Media training courses: the difference between a press and a broadcast interview?

5th July 2019

During our media training courses people often ask: “What’s the difference between a press and a broadcast media interview?” Well, the chances are that even these days you’re more likely to do a print interview and that’s why we offer special press only courses. Not only do they suit many clients’ budgets but, realistically, they give most people all the skills that they’ll need to make the most of any media opportunities that they’ll get. Click here for more information about what we offer.

However, seeing yourself on camera and taking a look at how you come across during TV interview is always interesting – not least because it tells you something about your performance during business meetings and presentations. The participants on our media coaching sessions usually find that they’ve polished up their general business communications skills.

What’s the difference between a press and a broadcast interview?

It’s worth noting, though, that there are a number of differences between press and broadcast media interviews. The first is that you generally have more time during a press interview. A print journalist might, for instance, want to speak to you for 10 to 15 minutes to really understand an issue and get to the heart of the story. Even these days, when newsrooms have been cut to the bone, a print journalist has more time available to them.

However, a live broadcast interview will probably only last two to three minutes. Even a recorded radio or TV interview will usually only go on for a few minutes. This can be quite frustrating for journalists who find that there’s just not enough time to take a deep dive into an issue and explore it from all angles.

Journalists aside, what does this difference mean for you as the interviewee? Well, during a press interview you have more time to explain the background and put an issue into context before you go on to answer the specific question that you’ve been asked. You can always ask the journalist what stage they’re at during their research process. It may well be that they’re very new to the story and they need you as an expert to give them a crash course and guide them through it. How much the journalist is likely to know about the subject matter of the interview is something that your PR agency or in house communications department should be able to advise you on. Otherwise, you can simply ask. Provided that you do it politely without patronising them most journalists won’t be offended.

Media training courses for law firms

We do a lot of media training for law firms and lawyers are, of course, all about detail. For them, skimming the surface of an issue, as journalists, do is an anathema. We have to work hard to reassure them and to show them how to maintain the level of accuracy that they feel comfortable with while giving the journalist the kind of brief summary that works for them.

With a broadcast interview you need to dive in straight away with your key message – there’s simply no time for any kind of preamble. With our media coaching for lawyers we have to work with them and their communications departments to hone down their messages for TV and radio.

Whether you’re doing a press or a broadcast interview, it’s essential to be focused on what you want the journalist to take away. As we tell participants in our media training for lawyers and other professions – don’t give the journalist the à la carte menu because they might not choose what you want them to choose. Offer them the set menu, instead. This gives you greater control of the media interview and is actually more helpful for the journalist because they don’t have to wade through reams of irrelevant material.

Lists – good for press interviews but not for broadcast

Lists work well when talking to a print journalist but not for broadcast interviews. This is one of the tips that we give to participants on the media training courses that we offer. You can lay out your case and structure your argument more formally with the press. If you’re talking to a TV or radio reporter, though, there’s no point in telling them that you’ve got five points to make because you’re unlikely to get past the first or second.

Instead, you might want to mention that there are a number of issues but then choose one or two, focus on them and explain and illustrate them with examples. This is often a challenge and, again, lawyers and other professionals wouldn’t naturally think like this but it’s better for the journalist – and, again, it gives you as the interviewee more control.

We’re often asked during our media coaching sessions: “What do I do if I don’t know the answer to a question that the journalist puts to me?” Again, there’s a difference here between press and broadcast interviews. If you’re talking to a print journalist, it’s very easy to say: “Sorry I don’t know that. Let me find out and I’ll come back to you.” It’s much better to do this than to try and wing it.

However, during a broadcast interview – especially if it’s live – this clearly doesn’t work. Instead, you have to move quickly on to something that you do know and that is relevant to your audience. Stop dead at “Sorry, I don’t know,” and not only do you put the journalist on the spot (“Yikes! What’s my next question?! Can’t think of one so I’ll go for something a bit left field or I’ll tick the ‘trouble’ box.”) but you miss an opportunity to maintain control of the interview and to introduce a key message.

Is a press interview easier than a TV interview?

Surely a print interview is easier than a broadcast media interview? This is somehting that we often hear in our media training courses. After all, there are no lights shining in your face, no cameras and microphones and if you lose your train of thought or find yourself with a tickle in your throat there’s plenty of time to recover. This is true but here’s another thought. A print journalist might talk to you for 15 minutes but the audience will only read a tiny fraction of this conversation – and, if you’ve wandered off message, it might not be the fraction that you want them to see. A live TV or radio interview might sound terrifying but we hear every word you say without the journalist editing them and this means that you’re in more control.

There’s also no nuance and no tone in press interviews as people find in our media training courses when we do role press interviews and tell what story would be written. Laid out in cold black and white your words might not carry exactly the same sense that they did when you uttered them. A sarcastic remark or a bit of gentle irony often doesn’t translate. With radio, though, you can use your voice and with TV your facial expressions and body language too, in order to complement your words and communicate your message more holistically and effectively.

As well as getting your message up front, there are a few things that both print and broadcast interviews have in common. We explore these during our media training courses. One is the use of examples. Journalists love them along with stories, anecdotes and case studies. As we say during the media training courses that we offer – tell a story during a media interview and you’re in control because the journalist will almost certainly let you keep talking.

