Tag Archives: media

Tips For Planning A Media Event – Part Two, Getting It Done

Planning A Media Event Part OneWhile it is important to prepare and practice as much as possible before meeting with the press, it is equally important to remember that even the best media spokespeople can have off days. If something goes wrong, don’t get bogged down by it, but keep going, chances are the gaffe isn’t as big a deal as you think it is. Even if it is, is that really the last impression you want to leave? If you do get stuck, keep in mind our former Prime Minister, Lester Pearson

Mr. Pearson is very well regarded. We’ve named airports, schools and streets after this amazing Canadian. He was a Nobel Prize winner, a man often perceived as being too smart for politics, and he was also a relentless disaster in the media.  It seemed as if, if something could go wrong, it did.  In one instance in an attempt to offset previous missteps, great efforts were made to ensure that Mr. Pearson would appear before the press in an authoritative and commanding fashion.  The timing of his press conference was fussed over for weeks in advance, the placement of the microphone was carefully considered and his entrance was contemplated at length. He would enter the room on cue and stride across the front of the room with authority. His handlers had even added three cushions to his seat to ensure that he had presence at the media table. What they didn’t anticipate was that Mr. Pearson would not only enter at the wrong time, but through the wrong door.  The result was that he interrupted his own assistant’s presentation, was spotted by the press and was then left trying to shuffle his way through the centre of the room in a space about one foot wide. Picture it, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, excuse me, pardon me, need to get by, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, hardly an authoritative entrance.

Diplomat and politician Lester Pearson won the...
Diplomat and politician Lester Pearson won the title more than any other person except Pierre Trudeau. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Despite these less than sterling encounters with the press, he still remains one of our best regarded Prime Ministers. When his name is raised, it is rarely to recall his less than commanding encounters with the press.

During – (Day of the Event)

·         Be sure to have numbers of the media outlets that have agreed to attend and call to reconfirm interviews.

·         Designate a member of your staff or group to keep track of media attendance and greet the media.

·         Make sure that media participants have the information they need and that they know who to contact should they have follow up questions.

·         Keep extra copies of the backgrounder material on hand.

Managing Interview Questions

·         Nothing is “off the record” if you say it, then expect it to be made public.

·         Repeat important points, especially for sensitive or controversial issues.

·         When dealing with a question you’d rather not handle at the moment, you should always address the question, but you don’t have to answer it. If you do answer, keep it short. In either case, move on quickly.

·         Beware of hypothetical questions. They make dramatic headlines, but don’t relay the facts.

·         Don’t bluff. If you don’t know, say so.

·         You don’t have to answer a question the moment it is asked. Pause to collect your thoughts. A moment is a lot shorter than you think. It will look like you are giving the answer some thought (which is what you should be doing).

Try these delaying phrases if you need more time,

·         “Well, I’m not surprised you asked that question….”

·         “I’m pleased you asked that question, let me take a minute to explain….”

·         “This is a challenge we’re looking at and expect to soon have….”

Bridging phrases to get back to your message.

·         “But perhaps an equally important issue here is….”

·         “What I think you’re getting at is….”

·         “That’s not in my field, but what I can say is….”

·         “I don’t know…but I do believe….”

·         “That’s because….”

·         “As you know….”

Tips for avoiding difficult questions:

·         “That’s in the future. What I want to talk about now is….”

·         “What I think you want to know is….”

·         “Those were important factors, but….”

·         “Too soon to tell….”

After

Send photos with a detailed caption along with your press release to all print publications (this includes online) that didn’t make it to your event.  Plenty of local coverage is garnered in this fashion. Try to keep a copy of your clippings or any comments you receive.  They may come in handy for future documentation or correspondence.

Note lessons learned. Were spokespeople well prepared? Did you have sufficient information?  Did you have too much information? Did the press follow an unanticipated angle?  How did your spokespeople handle themselves?  Did any nervous tics make themselves evident during interviews? Add the information to your media kit for future reference.

Have you ever attended or watched a press conference go wrong?  Watched one that went like a charm? What made them work or fail?

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Tips For Planning a Media Event – Part One, Getting Ready

Planning A Media Event Part One

Whether it’s your small business’ big event, your book launch or your community party, sometimes getting a little media coverage can make all the difference to your success. So what can you do if you don’t have the  resources to bring in a professional firm or you’re simply not comfortable doing that?  The best bet is to focus on your local media, they have a vested interest in hearing and telling local stories. Planning a media event, like planning a meeting takes work, but it can be done.  The PR work can be broken down into three distinct phases, before, during and after the event…yup, that easy.

