftward) tilt? How are ratings? What has the show been lauded or criticized for? Information is power, and allows you to be prepared for unexpected questions or maneuvers. Candidate George W. Bush was famously blindsided when Boston TV reporter Andy Hiller stumped him on-air with a “pop quiz” about foreign leaders — a trap he could have avoided if only his staff had researched Hiller’s style and typical bag of tricks.

5) Work out the kinks in advance — not on the air. Grab a friend, or a staffer. Make them pretend to be the reporter, first acting nice, and then nasty. Your responses become sharper and better with practice, and it’s better to subject your colleagues to rambling “first draft” answers than to see them in print and on the Internet for the rest of time.

These days, between the 24-hour news cycle and the proliferation of blogs, Internet news sites and online video, the need for quality content has never been higher. Good interview subjects who can provide pithy, interesting soundbites are in short supply. And that means that if you master the techniques above, you’ll quickly become a valuable source.

Dorie Clark has consulted for luminaries including former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich and former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, as well as clients such as Google, Yale University, and the Ford Foundation. She is the author of the forthcoming What’s Next?: The Art of Reinventing Your Personal Brand (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). Listen to her podcasts or follow her on Twitter.

How to Recover after a Blunder

Eventually, every leader will make a mistake for which he or she must apologize. The screw-up might be personal (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s extramarital escapades), corporate (TEPCO president Masataka Shimizu’s mishandling of his company’s nuclear power plant crisis), or simply banal (inadvertently insulting a colleague’s wardrobe).

The rash of mea culpas we’ve seen in recent months — culminating this week in Congressman Anthony Weiner’s press conference to explain his tawdry tweets — had brought to mind a mistake-fuelled media frenzy from my past: Howard Dean’s famous scream, and the lessons we learned from it.

As New Hampshire communications director for Dean’s 2004 presidential bid, I watched on TV as he gave that now-infamous concession speech after the Iowa caucuses. Disappointed with his third-place finish, he decided to rally the troops with his bold vision for a national comeback. “We’re going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota…” As the list of states got longer and Dean’s voice became more feverish, our press intern Greg laid it out: “He looks like the Incredible Hulk.” This was not good.

When the campaign plane touched down in New Hampshire at 3 a.m., we greeted the candidate with a rally and Joan Jett concert at a freezing air hangar in Portsmouth. But we knew the “Dean Scream” was going to become a problem. In truth, he didn’t do anything wrong: the room in Iowa was painfully loud; he was only screaming to be heard above the crowd. But that’s not how it played (again and again) on cable TV, which turned a minor screw-up into a media maelstrom. So how do you move forward?

First, you have to acknowledge the elephant in the room. If you’re running a business and something publicly embarrassing has transpired, no one can focus on real issues (sales targets, expansion plans, the quarterly financials) as long as they’re fixated on the error. It might temporarily feel better to slink off but to admit the mistake expedites the recovery process. (Weiner could have saved himself a world of hurt by admitting upfront he sent the naughty tweet, rather than letting it play out in the media for a week.)

Next — if appropriate — try to laugh at yourself. That gives others (much-needed) permission to do the same. Dean went on David Letterman and subjected himself to a scream-related “Top 10″ list of campaign turnaround strategy suggestions. (The first was “switch to decaf.”) After all, nobody wants a leader who takes himself too seriously.

For the complete article, visit the Harvard Business Review

Looking for Ideas? 5 Tips for Non-Writers

You want to establish yourself as an expert? In a previous post, I discussed how to develop a relationship with reporters. But, with all the new tools available, you don’t have to–and shouldn’t–wait for someone else to create your content for you.

Creating content – whether it’s blog posts, articles, podcasts, or lectures – is essential to developing your personal brand. It showcases your expertise and lets the world know what you have to offer.

But what, exactly, should you write or speak about? The thought of developing content on a regular basis can be overwhelming to many people.

Here are five tricks you can use to develop and pump out engaging content.

1.    News events. Pick one of the leading stories of the day and play a game: what does this have to do with your profession? This can actually spark some unexpected creativity, as you ponder the insurance implications of natural disasters, the branding challenges when celebrities go awry (will the companies they endorse also take a hit?), or how enhanced consumer confidence will impact travel and tourism.

