Tips for Talking to the Media

The media offer the opportunity to reach a vast audience with your own words and images. Below are a few tips for sharpening your message and getting the most out of a media interview.

• Don’t use jargon. Industries, academic disciplines, and professions have their own linguistic shortcuts. But remember who your target audience is, and communicate in language that they will understand. The best messages are ones that your audience can relate to personally.
  
• Be proactive. Don’t wait for reporters to call you. Be ready to suggest story ideas to them. Help them understand issues and developments, and how they affect the interests of their audience.
  
• Be strategic in your use of numbers. Statistics can misleading unless they are presented in context. When you report numbers, use them to frame your issues and problems in ways that will reveal the best solutions. Take care to interpret survey results, data, or reports for your audience. Use examples, analogies, or stories to explain why the numbers are important, whether they represent a trend, or how they can be used to measure and demonstrate progress.
  
  Example: Instead of saying how much it costs to serve families in your 360 Family Support Centers, report how much more it would cost to support persons with developmental disabilities in institutions outside of their homes and communities. Then explain the human costs in lost love, support, and happiness.
  
• Be positive about your programs or position. Use media opportunities to sell your position or ideas. Be positive and upbeat about your organization and its activities.
  
• Look at every question as an opportunity to sell your agenda. You are never restricted to simply answering a question. Rather, use questions as opportunities to make your points.
  
  Example: If you are asked, “When is the International Day of Disabled Persons?” don’t just answer with a date. Say “The International Day of Disabled Persons will be celebrated on December 3rd to mobilize support for and promote the dignity and well-being of persons with disabilities.”
  
• Using storytelling to frame your message and reach your audience. Since the beginning of time, the most effective communicators have been storytellers. Learn how to illustrate your point with examples or anecdotes that help the listener to visualize and empathize with your position. Help the listener to identify with your story and understand its personal importance.
  
• Use your volunteers as spokespeople. Look outside you own organization for third party validation. Well-briefed volunteers who can give compelling interviews are often more credible than paid staff. (Click here for "The Messenger is as Important as the Message.")

For additional information on working with the media, click here to see “Media Relations” and “Media Interviews.”