Media Training
We will take a look at a couple of recent case studies of bloggers in the media…what went right, and what went wrong. What are the tactics journalists learn when preparing and interviewing subjects? What are they trying to accomplish? How do you take your self-branding skills to the next level and stay on message? This session will give you basic skills to help you control how you are portrayed. Cynthia Samuels and The Sarcastic Journalist will be the media training experts on hand to answer your questions. Stay tuned for our fascinating case studies.

Dealing with fears around talking to the media — if a member of the press calls looking for an expert and you don’t feel like you are one clarify what they’re looking for and why they want to talk to you.

News outlets are hungry for unrecognized phenomena to report on. You can tap into this and share it with journalists. Deborah Renner’s techniques: “I really like what you wrote, here’s something similar.” Or “Here’s something you wrote, and here’s a missing like — this might be helpful.” Or “Here’s my expertise; here’s my book, here’s my blog. Let me know if I can be helpful.” Present yourself well. State your blog, state your area of expertise, be short, be brief.

Profnet is one way to go.

Look for journalists who write articles related to your topic and contact them with feedback, additional information, etc. Establish your connections with them, and they can share you as an expert with colleagues. You can use Google Alerts to track topics that matter to you and your topic and then contact them with additional tidbits and information.

Also, Thank You cards and gracious emails go a long way towards endearing yourself as a helpful source. But don’t ever imply that a journalist is in your pocket.

Now, let’s talk about soundbite development. Decide what you want to say before you even start the interview, and pick your soundbite carefully. Because people will blom onto it. “Message discipline is how people win elections. It’s how people win debates. When you get asked sometehing you don’t want to answer, you say ‘That’s really interesting, and you know…[then say whatever you want].’” Or you can “That’s not a field I have expertise, I’d rather not answer that.” Impulse control is key.

It’s always helpful to provide three additional sources to journalists. Establishes you as a helpful authority.

Bullet point press releases are awesome. Skip the paragraphs!

“If you’re going to go on television where you can’t correct yourself, you need to be ready. It’s not that hard. You have to know exactly what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it — and if people push you, you must have a graceful way of sliding out of it.” Message control is KEY. You have an issue, you have a subject. If someone comes at you sideways, you can turn things to your own agenda. You just have to be ready.

Bloggers are rebels — we like to have our own point of view, but you need to be prepared and be ready to handle the attention with grace and professionalism. Practice. Prepare.

Reporters aren’t evil. They aren’t subversive. They’re just busy. You have to help them.