Media interviews – mind your language

Of course, your stories will have to be slightly more concise during a broadcast interview but either way, don’t forget to stress the point of the anecdote afterwards. Phrases such as “And the reason why I say that is…” or “And that really goes to show that…” work well.

The other main similarity relates to language. Even if this is an article for what used to be known as a “broadsheet” newspaper or you’re appearing on a heavy weight news programme such as Newsnight keep your language natural, punchy and conversational. Think of the “sound bite,” that pithy phrase or summary of your argument that you want the audience to take away with them and repeat it to drive it home.

During your preparation and rehearsal (something that we always recommend during our media training courses) check for any jargon or technical language that your audience might not understand or have to take a few moments to take onboard.

Press and TV interviews require a slightly different approach, as we explain during our media training courses, and each has pros and cons but, whichever you’re doing, remember, the key to doing them well is preparation

Presentation Training

Six barriers to effective communication

By simon on

13th May 2019

- Presentation Training

Essentially what we do as a company is to help our clients to communicate more effectively with the people they need to talk to. This is often with journalists in our media training courses and crisis communications courses but it could also be communication with internal audiences, clients, suppliers, investors, regulators and others through our presentation and business writing courses. This involves looking at the key barriers to effective communication. The types of barriers to effective communication vary from situation to situation but, in essence, they boil down to a few key challenges. They will also certainly be psychological, physical or social. They might also be connected with the way that someone comes across in their speech or body language. Whatever the problem we want to help the people that we work with to overcome it.

So, what are the barriers to effective communication? Here are six examples – with advice for overcoming them.

1. The message hasn’t been defined and tested.

This is one of a number of process barriers in communication. As part of our media training courses we spend helping our clients to define their messages, the hone them down and then to test them. Most importantly we’ll look at whether the message is appropriate to the people that our clients need to talk to. As we say, “It’s all about the audience.”

The message might sound very reasonable and persuasive to the person transmitting it but the question is: will it land with the audience? Is it relevant to them? Does it resonate with them? Overcoming social barriers to communication means that it must answer that fundamental question: “What’s in it for me?” In other words, why do I care? This is very often because of systematic barriers to communication – no one in the organisation has taken charge of the message.

We encourage our clients to think about it from the audience’s point of view. This might mean testing it on people who have no knowledge of the situation, who can come to it fresh. We’ll also play devil’s advocate to test the message and, if it’s relevant, run it past our test of what makes a media story.

2. The language is a barrier to effective communication.

Do you have or know any teenage children? If you do, you’ll probably find that they use words and phrases that mean almost nothing to you. Why is this? After all they’re unlikely to be expressing concepts and ideas that aren’t covered by normal vocabulary. At the risk of maligning them, most teenagers are only using this unfathomable language to say that something is cool or rubbish or that someone is good looking. Language is about more than getting someone to understand what you’re saying – it’s about identity.

The corporate world is full of language that doesn’t work from the launch of the Vauxhall Nova in Spain (who’d buy car called a “Doesn’t go”?) to the meaningless, corporate bilge of certain senior executives. John Cahill, global CEO of McCann Health, for instance, say that “Doubling down on our humanness will be the magic in how we drive better outcomes,” while Toyota has renamed the car a “sustainable mobility solution.”

How do you break through these social barriers to effective communication? Ideally you just keep the language simple. This isn’t dumbing down. In fact, it’s quite the opposite as making complex concepts easy to understand is quite a challenge. It’s about clear, lucid descriptions. The Economist, for instance, covers many serious and complex issues but, as we point out in our business writing courses, its house style is simple and elegant.

Just like your message, the language that you use to express it should also resonate with your audience. If you visit a hospital, the doctor might use one set of words and phrases to discuss your treatment with their colleagues but they’ll talk to you in a different way, ideally one that you’ll understand. We always say in our media training courses: “It’s good to use language that people understand but it’s better to use language they use.”

3. The curse of knowledge.

We’ve all been through it. Someone explains something to us clearly and logistically, step by step – but starting at step five. In other words, they assume that you know as much as about an issue as they do or, at least that you have greater background knowledge about it than you actually do. Remember that professor at university who was brilliant but (or do I mean therefore?) couldn’t explain what he or she was talking about to the class?

One of the social barriers to effective communication, the curse of knowledge, is a cognitive bias first identified in 1989 in the Journal of Political Economy by three economists, Colin Camerer, George Loewenstein and Martin Weber. A year later Elizabeth Newton, a researcher at Stanford University, conducted an experiment in which participants were divided into two groups: tappers and listeners with each tapper partnered with a listener.

The tappers then chose a well-known song such as “Happy Birthday” and tapped out its rhythm while the listeners had to guess what it was. Before they started the tappers were asked to predict how often the listeners would be able to guess the song correctly.

They estimated that it would be about 50 per cent of the time. However, of around 120 songs tapped, how many did the listeners guess correctly? The wasn’t about 60. No, it was three. The problem was that the tappers could hear the tune in their minds – unlike the listeners. So the tappers’ knowledge of the song caused them to wildly overestimate the chances of the listeners identifying the song correctly.

