Carol Britton, APR, CPRC

Media Training and Presentation Skills

• Importance of good communication skills.

• Developing the message.

• Working with the media.

• Tips and techniques.

• Interview exercise.

Overview

Communication is a skill that you learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.

Brian Tracy

• Know your audience.

• Tailor your message and delivery.

• Prepare and practice.

• Execute with precision.

• Evaluate your results.

Good communication involves planning

• To inform

• To persuade

• To entertain

• To motivate

What are your communication goals?

• When it comes to communication and the media, perception is reality.

• Staying on message is hard.

• What you say and how you say it are equally important.

• Never say anything you don’t want to read in the newspaper.

Media 101

• What is your most important communication objective?

• What are two or three things you want people to know?

• What questions would you ask if you were the reporter?

• Are there facts/statistics that you can use?

• Is there any information that cannot be shared with the public?

Before the interview

• Break information down into manageable bites.

• Put the information in the order of importance.

• Don’t use jargon.

• Make complicated information as simple as possible.

• Practice – use your cell phone to record a mock interview.

We live in a world of soundbites.

• Dress professionally for any interview.

• If there is information that you can’t share due to regulations, let the reporter know before starting the interview.

• If you feel unprepared for a question, tell the reporter you’ll get back to them with an answer.

• Avoid “no comment.”

• Make your comments clearly and concisely.

• Re-emphasize your main point.

Your moment in the spotlight

Here’s the scenario:

The local school board found during an internal audit that a very popular high school football coach had been stealing from the football program and fundraisers. The audit found hundreds of missing receipts and cash transactions that could not be accounted for. One example involved concession stand sales. Items sold were donated so the program could make 100 profit. The cash from each night were given to the coach but there was no evidence that the money was deposited. The coach also violated district policies including keeping receipts for five years, failing to submit fundraising applications, and making transactions in cash instead of using a purchase card. The audit found more than $500,000 over a three-year period for concession sales that could not be accounted for.

Let’s practice.

• What is your most important communication objective?

• What are two or three things you want people to know?

• What questions would you ask if you were the reporter?

• Are there facts/statistics that you can use?

• Is there any information that cannot be shared with the public?

Before the interview

• Break up into teams.

• Based on the scenario you are given, develop talking points that you can use during a mock media interview.

• Pick one person who will represent your group during an interview.

Your turn