Manage your Message Media Training

How to finish your next media interview in 5 minutes or less

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.

 

6 ways to improve Sheen's Korner

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.

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AHS CEO loses his high-paying job because of a cookie

That was one expensive cookie...

In November, Alberta Health Services President and CEO Stephen Duckett was leaving an urgent meeting about a crisis in provincial emergency room care when he was approached by a reporter from CTV. While the camera was rolling, the reporter walked alongside Duckett and asked him to respond to criticism from a government health official.

 

Clearly not wanting to be interviewed, the aptly-named Duckett just kept walking...down a flight of stairs, along a sidewalk and across the street. The persistent reporter and camera operator kept pace with Duckett, continuing to ask him to comment. Instead of responding, however, he repeatedly blew them off by saying he was 'interested in eating my cookie'. At one point, he actually waved his cookie (oatmeal-and-raisin in case you were interested) in the reporter's face. By the way, the video has been viewed 300,000 times and counting in the past month.

 

 

To have Alberta's health chief declining a media interview on a hot button topic because he was eating a cookie didn't go over well with the media, the public, or the Alberta Health Services Board. Five days after the incident, Duckett was canned from his position. Board chairman Ken Hughes acknowledged that the cookie incident played a role in the decision to terminate Duckett. "His ability to carry on and conduct his role as chief executive officer was compromised by his current circumstances - one element of which was that incident," said Mr. Hughes. "The board had clear confidence in him up until that point. But the dynamic changed. The atmosphere changed."

 

To make matters worse, Duckett's 'Cookie Incident' generated hundreds of embarrassing headlines across Canada and the U.S., harming his reputation and that of his employer. The incident was even mocked online in videos like this hilarious mash-up of Duckett and the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. 

 

 

The Lesson: While it's an extreme example, the 'Cookie Incident' highlights what we tell people in our media training sessions -- that poor media relations skills can cut careers short. Being ambushed by a confrontational reporter isn't fun. But handled properly, you can emerge with your job, reputation and your organization's messages intact. Duckett would have been better served to address the reporters with a brief statement such as:

 

"This is an important issue. And I can assure you it's one that Alberta Health Services takes very seriously. And while I regret that I'm not in a position to provide you with an official comment on such short notice (I'm actually late getting to another meeting), I'd be happy to speak with you afterward. Here's my card...please call my assistant/communications director and we can schedule an interview for later today. Thank you so much for your understanding."

 

A response like this would have bought Duckett enough time to prepare for the interview, polish his key messages and finish eating his cookie in peace. And even if CTV had aired the footage of him giving this response, he'd still have a job today. Instead, he was became flustered and was ultimately undone by the only prop at his disposal - a cookie. 

 

But don't cry for Stephen Duckett. As part of his termination settlement, he's entitled to about $680,000 in severance pay, courtesy of the taxpayer. 

 

Any way you cut it, that's a lot of dough.

 

How not to respond to accusations of witchcraft

One of the more popular stories from our newsletter this month is about Christine O'Donnell, the Republican candidate in Delaware's general election Senate race. Leading up to the election, O'Donnell's campaign was dogged by speculation about her involvement in witchcraft (speculation fueled by comments O'Donnell herself made during a 1999 TV interview). In an attempt at damage control, O'Donnell issued a 30-second TV spot aimed at convincing the public she's an ordinary person, "just like you". In a shockingly poor attempt at addressing the issue head-on, however, a smiling O'Donnell begins her ad with the following four words: "I'm not a witch." You can view the ad here.

 

The public reaction to the ad wasn't quite what O'Donnell and her organizers were hoping for. Opponents and the media had a field day. The 30-second spot was even parodied on Saturday Night Live. In her attempt to change the conversation, O'Donnell actually made the situation worse.

 

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.

Did Apple solve its PR problem?

McNeil's handling of recall putting doubts in minds of parents?

More than 40 children's liquid medications, including Motrin and Tylenol products, have been recalled worldwide because of 'potential manufacturing residue'. McNeil Consumer Healthcare issued the massive recall last weekend. The company, however, is being extremely tight-lipped about the actual reason for the recall - a move that is opening the door to rumour, speculation and concern for many parents.