It’s essential again, as with most social barriers to effective communication, to put yourself in the shoes of the audience and think about in reality how much they’ll know about what you’re aiming to tell them about.

4. A lack of stories or examples.

Stories and examples perform two vital tasks in overcoming social barriers to communication. They illustrate a point and they prove it. How many times in normal conversation do we use phrases such as “For instance…” Or “Just imagine…”

The use of stories and examples is pretty high up on the list of emotional barriers to communication. Give someone some facts and two parts of the brain are activated – Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. These deal with language processing. However, tell someone a story and up to seven of the brains’ regions fire up. Depending on the content of that story these might include the primary visual cortex, the auditory cortex and the motor cortex among others. The more areas of the brain that are fired up the more engaging and memorable your message will be. So, tell stories. Think story > point.

5. A lack of empathy.

One of the social barriers to effective communication is a lack of empathy. According to Aristotle, in order to communicate effectively with an audience, you need three things: ethos, pathos and logos. Most business people and leaders of organisations tend to focus on the logos – the word, the logic. Of course, that’s important but if people don’t like you and relate to you (that’s the ethos) and if they’re not moved and inspired by your words (this emotion is Aristotle’s pathos) then your communication will fail.

This is particularly true we find, in our crisis communications training courses and here a lack of empathy can be included in the list of emotional barriers to communication. You might express sympathy and understanding but if you do it in a robotic way or you use dull, corporate language you won’t connect with your audience.

If you want to reduce barriers to communication, then start by establishing empathy with audience. This might be as simple as using a phrase such as “I’m a parent too,” or “Personally, I find that…” or “I can understand why people say that.” We recently worked with boss of a multimillion-pound recycling company and, as advised by us, he began his interview by saying that even he gets confused about the various recycling symbols and waste bin options. Simply talking about “we” and “you” in interviews rather than “customers,” “passengers” or “patients,” also makes you sound more natural and empathetic.

6. The medium is wrong.

You might have your audience in mind, you might have your message defined and tested, complete with examples and you’ve also checked the language that you’re going to use is appropriate. That’s all great but if the medium that you choose to convey that message is wrong then you’ll come slap bang up against technological barriers to communication as well as physiological barriers to communication.

Choose the right medium might mean something as simple as not using PowerPoint. People who attend our presentation training courses are often surprised when we suggest that try presenting without PowerPoint. However, a compelling story, well told, with a clear point and a strong call to action is often more effective than snazzy AV.

To overcome issues such as social barriers to communication you should consider whether your message is best transmitted by email, in person, via Twitter or even via a phone call. The boss of Thomas Cook apologised for the death of two children on one of the company’s holidays by reading from an autocue. It sounded wooden and insincere. Personal injury claims provider, Accident Group, made its staff redundant by text.

Again, it’s essential to think about the message and the audience. A bad news message, perhaps about redundancies might be better given in person. If you’re talking about improving online security, on the other hand, there’s less of an emotional impact but there are more facts to get across.

Older people might prefer to speak on the phone or meet face to face while a younger audience will feel more comfortable with Twitter, WhatsApp or Instagram.

There are many barriers to effective communication but with careful thought and expert advice you can overcome them so that you can really engage with your audience and inspire them to think, feel and act in the way that you want them to.

Media Training

How to handle journalists’ interruptions

By simon on

7th May 2019

- Media Training

It’s long been a complaint of politicians and other spokespeople that they’ve just started to answer a question during a media interview when the interviewer jumps in with an objection or another question. People often ask during our media training courses how to handle journalists’ interruptions.

The Sunday Times had an interesting story over the weekend about which BBC interviewers interrupt most frequently. John Humphrys, the paper reports, interrupted former Labour leader Ed Miliband 20 times during a seven-minute interview. On average, according to analysis carried out the paper, Humphrys interrupts his interviewees every 51 seconds.

Interestingly, though, it’s two female interviewers who interject more frequently, The Sunday Times piece reveals. I say, interestingly because research shows that during normal conversations women interrupt less than men. Do the BBC’s interrupters-in-chief, Emily Maitlis and Mishal Hussain, feel the need to dive in more frequently because they’re women? That’s a matter for another debate but Maitlis interrupts every 28 seconds and Hussain does so every 46 seconds. Evan Davis is bottom of the Sunday Times’ list of BBC interviewers by the way, with an interruption only every 173 seconds – very much in keeping with his relaxed, conversational style.

So why do journalists interrupt during interviews and what should those on the other end of the interaction do about it? It’s a question that often arises during our media interview training sessions.

Let’s take the first question. One lawyer that we were training a few weeks ago complained that the interviewer had repeatedly interrupted him. When we explored his experience it quickly became apparent that his answers were just too long. One of the things we find when we do media coaching for lawyers is that their training and experience requires them to give a comprehensive and detailed answer. This is fine when talking to clients, regulators and judges but it doesn’t work for media interviews. We journalists just want a brief overview of the issue.

