Of all the advice I give to my media training clients when it comes to how to answer questions during a media interview, the hardest piece for people to grasp is the need to communicate all three of your message points in every answer (that’s EVERY answer). When I tell people this, they think I am kidding, or they think that I meant to say “all three message points during the course of the interview.”
That’s not what I am saying. I urge people to try to say all three of their message points in every single answer.
“But TJ,” you cry. “I’ll sound insane! Reporters will run away from me.”
No, they won’t. The trick is that you don’t want to sound like a computer or a broken record. You want to hit all three of your message points in each answer, but do it in a different order, using different examples, and using different words.
If you aim for all three message points and you only get to one or two before the reporter cuts you off or interrupts you, well then you at least hit one or two—not bad.
The mistake many novices make is that they deliver all three of their message points exactly once, near the beginning of the interview. Then, they proceed to answer questions in a totally reactive way for the next thirty minutes. At the end of the interview, the reporter looks down at his or her notes and sees 57 separate message pointes, each delivered exactly once—therefore none stand out.
The reporter then chooses to include a random couple of points from your 57 points.
If you are happy with a 3-57 chance of success, then continue to use this strategy. If you want to increase the odds that the message you care about actually ends up in the story, then you must be more proactive, specifically by trying to interject all three of your message points in each answer.