 

It takes a special kind of trust for a parent to administer a medicine to their sick child - trust in the company's commitment to quality. McNeil's reluctance to explain the precise nature of the recall may be giving parents second thoughts as they reach for the medicine cabinet.

 

The company's official response was that the products may not meet "required manufacturing specifications". Talk about vague. When pressed by the Globe and Mail, the company's Canadian spokesperson, Tina Payregatt, said the products may contain "particulate matter". "In other cases, it may be residue from the manufacturing process," she said.

 

She also said that none of the products pose a safety threat to Canadians. So why the need for a large scale recall of more than three dozen products? Adding even more confusion are news reports from the United States indicating the recalled products may contain tiny metallic particles that are a residue of the manufacturing process. Some products recalled in the U.S. may also contain higher amounts of active ingredients or other dosing problems.

 

The Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis crisis a few years ago reminded us that the public can forgive a company if that company does the right thing and is open and honest in its communications. Johnson & Johnson (the parent company of McNeil) practically invented this approach in 1982 after seven people died after taking Tylenol capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. They pulled all the products off the shelves and were completely open and forthcoming in the media. Their handling of that crisis changed the way medicine is packaged and made the company stronger in the long run. I wonder what the company's leadership from that era would think about McNeil's handling of this recall today. I'm guessing it would be the same reaction many parents are having - frustration and disappointment.

BP continues to spill oil and credibility

BP continues to get hammered for the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill, which is on its way to becoming the worst in U.S. history, has irreparably harmed the company's carefully cultivated image of environmental responsibility. Louisiana and federal officials in the U.S. have described the company's cleanup efforts as being 'not adequate'. No kidding.

 

Rather than taking responsibility for the disaster, BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward has tried to position BP as being among a group of organizations fighting a common enemy (the spill). Some could argue that this was a bit of clever positioning, but in the end, it risks making the company's executives look like weasels trying to avoid a mess they helped to create.

 

Hayward also channeled Winston Churchill in a recent interview, saying, "We are determined to fight this spill on all fronts, in the deep waters of the gulf, in the shallow waters and, should it be necessary, on the shore."

 

The Churchill-esque quote just seems a bit contrived for such a serious environmental catastrophe, especially since the company has admitted it lacks the resources to stop the leak and clean up the mess.

 

Thanks to its lacklustre efforts (both in the water and in the media), the company's market cap has plummeted by more than $25 billion since the spill began more than two weeks ago. And the oil continues to flow...

How the TTC mishandled the media in the 'case of the snoozing worker'

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) faced a PR challenge last month after a cellphone picture of a sleeping worker went viral on the Internet.

For the TTC, the embarrassing photo was the latest in a string of public missteps in recent months, including an unpopular fare hike, a token shortage and a major service disruption to the Yonge line after a private contractor cut into a subway tunnel.

The photo struck a chord with the public and sparked a flurry of media coverage. In its handling of the issue, the TTC made some key mistakes that only added fuel to the flames:

Mistake #1: Too Many Spokespeople

The TTC should have had one spokesperson dealing with the media. Instead, there were multiple TTC spokespeople doing interviews (including its chair, chief general manager, director of corporate communications and the head of the union). The result? A dog's breakfast of conflicting messages, the appearance of a disjointed organization and a lack or any perception of accountability.

Lesson:

When dealing with an issue or crisis, use one spokesperson for media interviews. You'll present a cohesive face to the public and you'll have a better chance of controlling the news agenda and avoiding conflicting messages.

Mistake #2: Don't Attack the Customer

At the peak of the media frenzy, TTC union boss Bob Kinnear issued a written statement to the media. Rather than dealing with the issue of workers sleeping on the job, he opted to attack the customers themselves:

"It is very discouraging that the picture-taker and apparently other customers made no attempt to determine if there was anything wrong with this TTC employee. A simple knock on the glass might have determined if the collector was in fact asleep or whether he was unconscious as a result of some medical problem. The reports that passengers were laughing at him as they passed the booth makes this even more disturbing," Kinnear wrote.

Lesson:

Instead of attacking your single-largest source of revenue for an internal problem, take responsibility for the situation, tell the public how you're going to fix it and move forward.