It was obvious in this case why the interviewer, with only three minutes to cover the issue and a keen eye on the clock in the studio needed to keep things moving. (I’m glad to say that by the end of our session, this lawyer, like most of the others we train, quickly got into the habit of keeping his answers brief and punchy during media interviews.)

The fact is that journalists are almost always pressed for time. We have short attention spans and tight deadlines. If someone is rambling or taking too long to come to the point, we simply have to move things along – very often for their benefit as well as ours.

Obviously, the questions and answers vary in length during a media interview for as we explained to participant on our media coaching courses, a journalist question will probably last 5 to 15 seconds and a good length of an answer is 30 to 40 seconds, especially during a broadcast interview. With the press interviews, where there is a more conversational style, both questions and answers can be much longer.

The Sunday Times’ analysis also demonstrates something that, really, we all know to be true from our own experience as the audience for interviews – politicians very often don’t answer the question they’ve been asked. You can hardly blame Emily Maitlis, John Humphrys or anyone else for that matter for jumping in to remind a politician of the question that’s been put to them.

By blatantly avoiding this question the politician – or business leader for that matter – is not being clever or demonstrating their intellectual ability by playing verbal chess with the journalist. No, they’re just insulting the audience since the journalist is only the conduit. They’re asking what they believe the audience wants to know.

Now, what you do once you’ve answered that question is another matter. In our media training workshops, we look at how you can satisfactorily answer the journalist’s question – be that during broadcast or print interviews – but then move the conversation on to talk about what you want to talk about.

The interviewer won’t interrupt at this point (unless they’ve run out of time) but you’ve satisfied the requirement to answer the question and you’ve now moved on to talk about something else that is relevant and interesting. You might even have added a memorable little human story to engage your audience and to make your point. Again, it’s all good stuff for the journalist.

So, what do you do if an interviewer interrupts you during a press, radio or TV interview? If you’re talking to a print journalist, the situation is slightly easier. As I mentioned, it’s more conversational in tone and there’s less pressure with time. With a live radio or TV slot which might just be two minutes 15 seconds you need to move more quickly. Interruptions are particularly common during hostile or negative interviews and our media trainer/journalists will interrupt participants during our crisis communications courses to train them to handle aggressive interjections.

Once you’ve been interrupted, as always with a media interview, the most important thing is not to panic. Take a deep breath and explain that you’ll answer the question that the interviewer poses during the interruption in a moment, once you’ve finished your current point.

Now, if the subject of the interruption is actually quite helpful or at least it will allow you to put across a key message then move onto it quickly once you’ve finished answering the first question. If, on the other hand, it’s something that you don’t want to get drawn into then you can spend more time answering that first question.

As always, with a media interview, especially one that is hostile, you want to pass the “reasonableness test.” Does what you’re saying and the way in which you’re saying it, sound reasonable? If it does and if what your content is relevant and interesting to the audience then you can be polite but firm and answer interruptions in your own time – and you’ll know that the audience is your side not that of the pushy interviewer.

Your spokespeople aren’t getting enough media coverage? Here’s why and how to fix it

By simon on

26th March 2019

- Media Training

Very often when we start one of our media training courses the PR professionals and Comms people that we work with mention that as well as handling difficult issues, on the proactive side, they’ve been struggling to create positive coverage. This might include their efforts to “piggyback” off a running media story. When a report comes out or a major company releases financial results that are higher or lower than expected or that are considered to be a bell weather for a particular sector the media will be often looking for comment beyond their own journalists. Experts who can put the issue into context, give some background and, quite frankly, tell us why we should care, will be in great demand.

Getting air time for your spokespeople

Getting air time and column inches for their spokespeople in these situations is proving to be hard work, our clients sometimes tell us during these media coaching sessions. What should they do to create more coverage? Well, here are a few reasons for their failure plus some suggestions for what to do about it.

One major problem might be that you’re simply not saying anything interesting. It’s worth remembering that journalists and editors get more statements and comment from experts than ever before and so a bland statement of the obvious isn’t going to appeal to them at all. Neither, on the other hand, is a strongly worded paragraph or two that merely says what everyone is else is saying. If callers into a show are attacking the actions of a person or an organisation, then simply piling on the bandwagon of condemnation yourself won’t help you to stand out and get that media coverage.

We look at what makes a media story and what journalists are looking for during our media training sessions. It’s a great way of building the confidence of interviewees as it removes the fear of the unknown and it helps with preparation. Essentially, it must have a new angle. If everyone is saying one thing about a current issue then having your spokesperson say something different or unusual will help. Backing their assertions with some good arguments, examples and figures is even better. You don’t have to be deliberately perverse and controversial (in the media we’re suspicious of shameless polemicists) but you just have to say something that other people aren’t.

What are journalists looking for in a spokesperson

Similarly, you might agree with the general consensus but have an additional reason for saying it. If a company has made a mistake on social media, for instance, rather than just following the general flow of debate you might want to point out an additional risk, provide a surprising insight or introduce a little known fact about social media. Journalists are always looking for a new “angle” on a story and you can help them here.