This week we’ll look at before the event, this part quite naturally takes the most time and effort on your part, but is critical to your success. Next week, we’ll explore during and after an event.

BEFORE:

1.   What’s Makes Your Event/Product Special?

  • If you’re planning an event, consider what makes it appealing or think about ways to have fun with a traditional activity. On the night my organization’s CEO was to appear in an episode of Undercover Boss we hosted movie nights in various locations around the country.  We treated it as an opportunity to reach out to our communities and have a little fun. The Ottawa activities started on Parliament Hill with a private viewing with senators and MPs and then moved to a local restaurant where we watched it with staff and friends on a big outdoor screen. The story got covered in various local newspapers and yet all that was really happening was an episode of Undercover Boss Canada.

2. Identify the media outlets you want to reach.

  • In order to reach the media, you need to identify the local newspapers, radio and television stations and create a contact grid of people at each of those organizations by calling them and asking them who manages the local news beat or if your news might more effectively fit into a local column or radio show, ask for the producer or their assistant.  You can often find a media directory at your local library and that will save you a good deal of time.  There are a number of providers who will sell media list, Cision’s global media database (formerly Bacon’s Directories) provides the full name of publications and contacts and of course there is always the local yellow pages.
  • Newspapers: Look for issue specific editors or journalists, community and calendar listings that  you can then add your event to.
  • Radio: morning show producers and news assignment editors are good starting points. Many stations have community programs that announce calendar listings.
  • Television: Look for the assignment editor, weekend assignment editor and community event producers as  good starting points.
  • Social Media:  From creating Facebook Event page to tweeting throughout your event there are number of ways to not only promote your event in advance, but also generate chatter during and afterwards.

Tips For planning A media Event

3.    Choosing and preparing the right spokesperson for your event.

  • Choose your spokesperson based on their level of engagement on your issue and their role within your organization. They must be familiar with your issue and goals or they can end by making recommendations or comments that you can’t support and once its in the public domain it’s very hard to get it back.  It is also best if they are articulate and poised. Too much passion on an issue can come across as shrill through a microphone.
  • Make sure that the spokesperson is well briefed on the potential issues that may surface.  Practice possible questions with them and make sure that they have a written copy of  succinct short sentences that he/she can learn to be sure they have an effective interview.
  • Practice, practice, practice.
  • Avoid putting spokespeople in situations where they will be easily distracted or may display behavior that will detract from your message. For example, a swivel chair for a sit down TV interview can turn into a joy ride and the spokesperson may end by swinging back and forth as they get excited by the topic.  Waving hands can be equally distracting. Speaking with your hands is a natural human behavior, but gesturing too wildly will result in your hands being the star attraction of your interview.
  • A crisp white shirt can look great for a photo, providing the background isn’t also white, but it can create glare on camera.  A shiny forehead will make you look like your sweating and that can be a seen as a physical response to lying. A small application of face powder can reduce shine (yes for you men too).

4.    Prepare your press materials

  • Press materials are generally made up of a notice or media alert, the press release and background documents.  The Media alert does exactly what is sounds like.  It alerts the media that you will be telling them something of interest on a given day at a set time. The press release itself is the “news” item or the information you want to share and is given at the indicated time. The background documents are to provide reporters with additional information should they want to expand on your story or to allow them to learn more completely why your story is news.  If you were a scientist and you broke the news that you had found fossilized people poop in America that dated back 10,000, 000 years ago, you would probably earn yourself some odd looks, but no coverage.  If you explained that the earliest humanoids weren’t supposed to be around for another 4,000,000 years at the earliest and that the poop provided insight into the diets and habits of these unusual people, you might actually get a news story.

5.    Distribute your press materials including a media alert, a calendar listing and a press release at least a month before your event.

  • The media alert should be used if you would like the media to attend your event and to conduct interviews with your spokesperson or others.
  • A calendar listing can come in different forms, local radio stations often offer a calendar listing of events, as do newspapers and local “what’s happening” online services. The listing should be used if your event is open to the public and you want to attract attendees.
  • The press release includes similar information as the media alert, but with more details, such as participating program objectives and quotes from spokespeople.

