Manage your Message Media Training

Rob Ford: Media relations bully and soon-to-be one-term mayor

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.

How media interviews are like American Idol

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:

1. The media influences perceptions of your organization: Like it or not, people will make knee-jerk judgments about you and your company based on the merits of your 15-second quote. And in the era of Google and YouTube, this stuff never goes away. Media training can help you determine what you want to say with your 15 seconds.
2. Accurate coverage begins with you: Don't leave the onus for accuracy on the reporter. Sure, they're getting paid to get the facts straight. But you're the expert or they wouldn't be calling you. One rookie mistake can mean a missed opportunity. Or worse, it can create a negative issue for your company to deal with. Media training can help increase the accuracy of your coverage.
3. You have a right to tell your story: When that interview starts, it's all on your shoulders. No one is going to come to your aid. You need to be able to navigate the interview effectively and get your story across. Media training can give you the tools and discipline to do those things.
4. Practice improves performance: This is a fact that Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and the other American Idol winners already know. And when it comes to practice, there's no better way to prepare for media interviews than the white-knuckled, gut-wrenching simulated interviews that make up part of a high-quality media training session.

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).

 

The most important media relations tool money can buy...

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:

• They force message discipline. If you can't get all the key messages for your upcoming media interview on a 3" x 5" index card, your story is too long. Unlike a Word document or legal pad, the index card forces you to boil your story down to a few key points. This is, by far, their most important benefit.  
• They're cheap. In fact, you can get 300 of them for less than five bucks. And unless you're a head of state, Justin Bieber or Anthony Weiner, that should be more than enough for all the media interviews you'll conduct over the course of your entire life. 
• They're great in the event of a blackout. No cords. No batteries. Nothing to back up, nothing to save on a flash drive, nothing to be corrupted by a virus. Long after your laptop battery has died, your index card (and your key messages) will be there for you.
• They fit anywhere. Your index cards fits perfectly in your shirt or suit pocket, wallet, purse, briefcase, portfolio, etc.

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.

 

Why you should never go to lunch with a reporter

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.

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.

 

Christine O'Donnell breaks 3 media relations rules in 60 seconds

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.

 

Orillia mayor tries to put the local media in his inbox

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.

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.

Spokespeople need to be ready for the media's tough questions

In our media training sessions, we tell participants that 90% of the success of a media interview is determined before the reporter asks their first question. It's in the homework you do to prepare for the interview. It's finding out the focus of the interview, researching the reporter's past stories on the topic, developing strong key messages and anticipating the questions you'll be asked (especially the 2-3 nightmare questions you hope you never get asked).

 

Going into a media interview unprepared is risky. Doing it on CNN is downright dangerous. Recently, Texas legislator Rep. Debbie Riddle appeared on CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360' to talk about 'terror babies' - a supposed threat in which terrorist organizations send pregnant women to the US to have their children who would be US citizens, but who would be trained abroad to be terrorists and could return to the US without raising suspicion.

 

When Cooper asked for evidence about the controversial claim, Riddle alluded to conversations with 'former FBI officials'. Unsatisfied with her response, Cooper asked her several more times for evidence of these plots, saying that claims of this magnitude warranted proof. As the reporter continued to press, Riddle became visibly uncomfortable and finally said, "When your folks called me in the preliminary [interview]...they did not tell me that you were going to grill me for this specific information that I was not ready to give you tonight. They did not tell me that, sir." You can view the interview here.

 

The Lesson: Before your media interview, anticipate questions -- escpecially the bad ones. Take a few moments during your preparation to play the role of the reporter and think of the hardest questions you would ask yourself. Ask trusted colleagues to think of some difficult questions too. Then, figure out how you're going to address those questions if they come up in the interview. In most cases, those questions will never see the light of day. But if they do, at least you'll be prepared.

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.