At Oratorio Media and Presentation Training, we believe that compelling messaging is critical to the success of any media interview or campaign. There are many ways to get tripped up in a media interview but none so dangerous to your reputation as going off message.
Here are 4 ways that your messaging could go sideways:
Getting Off to a Late Start
If you waste time at the start of a TV interview, it’s gone. Rather than listening to your introduction and just thanking the journalist for having you, a well-prepared spokesperson graciously but firmly takes control of the interview from the get-go. Like this:
JOURNALIST: "We're joined on the program tonight by Jane W, spokesperson for the XYZ Corporation."
SPOKESPERSON: "Thank you for having me. You know Jim, it's important for the audience to know about XYZ's service to the community. At XYZ, we strive to..."
And so on. Instead of waiting for the first question, you hit the ground running with a predetermined opening message that successfully sets the stage for the rest of your interview.
Remember that in a live interview, you don't have much time to make your points, and you want to make them as frequently and credibly as possible. That's why it's important to start doing so right from the beginning.
Having Too Many Messages
If you have more than three messages, you probably have too many messages.
There’s something about presenting information in threes that resonates with audiences. After 25 years of media training and presentation training the best and brightest in business and government, we continue to whittle all key information into three high-level, easily understood messages. On rare occasions, there may be only two key messages, and of course, all messages can have multiple supporting points - examples, stats, stories - but in general, more than three messages cause the audience’s attention to wander.
Stick to three critical messages to keep your audience engaged and attentive.
Not Getting to the Point
We recently conducted media training for a candidate for Congress who felt it was important to “educate” his audiences. This is an admirable sentiment – we certainly don’t want to dumb down the political discourse in this country any further. But for the purposes of the four-minute live television interview, candidates (and all spokespeople) can’t over-explain. You have to know how to tighten up your messages and avoid delivering a seminar, or you won’t be effective.
Now, this particular candidate is a very smart guy – he knows his issues inside and out and is passionate about them. But you should have seen his Communications Director tearing her hair out as the candidate repeatedly elaborated, digressed, and went on tangents.
There are a time and a place for thoughtful and detailed elaborations on policy points, and that place usually isn’t the live TV interview. The more effective approach, one that fits both the time constraints and the audience’s limited span, is to deliver key messages backed up by pithy evidence and stories. And with the clock ticking down to Election Day, the time to start is now.
The Neverending Ending
There are few experiences in life as excruciating as being forced to endure a speaker who doesn’t know when to stop talking. Have you ever heard “in conclusion,” then two minutes later it’s “in closing,” and three minutes after that “finally,” then a minute later it’s “my final thought to you today is,” by which point you’re about ready to say “just finish the darn speech already!” before making a beeline toward the nearest exit.
Speakers should carefully craft and deliver their closing remarks, and then simply STOP. Here’s how: at the end of your presentation, briefly reiterate your key points then tell your audience what to do with the information you just delivered. The final step is to leave them with something powerful and memorable - perhaps a quote, a strong visual, or a story – and then just pause and say “Thank you.”
Wasn’t that easy? Your audiences will thank you for it, and they’ll remember your key points.
All of these messaging missteps can be managed effectively with proper preparation and media training. The live studio interview experience created in Oratorio’s Washington HQ, combined with the experienced coaching of our media training experts gives you the confidence to conduct effective interviews that position you as the expert source in your industry and get you more time in front of live audiences.