Another reason why your spokespeople aren’t getting airtime or your comments are being covered is that you’re releasing the information too late. This problem relates to the first reason. Very often by the time everyone within the organisation has had their say and approved the comment the news agenda has moved on. Traditionally, sending a press release out or releasing a statement in the early afternoon would be perfectly timed for the following days’ newspapers or that evening’s TV and radio news programmes. These days with 24-hour news and constantly updated website deadlines are, in fact, a thing of the past. The news agenda moves faster than ever and so statements and comments have to be released more quickly to hit the news cycle.

Very often organisations spend so much time crafting the words and then having them approved by so many different departments and individuals, all of whom feel the need to add something that by the time the statement is finally approved events have moved on and this has become old news.

Advice for Communications and PR teams

Our advice to Communications and PR teams is to be brave here. Yes, we know that we’re not the ones who need to justify these actions to the CEO or explain them to the board but actually having us as independent, third party experts to back up this request can help and argue for it alongside them can help. Comms people have to make it clear to the organisation that only a limited number of people can have approval and they must be ready to act quickly.

It’s also essential for those who do approve a comment to resist the need to add superfluous words and while toning down content. Basically, keep it short and punchy. We worked with one organisation that challenged those who had to approve a comment to actually take words out and refine it rather than adding bits. As we like to say – good writing is when you’ve taken away everything you can and not added everything you want. Here’s another reason why your comments are not getting coverage – the language is dull, corporate and unmemorable. Very often the language used by businesses is at odds with what the media wants. Corporate language is often focussed on compromise, on qualifying statements and on taking a range of views into account so as not to exclude anyone or to cause offence to internal or external audiences. Added to this, documents produced by companies frequently take their time to come to their key messages. Whereas with the media the opposite is the case. Here it’s about making a clear, strong statement that will have some members of the audience cheering and disagreeing with varying degrees of force.

The kind of language that journalists like

Generally, the language that you use in your statement or comment should have all the hallmarks of good writing. This includes simple language and short sentences. There is nothing wrong with jargon and technical terms but only if they are appropriate to the audience. Meaningless corporate buzzwords are hated by journalists and will massively reduce the chances of your comments being used by them. Talking about “ecosystems” or “synergies” will simply have the media rolling their eyes and hitting the delete button before they read any further. On the other hand, if you can find a striking phrase, an interesting simile or even a clever little pun, then journalists will be more likely to use your comment. In our media training sessions, we explore with clients how to create these phrases and how to use them in media interviews. The fact is that plain, simple language doesn’t have to be boring.

Here’s another reason – there are no stories or examples. We’re always banging on about stories in our media coaching sessions but the fact is that they’re vitally important – but very often company spokespeople forget about them. Obviously, you wouldn’t mention a client during a statement without their permission but if they’ve done something that illustrates the point you’re making then work with them to include them in a positive, helpful way. Similarly, talking about how brilliant you are will put a journalist off because it just looks like pointless boasting (or advertising, as we also call it). However, use a bit of humility, explain the challenge that you faced and how you overcame it and what you’ve learned and this will be much more appealing.

Media training for lawyers and law firms

We do a lot of media training for lawyers and other professional services firms and we know that although journalists are always looking for examples these firms have to respect client confidentiality. Therefore, we suggest that they use one of three approaches. First, they either use a client anonymously (changing the facts slightly will help to protect the client’s true identity). Second, they create a hypothetical example – after all, “Just imagine…” or “For instance…” are phrases that we all use in everyday life because they work to communicate an idea, so why not use them in your business communications? Third, you can also refer to other examples and case studies, already reported in the media, of companies that aren’t clients and have nothing to do with you.

If you do put out a statement that is timely, newsworthy and punchy not only will you find that print journalists are copying and pasting it into their pieces but TV and radio producers will also be asking your spokespeople to appear on their programmes to expand on it. During our media training courses, we’ll work with participants to develop their key messages and to understand how they can make them newsworthy. This goes for statements and comments to the media and the contributions of spokespeople.

Constructing a good statement takes a bit of effort and energy but it can pay dividends in terms of raising your profile, establishing your expertise and differentiating yourself from the competition – if you get it right.

Media Training

Media training: five requests you can make of a journalist

By simon on

5th December 2018

- Media Training

Media Training

Media training tips: What colours should you wear on television?

By simon on

26th November 2018

- Media Training

We’re always asked at some point during our media training courses about what to wear when doing a TV interview. How you look during television interviews or presentations – and in particular the colours that you wear – has a major impact on the impression that your audience takes away. You might be speaking eloquently in a persuasive and engaging way and making some very important points but if your clothing is distracting then you might as well be reading a train timetable.

We often quote the work of a Princeton psychologist called Alexander Todorov in our media coaching sessions. Todorov wanted to know to what extent people judge someone’s competence to do their job based simply on their appearance rather than any other more substantial information. So he conducted an experiment in which he showed thousands of people pairs of portraits and asked those people to rate the competence of the people in these pictures. What the test subjects didn’t know was that those pictured were candidates for the US Congress and Senate.