2.    Interviews. Not sure what to say? Make someone else do the work for you! Identify a leader in your field or someone who’s doing something interesting, and reach out. Asking someone for an interview is a great way to make connections, because people are usually flattered and you’re positioned as an expert/peer from the start.

3.    FAQs. If you’re been in your field long enough, you’ll hear the same questions time and again. (How do I find clients? What should I charge?) Think back to a speech you gave. What questions did people ask from the audience? What do people always want to know when you meet them at parties? What comments pop up when you blog? Find the patterns (”Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Tax Law” or “10 Misconceptions about Buying Life Insurance”) and dive in.

For the complete article, visit BNET

5 Ways to Get Reporters on Your Side

As a former journalist, I’m always amazed at the misconceptions some professionals have about the best way to interact with reporters.  Sure, they’re after a good story – but (unless you’re running for president) they’re not bloodsuckers out to humiliate you or extract state secrets.

Here are 5 ways to build a rapport with reporters – and, hopefully, win good coverage for years to come.

1.    Respect their deadlines. You don’t like it when co-workers stand at your desk, yammering away, when you’re trying to finish a major report. Same goes for reporters. Thanks to the world of blogging, they’re often on deadline multiple times a day, trying to bang out articles and beat the competition. Whenever you call, always make sure your first question is “Are you on deadline? Do you have a minute to talk?”

2.    Don’t bull*#(% them. Reporters can sniff out obfuscation a mile away. If you don’t know the answer, it’s OK to ‘fess up. (You never want to be in the embarrassing position of calling to retract some statement you made on the fly.) Let them know you’re unsure, but will check on the answer and get back to them in five minutes, or an hour, or whenever is appropriate based on their deadline. They’d rather have accurate information later than something random you cooked up right now.

3.    Always call back. When a journalist calls (or emails) you, it’s for a reason – because they think you’re an expert, or you know something useful to their story. Even if you don’t want to talk to them – because you’re busy, or you’re in an SEC quiet period, or you just don’t want to comment about your CEO’s womanizing – there’s absolutely no excuse to ignore their call or email.  Respond and politely explain you’re not able to comment. You may need the reporter, and that relationship, at some point in the future. You don’t want their abiding memory of you to be “that person who dissed me.”

For the complete article, visit BNET

Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them: From the Harvard Business Review blog

Hollywood stars, media mavens and America’s most influential businessmen and politicians: that’s the crowd at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner. That night in 2006 newly appointed Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke mingled with CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo, who asked about his recent congressional testimony, which had sent stock markets soaring. He told her he’d been misinterpreted, she reported the comments, and the markets plummeted, prompting a hail of criticism.

Every senior leader, in politics or in business, eventually has to face the media and, no matter how short the interview is, it can have a lingering impact on both your reputation and your organization’s. Here are the three biggest mistakes executives make when dealing with journalists — and how you can avoid them.

1. Not understanding their motives. As Ben Bernanke learned the hard way, you’re always “on the record” unless you specify otherwise. Journalists are always after a story, and more often than not they’re after a specific storyline. My experience working as a communications director for Howard Dean during the 2004 Democratic presidential primary campaign drove this point home. Early on, the Boston press corps loved us, because they could use Dean as a cudgel against “local favorite” John Kerry. (Reporters love to champion underdogs.) About six weeks before the New Hampshire primary, however, the coverage began to turn against us. The poll results were too good and the endorsements (such as Vice President Gore’s) were too major. Dean had become the front runner—and a target. From then on, we had to shift our strategy, becoming more proactive with the media, and more selective about the interviews we gave. My advice for any leader interacting with journalists is to tread carefully and ask lots of questions. What’s the intended focus of the piece? Who else will be interviewed? Where will it run? Which types of stories is the reporter best known for?

Read the rest of my post on the Harvard Business Review website.

How to Repair a Damaged Online Reputation

Several months ago, as a favor to a friend, I did an informational interview with a recent grad — a nice young woman with an Ivy League degree. At the end of our coffee, she leaned in and lowered her eyes. “There’s something else I should mention,” she said. “I’m not sure if you Googled me before we met, but… there are some negative things being said about me online.” Her distinctive name and a deranged ex-boyfriend conspired to create a reputation nightmare that’s taken years to resolve and crippled her job search efforts.

So what can you do if your online reputation has been damaged, whether by others or your own mistakes? Here are four strategies to hasten your comeback.