Tips For planning A media Event 2

6.    Distribute press materials in a timely fashion.

  • Send out the calendar listing  about a month before your event (many local newspapers have a one month deadline for submissions).
  • Media advisories or alerts should be distributed about two weeks prior to the event to allow for ample time to secure interviews.
  • Press Releases are for the day of the event.

7.    Conduct media follow-up.

  • Make sure the media outlets received your press material and make yourself or your spokesperson available to answer questions about the event and offer interviews.
  • Be persistent, but polite.
  • Be sure to call the TV stations the day before and the day of to be sure your event is on their schedule.  If a story falls through, they can look to the schedule and maybe decide to cover your event.

If you plan on filming or photographing participants, ensure that everyone you have selected for filming or interviewing has signed a release form. The form does not have to be complicated.

Have you ever been at a local community event that had great coverage? What made it appealing?  Have you ever attended an event because of local news coverage? Have you hosted one that you thought was amazing?

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The Fastest Way to a Politician’s Heart is Through a Camera Lens

press and politiciansIf politics were for wallflowers, government buildings would look like bungalows and politicians wouldn’t need to give speeches.  So for the sake of simplicity let’s start from an understanding that politicians expect to be seen and heard.  They would like it to happen at their convenience and on their issues, but they will adopt an issue if you capture their attention, if they can make it serve their needs and if they think it will have resonance with the public.  This description may make them sound opportunistic, but keep in mind that as public figures, they need to be, well public.  If you never hear from or see your legislator again after you elect them, then you might begin to wonder what if anything they were doing for you.  Also keep mind that a representative in parliament who can’t seize an opportunity when one is presented isn’t going to do you a lot of good in the long run.

What this preference for press means for you and your issue is that you have to think of ways of making it sexy or at least ensuring that elements of it have broad appeal.  While working in the public interest is a great starting point, it doesn’t necessarily capture headlines much less passing media interest.  The media likes conflict, sex appeal, violence and sensation, or more to the point, the assumption is that consumers of media like those things.  If you’re lucky on a slow Friday in the summer, you might get them to pay attention to human interest stories. Again, this isn’t a commentary on the personal peccadilloes of reporters, but a reflection of the corporate demands that now plague journalism and what you and I as a members of the public have indicated we are willing to pay for. This is what bumps online ratings, sells papers and raises television audience numbers.

So how do you make your news and issuesissue interesting?

As a start test its appeal with family and friends.  Do people start to glaze over when you tell your story?  Do they get angry, do they laugh, sympathize?  Do they appear shocked? If you can get a reaction from them that isn’t bored indifference you’re on the right track.  If your audience is glazing over halfway through your story, then you might want to take a slightly different approach to telling it.  For instance, you can take your issue and consider the worst-case scenario.  What could possibly happen if nothing is done? What are the implications of leaving things at the status quo?  Don’t stretch the bounds of believability, but try to follow through on what might happen if things did not change.  Stir in a few experts. Consider the plight of those impacted and suddenly you have a news story.  It also helps if you can think of a catchy way to express your concerns. The catchier, the more likely it is to end up as a sound bite on the news.  This may seem crass, but it works.

Then of course there is social media. There are volumes written on the many ways you can generate attention on your issue by blending traditional and social media campaigns or simply taking the social media route.  I would say though that unless you already have a strong online following or are about to start an active campaign to get that following, then you will want to look at blending. Although it can sometimes seem that anything can be made popular online from screaming goats to funny dances, it’s harder to do than it looks.  It’s also true that not all coverage is necessarily good coverage.

Timing is also critical to the successful launch of a story.

Any number of things can obliterate a good story, from bad weather conditions to a single but memorable violent act. A sporting event that has captured the attention of the public can make your story go from leading to pleading for coverage. You can manage some things, like avoid launching a story around an important holiday unless you can tie your story to it. Elections are tempting times to launch stories too, but do it with care.  If you cost a party a drop in the polls or even a temporary setback during an election campaign, they will remember you and it won’t be fondly. Take a look at the local events calendar, not just to avoid conflicting activities but to look for opportunities.

Whatever approach you adopt remember, media is a blunt tool.

There is little purpose in using the media strictly as a way of getting a legislator’s attention.  If you use it, it must be with the understanding that you are trying to get a message out to a broad audience, including those who may disagree with your perspective.

Do you have any media success or failure stories? Any news you saw that you knew wasn’t true or received a revelation by watching the news? I’d love to hear your stories.

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