When Professor Todorov correlated the reaction of the test subjects who had seen pictures of the candidates for a second or less with the actual election results, he discovered that in between 66 per cent and 73 per cent of cases the judgement of test subjects correlated with the final election results. So, you can go through the whole election process or you can show voters your picture for a second (or less in some cases) and nearly three quarters of the time the results are the same.

A major part of this visual impact relates to the colours that you wear on television or when you’re presenting to an audience. During our media training courses and afterwards, when we’re supporting clients who are appearing on TV or delivering their presentations, we help them to think about the colours that might be right for them.

What colours should you wear on television?

Let’s start with two colours that you really shouldn’t wear. Black and white don’t work well on television. A crisp white shirt might be good for a job interview and it’s OK for most presentations but on TV it glares and casts the rest of you in shadow so avoid white during a TV interview. Cream is a good substitute for white.

Black might be elegant and flattering in normal life but on television it often drains the life out of you. It can often look gloomy and even sinister. We had to advise a very accomplished spokeswoman not to wear a black suit and T-shirt when delivering a difficult message about two deaths that had taken place on her watch. “Oh, my god,” she said after we showed her the footage during a practice session. “I look like an undertaker.” She was right. Grey or navy blue work better than black.

Navy blue is actually a very good colour to wear on TV. It’s seen as safe and understated. It’s also regarded as the colour of trust – that’s why the police and airline cabin crew often wear it. (Or does the causation work the other way? Either way, navy blue is a safe bet).

What about wearing red during a TV interview?

Red has a particular significance for human beings. Women who wear red often appear more attractive to men, according to research by the University of Rochester, NY.

However, as the colour of blood, red stimulates distinct reactions in the brain. It also signifies emergencies, of course. It’s no coincidence that the signal to stop in traffic lights is red. If you’re slow on the uptake when green or amber is showing you might get someone beeping you from behind. Do this with red and you could get killed. However, red is also associated with anger and aggression. Some psychologists have even questioned whether London buses should be this colour. It’s certainly a strong hue.

We recently worked with a young woman from a big financial services company who was launching a new product range. We discussed her choice of a red jacket and shirt for her TV interviews.

“Look,” she said. “The financial services industry is full of men in grey suits and I want to stand out from them.” So she wore red – and she did indeed create a strong impression.

The fact that we helped her to speak normal, human language rather than financial services jargon and to use stories and examples also helped to ensure that her TV interviews were powerful, memorable and well received – as they still are, years after we trained her.

Should I wear a grey suit on TV?

So what about grey? Actually, there’s nothing wrong with wearing grey during a TV interview and we often recommend it during our media training courses. Again, it’s the colour of trust and respectability. However, we would suggest that both men and women add a warmer colour to balance the dullness. Also be wary of the heavy chalk stripes or busy herringbone patterns that grey suits and jackets sometimes feature.

Pale blue is a lovely, engaging colour that works well on TV, especially if you want to soften your look. Green can do the same but it can sometimes have the unwelcome effect of making the wearer look pale and washed out. Generally, pastel shades are good on TV because they’re flattering to most people’s skin and hair tones and they’re not over powering.

A pastel coloured shirt matched with a tie that has a strong block colour or a simple pattern (nothing busy and complex, please) is a good look for men. It’s simple, confident and won’t distract viewers from their performance.

Purple is an interesting colour. On the one hand it’s regarded as luxurious and even slightly theatrical but according to research among audiences for particular brands it’s also associated with “authority, sophistication and power.” It was after all the colour used by Roman emperors and magistrates and Peter Mandelson shrewdly chose it an as an alternative to Labour’s traditional red when he was reinventing the party and creating New Labour.

With flying colours – what to wear on TV

A woman in a purple jacket or dress or a man wearing a purple tie can look elegant and adopt a high status persona. In our media training courses we work with a lot of lawyers, accountants, retail consultants and other professionals whose firms have asked us to train them so that they can act as commentators on their sector. Purple is a good colour for them.

The colour of the clothing that you were on television or during a presentation for that matter can have a profound effect on the impression that your audience takes away. Obviously, you’ll be focussing on your key messages during your preparation but, as we point out in our media training sessions, getting the colour of your clothing right is a small detail that can make a big difference.

Media Training, Uncategorised

Media training tips: five good things to say during a media interview and five comments to avoid

By simon on

1st November 2018

- Media Training, Uncategorised

Most people are anxious about what they can and can’t say to a journalist during a media interview and that’s quite understandable. After all, once you’ve said it, it’s out there – read, listened to or watched by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. In our media training courses people often express concern not about saying the wrong thing. But they’re also interested in what they can do in a positive way, what they can say to grab the interest of the journalist.

To help meet these concerns at the start of our media coaching sessions we’ll look at what makes a story and what motivates journalists. This means that, working with their PR teams, interviewees can ensure that they say the things that the journalist will be interested in thereby gaining more control of the interview and reducing the risk of said journalist pushing them into dangerous territory in the quest for a story. We help our participants to gain control of the interview.

Five good things to say to a journalist

So, here are five things you can say to a journalist to get their attention and increase the chance of your having more control of the interview and the final report.

