Making The Most of Every interview

That moment when a reporter says "yes, I'd like to do a story on your company" is just the beginning of the interview process. To make the most of an interview, it’s important to have a prepared spokesperson that is skilled in delivering key messages and directing the interview.

Successfully interacting with the media is a learned skill, and contrary to what many people believe, it’s not something reserved for the most gregarious among a company’s staff. However, successful spokespeople are always prepared, and strong preparation starts with a thorough spokesperson training program.

At Wordsworth, our spokesperson training program has prepared our clients to appear on everything from local news broadcasts to CNN. And, it’s helped them make the most of a variety of interviews in publications like USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

Individuals choosing to go through a full spokesperson training should budget four hours of their day. A typical training includes the following major components:

• Understanding the Media – During this portion of the training, the potential spokesperson learns the ins and outs of how news gathering works, including what makes a story newsworthy.
• Leading the Interview – During a news interview, it’s important for spokespeople to not simply default to answering the asked question. Good spokespeople can direct an interview in a way that allows them to communicate their message whether the reporter asks the right question or not. During this portion of the training, our trainees learn techniques to make sure interviews go their way.
• Using Messaging Successfully – Messaging should be simple to integrate. Wordsworth works with companies to simplify their messaging to make it easy for spokespeople to use in an interview.
• Mock Interviews – Many of our trainees say this is the most valuable part of the spokesperson training. During the mock interviews, trainees are presented with realistic interview situations. After completing their interviews, trainees are critiqued by our spokesperson training team and colleagues also participating in the training to learn how they can improve in their next interview.

The process of becoming a good spokesperson doesn’t stop with training. It takes preparation, practice and reflection. Before an interview, a spokesperson should spend at least 30 minutes reviewing key messages, latest data and potential questions. And after an interview, a spokesperson should evaluate what she did well and what she could do better.

To learn more about spokesperson training and how it can help your company more effectively communicate its messaging, contact Wordsworth Vice President Pepper Peale via email or phone at 513-271-7222 ext. 12.