1. Be upfront. Let’s face it: any sane employer/customer/prospective date will Google you the minute they’re serious about doing business with you. It’s far better to control the terms of disclosure — like my young “informational interviewee” did — than wait for them to discover the negative information on their own. Let them know what’s out there, what the truth is, and what you’re doing to respond to it. (I advised the recent grad that she could even spin her experience as a positive: since she’s looking for a communications job, she knows personally the power of online branding and reputation management.)

2. Apologize if necessary. Sometimes — alas — you’re responsible for the mistake. A central tenet of crisis communications is to apologize as quickly as possible, so you don’t inflame the public or your bosses by appearing clueless or defiant. A good example is Washington Post columnist Mike Wise, who earlier this year bizarrely decided to tweet out misinformation about an NFL quarterback (see the Post ombudsman’s coverage). With a one month suspension in hand, he manned it up and took responsibility, tamping down the furor over his breach of journalistic standards: “I’m paying the price I should for careless, dumb behavior in the multi-platform media world,” he announced on his radio program.

Read the rest at the Huffington Post.

5 Steps to Getting Quoted in the Media

Why do the same people get quoted by reporters all the time? Laziness, for starters — it’s hard to cultivate new sources, so when a journo is on deadline, it’s a safe bet to fall back on pundits you know can deliver a pithy soundbite. The good news? Once you break into their speed-dial, the “herd mentality” will take over and you can be sure their peers will be ringing you soon enough, magnifying your media profile. And the even better news? You don’t have to be a “celebrity” to become a desirable pundit. Very few people take the time to strategically cultivate relationships with reporters, so if you follow these five steps, you’re well on your way to becoming the next James Carville, Mark Zandi, or [insert your favorite ubiquitous sage].

Find out the five steps and read the full article on the Huffington Post.

Do Unto Others: The New Marketing Gospel

 

Thanksgiving is a good day to ponder the edict that permeated my days in divinity school and has influenced Western culture so much: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Old school marketing believed this wholeheartedly–in fact, it couldn’t have believed otherwise. If you wanted to reach hundreds of millions of Americans, you had to saturate the television airwaves with a single, catchy message–and repeat it until their skulls were ready to cave in. The same medicine and the same dosage for everyone.

But, with the rise of cable TV and the Internet, additional possibilities emerged. (See Seth Godin on permission marketing and this Fast Company article on political microtargeting.) The new marketing gospel is “Do unto others as they would like to be done to.”

We can segment audiences and speak to them individually, delivering relevant and timely information. Why present a watered-down, universally palatable (but just OK) message, when we can reach people exactly where they are and with what they need? It’s not about finding one elusive strategy that will speak to everyone. Nowadays, it’s about recognizing that nothing will speak to everyone–and that fact presents an opportunity.

So..how are you making use of it?

 

Can Bad Publicity Be Good for Your Brand?

When can bad press actually be good for you? It’s been debated for decades by PR professionals, but a recent New York Times article by Rob Walker (author of the excellent Buying In: What We Buy and Who We Are) highlights some Wharton School research that breaks it down:

• If you’re relatively unknown, bad press can be helpful because people forget what  they heard about you. Net result? Higher name recognition.
• Unfortunately, if you already have a strong brand, negative publicity usually hurts, because people are more likely to remember the distasteful context.

Now that there’s proof that “bad press” works, watch out for even more legions of wannabes fighting for a reality TV slot…!

Tips for Content Creation

For many businesses, there’s a constant pressure to create: blog posts, podcasts, tweets, and more. How do you maximize efficiency while regularly pumping out content that’s valuable to your readers? Here are a few of my favorite tips:

 

"Batching" - doing many similar tasks at once - is key to maximizing your efficiency.

 

 

• Twitter: Schedule at least some of your posts in advance using a service like HootSuite (my choice) or TweetDeck.
• Podcasts: If you’re giving a talk, record it and use free software like Garage Band or Audacity to turn it into podcasts. I’ve now got over 60 podcasts online, covering subjects from personal branding to media relations to social media.
• Video: Batch ‘em. If you want to go (semi) fancy, you can hire a videographer (I tapped a local film grad student) to come film you for a half-day. It took preparation–creating talking points and coming up with topics in advance–but we banged out a dozen videocast episodes in one day, which I’ve been steadily uploading at the rate of about one a month.

What are your best time-saving tips for creating great content?