“What really struck me about this is…”
It’s a good idea to flag up a key point to a journalist. It might be obvious to you that something is the most interesting or important aspect of what you’re talking about but don’t expect the journalist to know it too. This is especially true of general reporters or, as is often the case, an interviewer who has just been given the story to write with minimal research. (We’re not lazy, by the way, we’re just overworked as newsroom budgets have been slashed – just wanted to make that clear!)

“What people don’t always realise is that…”
Essentially the job of a journalist is to tell people things that they didn’t know that they might find interesting. So, if you can show that something is little known, that the audience might even be labouring under a misapprehension or that they’ll gain some competitive advantage by knowing this fact you’ll have the attention of the journalist that you’re speaking to. This also ticks that “unusual” box that the media loves so much.

“In my experience…”
One of the main reasons why we’re coming to talk to you is your experience. The more practical and recent it is the better for us, so emphasise this when you talk to journalists. We do a lot of media training for law firms, for instance, and so we always encourage them to pass on to journalists what they’re telling clients. Not only does this show that they’re working at the coalface of this business and that they’re very much aware of latest the developments and trends but it also provides tips and advice for our audience. Anything that ticks the “What’s In It For Me?” box is great for our audience is also great for us. As we say to the lawyers that we do media coaching for – you don’t have to give people full legal advice, just a few thoughts so that they’ll realise that you know what you’re talking about and pick up the phone to instruct you.

“One thing to watch out for is…”
Again, this could be about tips and advice but really it ticks the “trouble” box that journalists love. Bad news, risks, dangers are threats are meat and drink to the media. Depressing? Annoying? Perhaps, but the fact is that they grab people’s attention. They fire up the amygdala, the flight-or-fight instinct that is located deep in our animal brains. The other reason why journalists like this kind of phrase and what follows it is that giving warnings and highlighting threats also usually involves offering advice and tips – something that, as we’ve said above, is always good for media interviews, and something that we stress in our media training courses.

“Let me give you an example…”
There’s nothing, well, almost nothing, anyway, that journalists love more than an example, a story, an anecdote or a case study. As soon as you’re giving an example or telling a story, provided that it’s relevant to the audience, the interviewer will shut up and listen – and not start to look for trouble. Giving examples and saying, “for instance,” is something that we do all the time in conversations with family, friends and colleagues. But, for some reason, people often forget to use these basic building blocks of communication or don’t feel justified in doing so during a media interview. Examples both illustrate and prove your point. In fact, at the risk of contradicting ourselves you don’t even have to set up an example, just dive straight in and tell your story.

OK, so those are some of the right things to say during media interviews, but what should you avoid?

Five things you should not say to a journalist

“I can’t comment on that.”
Of course, it’s very possible that a journalist will ask you something that is outside your purview or that could get you into trouble and you’re right not to get drawn into it. But try and find a more relaxed, conversational phrase. You might say: “That’s not really my area of expertise…” or “I’ll let X speak for themselves,” or even “You wouldn’t expect me to go into that, would you?” We explain in our media coaching sessions that whatever you say, the point is that you then move back on to your key message. Talking of which…

“My key message here is…”
Yes, it’s good to have a key message – and you’d be amazed how many people go into media interviews with no idea of what points they want to get across. But you don’t have to be so transparent and crude about it as to use this form of words. Focus on your key message and flag it up, perhaps using one of the phrases above. Then repeat it and use some examples and stories to back it up.

“Let me be clear…”
One of the most frequent comments we hear in our media training workshops is “I don’t want to sound like a politician.” Now, even though we do media training for politicians around the world, we can understand the sentiment. The problem with this phrase is that the way it’s been used by certain politicians and other spokespeople. For them, it usually means the opposite – let me ignore your question and give my vague, fudged answer instead. So, do certainly be clear, just avoid using this phrase.

“What I’d like to say to your viewers/listeners is…”
This is another phrase that is based on the right idea but just makes it too clunkily obvious. It’s good to talk directly to the audience of a radio or TV programme but just do it by sounding natural and conversational and thinking about what they’d like to know. Don’t tell them that you’re going to do it. This is where the first and second person works well – as you’re literally talking to your audience – and that’s essential in any good media interview.

Media Training

Media coaching – do you have to answer a journalist’s question?

By simon on

18th July 2018

- Media Training

It’s always a big issue in media coaching – do you have to answer a journalist’s question? As part of our media coaching sessions we’ll usually do a role play press interview with the participants. As we tell them, we’ll do it in exactly the same way as we do during our day job as journalists, although we won’t publish it course. Instead, we’ll give detailed feedback on the story that we would have written well as the messages that came across and how they appeared to us as experienced, working journalists.

Very often we’ll ask a difficult or left field question towards the end of the interview since this is what could easily happen in real life. We work closely with Comms teams and PR companies and they’ll brief us on difficult issues. The interviewee will usually feel obliged to answer our query – or at least to have a go at it. This is almost always where they lose control of the interview and end up giving us a great story. Unfortunately, it’s very often not one that will suit them.

We did a media skills course recently with a large financial institution. Towards the end of the role play press interview our media trainer/ journalist asked one of the course participants, a board director, about their views on Brexit. Very helpfully and interestingly they suggested that Britain’s departure from the EU wouldn’t actually be a problem for the firm as it benefits from growing markets in the Far East. This was a great story that would have made headlines in the Financial Times and other publications. However, it wasn’t so good for the firm – and certainly not for the poor interviewee.

