From the August issue of Wired magazine: Ace a press interview.
Sally Stewart, communications consultant and author of Media Training 101, offers some pointers on how not to come off like an idiot when you’re talking to a journalist.
1. Know what you’re talking about and to whom you’re saying it. Jot down a few key points you want to make on note cards.
2. Give some thought to what you don’t want to mention, as well. Set boundaries and watch out for topic drift.
3. Remember, the person you’re talking to is not your friend and will use anything you say — especially the asides.
4. Prepare mentally for the pressure, but don’t try to be perfect. A little stuttering is OK. It shows you’re human.
5. Be succinct. Limit your responses to three sentences or less for print media and a single sentence for television.
6. In a television roundtable, you might get to respond to one question during the entire show. Make it count.
7. Don’t talk over another guest. A little interplay is good, but too much pegs you as a bully. No one can hear you anyway.
8. Avoid these terms: frankly, truthfully, Web 2.0, proactive, impactful, paradigm, synergy, no-brainer, empower, Web 3.0.
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
And I’d add, avoid the term conversation.
So played out…