Landing that TV Interview
Getting press coverage is one thing, but landing your story on TV and getting your boss/client/spokesperson an on-camera interview is another. I sat down recently with Susan Roth of Roth PR to talk about strategy for landing that all important TV interview.
Susan says there are four key elements that make for good TV news, and you need at least one of these locked down before you start pitching.
· Make sure you have a good, interesting human interest story to tell. As the late Don Hewitt, long-time producer of “60 Minutes” said when his reporters would come in to pitch him, “Tell me a story.”
· You have a big-name celebrity or spokesperson. We are talking, for example, Tom Hanks, George Clooney or a former president.
· You have a “man bites dog” story. (Susan credits this analogy to Valerie Holford, another PCDC member, whom she says uses this saying all the time.) A good recent example of this is when Republican Rep. Justin Amash called for Trump’s impeachment.
· You have HUGE news. A cure for cancer, a big scandal, a crisis (as the saying goes: “if it bleeds, it leads”).
· You have a newsjacking opportunity (check out our first blog featuring Suzanne Turner, of turner4D). Susan worked with a big law firm for years that represented victims and families of airplane crashes, as well as the families of 9/11 victims. Every time there was a big plan crash, media outlets are looking for experts to comment on it, and Susan could get placements regularly. Eventually, her clients became regular experts on CNN.
Susan says it’s getting harder to pitch experts since many news outlets now have their own stable of experts. She joked that well-known experts oftentimes get picked up by news outlets to become the network’s paid experts and then they don’t need you anymore, which is what happened to her with the lawyers. “I guess I did TOO good of a job!”
As with any pitching, it’s important to develop relationships with the booking producers and assignment desks at the various outlets. Make sure you know the shows and what types of interviews they do with guests. And be certain your spokesperson is right for the interview. One time, I was promoting a wildlife conservation story and hooked Jane Velez Mitchell. Jane had her own show at the time and was a very aggressive interviewer and animal rights proponent. I knew my main spokesperson was not cut out for this type of interview, but we had a lawyer on staff who was a perfect match: he was confident and concise and would not be intimidated by Jane’s style. They were the perfect match and we got our story told.
Even if you have a great spokesperson, prepare them for the interview with a list of questions to expect and appropriate messages and sound bites; then run them through a mock interview. It’s also a good idea to have them watch the show a few times if they are not familiar with it, so they can see the host’s style and get a feel for their personality on camera. And remind your spokesperson that you don’t always have to answer the question. As Susan says, “You are not in a court of law.” Trump’s people almost never answer the question. Usually, the host will ask the question about 2–3 times before moving on, but they will move on. Have a message and focus on that message, no matter what the question is. When I was working on the choice issue, I remember my default answer was: “We’ll that’s not the issue here. The real issue is who decides?” It never failed me! Another tip from Susan is to make sure your spokesperson always responds to the question in a full sentence with the proper name of the organization. For instance, don’t say, “We are very concerned about the refugee crisis.” Say “RefugeSafe is very concerned about the refugee crisis.” This is important for branding and for editing purposes.
One client of Susan’s really wanted to be on FOX News. She told him they would have two other people on who would attack him, but he did not care. He wanted to talk to the FOX audience so he went on air, survived the attack and successfully got his message out. In some cases, the aggressive nature of some interviews could turn off viewers and they could find your message more appealing just because you were not the aggressor.
One important point to keep in mind: if your spokesperson is not ready for TV, don’t put him or her on TV. It’s not good for the person or the cause to put a spokesperson on television and have them bomb. Make sure thy are ready, rehearsed, comfortable in their roll and thoroughly briefed on what the interview will be like. No surprises. And if you have someone that should be a spokesperson for your organization, get them media trained before you even consider booking them. Rehearse regularly and with a camera rolling. Then watch the interviews together and rehearse some more. As the spokesperson, there is nothing better than reviewing your rehearsal footage and identifying what you need to improve before you are ready for that prime-time slot.