“But you asked me about Brexit,” they pointed out once we’d told them about the story that would have resulted from their interview. “Yes,” said our media trainer/journalist, “but you didn’t have to answer it.” Lesson learnt.

Media coaching tip – journalists don’t expect you to answer every question

The point is that we’d obviously expect the interviewee to answer a question about the agreed subject of the interview. But there’s no obligation to comment on something that is outside this remit. We often call this the “while I’ve got you here, minister” question. This is because senior politicians appearing on Radio Four’s Today and other programmes will often be asked to talk about something that is current and – vaguely – relevant to them. It might be an embarrassing comment made by a colleague, for instance, or something that the government is proposing.

Politicians are usually warned beforehand by their media teams about this risky, live issues and have lines to take ready. With business people this is not always the case. During an interview on Today to talk about new apprenticeships Sir James Dyson was asked about Brexit. Instead of sticking to the topic the engineer and industrialist waxed lyrical on the subject. Within a matter of hours his comments were on The Times online.

But, of course, not answering a question goes against the grain for many of us. We do a lot of media coach for lawyers, for instance. They’re trained to answer a client’s questions accurately and comprehensively – and so they should. We point out, though, that we’re not clients. If anything, journalists don’t want a detailed answer to a question. We just want the top line.

Similarly, we do media training for the luxury sector. If you work for a luxury hotel saying “yes” to a guest and being helpful is in your blood so, of course, you’re going to try to answer a question as fully as possible. As we point out to the luxury hotel staff that we train, we’re not guests (and with journalists’ salaries as they are we probably never will be) so there’s no need to help us out by giving us an answer to what we’ve just asked them.

Doesn’t it sound shifty if I don’t answer the journalist’s question?

But doesn’t it sound shifty and evasive if I don’t answer a journalist’s question, people often ask during our media coaching courses. The short answer is that it depends on the question and how you do it.

If you’re being asked a direct question about something that you’re responsible for and it’s part of the subject that we’ve agreed to speak about then yes, you must. This example of Richard Madeley trying to get Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson to answer a simple, direct, yes-or-no question is quite toe curling.

If a journalist asks a finance director, for instance, why profits are down by 20 per cent this year then that FD had better be ready with an answer. How he or she then moves the conversation on to something more useful is up to them. On the other hand, if he or she was asked about Brexit or about a competitor then no, there’s no need to answer the question.

What if I don’t want to answer a journalist’s question?

What, we’re often asked in our media coaching sessions, should you do then, if a journalist asks you a question that you don’t want to answer? Simple: you tell them in a friendly but assertive way that you’re not going to do so. Then, very importantly, you tell them why. This could be because it’s outside your remit. Just exampling that it’s a matter, for example, for the regulator or the government. It might simply be an issue that you don’t want to get drawn on such as Brexit or a competitor, as we’ve mentioned above. Again, just be honest and say so.

Most journalists will understand this. Very often we’re not even expecting you to answer the question. It’s just that our editor has told us to raise the issue or we assume that our audience will want us to mention it. On the other hand, we’re also aware of the possibility of getting a new story – as happened with James Dyson.

Must I answer a journalist’s question during a crisis?

Surely, then, during a serious incident or a crisis, you’ll have to answer the journalist’s questions. Actually, not always. As we explain in our media training courses, in a crisis you’ll be expected to provide factual information that you’re confident is correct. But you’ll also be asked questions that neither you, nor probably anyone else knows the answer to. In a crisis as the media scrambles to fill airtime and column inches speculation is often rife.

Get drawn into surmising what could have caused the incident or what might come out of it and, as we explain in our crisis media coaching workshops, you’ll lose control of your communication and create unwelcome headlines. As we wrote recently mishandling a crisis really can cost you dear.

A good way to make a crisis worse is get drawn into responding to journalists’ questions when you should just stay mum. So, here too, just be polite but firm and explain why you don’t want to answer certain questions.

We’ve had a lot of interest in a blog we wrote about five requests that you can ask of a journalist that you might not be aware of. As we advise during our media training courses. Take control of the interview and don’t be afraid to lay down terms to the journalist. This includes stating clearly the questions that you are and aren’t happy to answer. So when people ask us during our media coaching courses whether you always have to answer a journalist’s questions – we explain no, not if you know what you’re doing.

Media training courses for women – would Nicky Morgan approve?

By simon on

15th June 2018

- Media Training

Nicky Morgan is boycotting certain BBC TV studios because they’re not flattering The Times reports today. It might sound vain and trivial but, as we regularly discover in our media training courses, this concern is not unusual. Hardly anyone likes to see themselves on camera.

Media training courses – if you’re ambushed by a journalist

By simon on

14th May 2018

- Media Training

People often ask when we do media skills training what they should do if they’re jumped on by a journalist. The worst case scenario might be a camera crew shining a light in your eyes and appearing on the doorstep of your home to ask you about a problem or even a crisis that you know nothing about.

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