Mistake #3: Don't Turn an Issue into a Crisis

On January 27, the TTC held a press conference to outline its plans to improve the system. To their credit, they had a detailed list of concrete steps they would take to help improve customer service. The problem? The two TTC spokespeople on hand (see Mistake #1) stole their own thunder with negative quotes about the situation.

Chief general manager Gary Webster said, "We've obviously found ourselves in a bit of a crisis when you consider the criticisms we're getting." Memo to the TTC: This is what you say in your internal meetings, not to reporters. The result? Webster gave the media the authority to refer to this issue as a crisis. His quote even ended up influencing the headline in the National Post, which read: Saving the TTC from state of crisis.

Lesson:

Ten minutes of flawlessly delivering your key messages can be wiped out in 10 seconds. While they're interviewing you, reporters are putting your responses into one of three categories: 1) might use it, 2) can't use it, and 3) gotta use it. Webster's quote fell into category #3. If he had refrained from uttering that quote, the story (and headline) likely would have been much more positive for the TTC.

With millions of camera-equipped smart phones roaming the streets, we're going to be seeing a lot more companies dealing with incidents like this. No industry or sector is immune to an embarrassing photo from a dissatisfied customer. But when it's their turn at bat, hopefully these companies will be able to avoid the costly and preventable) mistakes made by the TTC and use the opportunity to forge a stronger relationship with their customers.

Despite poor handling of PR crisis, Tiger's brand will be just fine

 
He's an undisputed master on the golf course and one of the most bankable and recognizable athletes in the world. But over the past seven days, Tiger Woods has proven that crisis management isn't one of the tools in his golf bag.

Over the years, Woods has established a reputation as a notoriously private individual. Some have gone so far as to characterize him as a 'control freak'. He hand-picks the sports reporters to whom he will provide interviews. He's fiercely protective of his private life and the persona he has crafted. And rightly so. After all, that persona helped him earn $130 million in 2009 alone (the majority from endorsements). He is on track to become the sporting world's first billionaire in history.

But in the past week, however, Tiger (the man and the brand) has taken a serious hit. The world continues to feed upon the new pieces of information that seem to pop up every few hours: conflicting versions of events surrounding his single vehicle accident, photos of alleged girlfriends, secret voicemails leaked onto the internet, photos of his damaged vehicle, recordings of 911 calls, cryptic apologies for 'trangressions', etc. And this is just the beginning.

Tiger Woods and his army of handlers have lost any opportunity to minimize the profile and damage of this scandal by breaking the first three rules of crisis managment:

Rule #1: Be truthful and forthcoming with your public

Adopting a siege mentality simply doesn't work. Neither does lying. Remember the Sunrise Propane explosion in Toronto in the summer of 2008? The company stuck its head in the sand, gave little information and few interviews. They were lambasted in the media and were hit with three class action lawsuits in the hundreds of millions of dollars that are still ongoing.

 

That same summer, Maple Leafs Foods was hit with the listeria crisis, which killed 21 people. The company addressed the issue head-on in the media. They were proactive, empathetic and were seen to be doing the right things. Most experts agree Maple Leaf Foods has moved past the crisis. Their class action lawsuit was settled more than a year ago for $27 million (for context, the company has revenues in excess of $5 billion annually).

 

Tiger Woods has been anything but forthcoming. Official statements have been too few and too late. There are also a number of inconsistencies. Was his golf club-wielding wife coming to help him? Or to injure him?

 

Rule #2: Communicate quickly

In the age of 24 hour news coverage, you need to respond to a crisis quickly. If you can get out in front of the issue (think of David Letterman's handling of the extortion plot in October), you have a better chance of controlling it. From the time Tiger crashed into the tree until his first official statement, there was a long period of silence. While he was probably hoping the situation would blow over, the news vacuum was filled with rumour and speculation. After 48 hours, any chance he had of controlling the news agenda was lost.

Rule #3: Deliver the bad news in one shot

There's a term for this in public relations. It's called 'Confess the Mess'. Again, think back to David Letterman's handling of his PR crisis in October. Like Woods, Letterman is also an intensely private individual. But Letterman realized that by opening the kimono for one day and delivering all the bad news at once, he had a better chance of deflating any long-term interest. And as we saw last month, it worked. His was essentially a one-day news story. Letterman is still on the job. And the issue seems like a distant memory.

