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You spent an
hour on the telephone with a reporter telling her about your
company’s newest product. Reading the story while standing in
the driveway the next morning, you feel faint.
“Did I really
say that?” you say to yourself. “I said a million things. Why did they
pick those quotes?”
Feeling
misquoted is one of the most common experiences of people who
deal with journalists. To avoid that problem, bundle
your messages into neat packages and prepare a few crisp
anecdotes to support your points.
If you
discipline yourself to stay on point, you reduce your chance
of being misquoted and helps you control the story.
By bundling,
we mean you should create and practice the core message that
you want to say in two or three main points. For
example: “Jefferson Inc.’s latest e-mail solution will
revolutionize business: It costs half of what other products
cost, it’s easier to use, and it’s accessible anywhere.”
Next you
need to prepare some anecdotes to support your points.
“It’s accessible anywhere. Our chairman was on a sailboat in
the middle of the
Mediterranean last week. I sent him an e-mail and he was able to pick it up on his
cell-phone and return the message within minutes.”
When you
get questions that seem off track from your agenda, gently
steer the interview back to your message.
Q: What do you think about your
competitor’s new e-mail package? They’ve put a lot of money
into promoting it in the media and it looks like it’s going to
win a large market share.
A: Actually, we think our
competitors are going to have a difficult time responding to
our combination of low costs, ease of use and instant
accessibility. For example, we have found that 95 percent of
e-mail users use only a 5 percent of an e-mail solution’s
features because most programs are so difficult to use. Our
unique menu allows anyone instant access to all of the many
capabilities of this product.”
If you want
to avoid feeling faint when reading about yourself in the
driveway, wrap your messages in bundles and anecdotes. Then
you will begin controlling the story. Your message will get
out to your customers and your business will grow.
Speechworks
coaches have been helping executives capitalize on media
opportunities for more than 15 years. If you want to learn to
speak confidently to the media, call Speechworks at
404-266-0888. Or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net.
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