Media Interviews

Congratulations! If you have received a request from the media for an interview, you are well into your practice of media advocacy. A few tips will help you overcome any nervousness you might have, and produce a productive interview that generates positive coverage of your issue.

Relax and have fun! Remember that you are in control. Consider the interview as an opportunity to sit with your audience in their living rooms. Talk as if you were talking to your Aunt Sally. Don’t assume that the reporter (or your audience) knows about your issue; explain it in an interesting and persuasive way. Provide background information, including useful facts and figures. Make the story real and relevant. And most important – present the problems you elucidate in a way that leads to the policy solutions you seek.

• Keep language simple and direct. Don't use jargon or acronyms that might confuse the reporter or your audience.
• Remember that media bites—the nine-second quotes that encapsulate main points—are essential in communicating through the media. Speak in short, clear, and quotable sentences. Taped interviews will be edited before they are aired, so if you try to make important points at the end of long paragraphs of lead-in information, they are likely to be lost.
• Make your most important point first, before you lose your audience. Throughout your interview, emphasize your major points by "flagging" or highlighting them. For example: “The bottom line is... “The most important point is ...
• Do not feel compelled to answer any question that you don't like. Rather, use each question as the opportunity to get your point across. Be ready to "reframe" questions that are off the mark. Turn negatives into positives. For example, you could respond to an accusatory or an irrelevant question by saying, “What is really important is... or “We are trying to focus on...
• Don't be a know-it-all. If you don't have the answer to any particular question, don't fake it. Instead, use the opportunity to make one of your main points. If the reporter has the time, you can offer to get the information for her. Be patient, not belligerent, kind, not nasty, and helpful, not argumentative. Allow your expertise and personal involvement to come across, but don’t be arrogant.
• Dress appropriately for TV. Wear clothes that look professional but not too formal. Solid colors are better than prints. Bright colors are fine as long as they are not overwhelming. Keep jewelry simple. Dangling earrings and jingling bracelets can distract the interviewer and the audience from what you are saying.
• Don't count on anything you say being truly off the record. If you never want to have something reported, don't say it.