 

The Tiger Woods saga, on the other hand, is being revealed like one of those multi-coloured hankerchiefs that a magician keeps pulling out of his pocket. Every day there's more news. And every day, it seems worse than the day before.

 

What will this mean to Tiger's future?

His sponsors (Electronic Arts, Nike, Accenture, PepsiCo, etc.) will probably stick with him. After all, in the world of golf, Tiger really is the only game in town. E-Poll Market Research tracks the awareness and appeal of celebrities. Woods' awareness is 82% (which is sure to rise in their next poll). The next highest golfer is Phil Mickelson at 25%. After that, you have John Daly at 16%, Sergio Garcia at 11% and so on.

 

Despite his continuing poor handling of this PR crisis, Tiger Woods and his image will be ok in the long run. Because of his truly iconic status, Tiger is one of just a few people on the planet whose reputations would be able to survive this type of crisis (and the ineffective handling of it).

 

The lesson in all of this? If you or the company you work for are faced with a public relations crisis, be truthful and forthcoming, communicate quickly and deliver the bad news in one shot. If, however, you opt to ignore those three rules, then you'd better be Tiger Woods.

 

For the rest of us, this level of PR ineptitude would likely be the end of the line.

Using Google Trends to measure the effectiveness of crisis communications

It's generally accepted that crisis communications is a worthwhile pursuit. But in a world where executives want to measure the effectiveness of everything, how do you know if your crisis communications plan actually worked?

 

Traditionally, you had to rely on indicators such as business volumes/trends, client feedback/complaints, quantity/quality of media coverage and public perception (measured via expensive surveys).

 

There's a new tool from Google that can help you measure the effectiveness of your crisis communications strategy (or any other marketing/PR strategy for that matter). With Google Trends, you can compare the public's interest (measured by the number of web searches) in a topic, company name or individual. This information is provided in an easy-to-read chart format. You can also customize the chart view by geography or time period.

 

Google Trends can also show you how frequently your topic has appeared in media stories (again, searchable by geography and time period). You can also compare up to five topics on the same chart to see which had the most web searches and news items associated with them.

 

Here's an example of how it works:  

I used Google Trends to compare the levels of web searches and media coverage associated with two big news stories from October 2009: the David Letterman extortion story and the Balloon Boy saga. I used the search terms 'David Letterman' and 'Heene' (the balloon boy's surname). Here's the chart generated by Google Trends:

 

The chart on the top compares the number of times people searched for these words on Google (Letterman in blue and Balloon Boy in red). The chart on the bottom shows the media coverage each term generated (again, Letterman in blue and Balloon Boy in red).

 

These respective charts are fascinating in that they demonstrate how good crisis communications can help contain a story, while bad crisis communications can pour gasoline on the flames and make the situation worse.

In the top chart, notice the blue spike on the left. These are web searches done on the name 'David Letterman' as his extortion story emerged.The red line on the right shows web searches for the name 'Heene', as the Balloon Boy story unfolded.

 

As the bottom chart shows, however, the Letterman story generated much less media coverage than the Balloon Boy story. Also, notice the shape of the blue line in the bottom chart -- a small triangle. This illustrates that Letterman (through his proactive crisis communications approach) was able to successfully turn this crisis situation into a two-day news story. 

 

The Balloon Boy story, on the other hand, was filled with misinformation, confusion, changing storylines, multiple appearances on national talk shows (which ended up inflaming the situation), etc. At one point, the father even put a box on the curb where dozens of reporters were camped out and asked the media to write out their questions and put them in the box. This is a textbook lesson in how not to handle a crisis in the media. And the red line which indicates media coverage in the bottom chart proves it. Not surprisingly, there's no neat little red triangle in the bottom chart. Instead, the media reference volume line resembles the Rocky Mountains, with the story dragging on like a media rollercoaster for more than a week. 

 

It's worth taking a few minutes to experiment with Google Trends -- plug in a few search terms and check out the results. There are even some advanced search features to further customize your searches. Google Trends isn't a cure-all for measuring the effectiveness of communications initiatives. But it can add some compelling information and insights to your company's current measurement practices.